Banking & Financial Law Program Exam Information
Certain rules and procedures apply to the taking and administration of exams at the School of Law. If you still have questions after reviewing this information, please contact the Graduate Program at banklaw@bu.edu or 617-353-3023.
To protect our anonymous grading policy, if you cannot take an exam due to serious illness or other emergency, do NOT contact the professor. Rather, please contact the Graduate Program before the exam begins to obtain information on the procedure to follow.
Exam Schedule
Download a printable copy of the BFL Exam Schedule Spring 2025 Updated.
Exam Format and Security Options
Security options summarized
• Secure: Locks down the exam-taker’s computer completely when the assessment begins, allowing access to only Examplify during the exam. Students will not be able to access any information stored on their hard drive, nor will they be able to run any programs in the background or access the Internet.
• Non-Secure: This option allows exam-takers to access information stored on their hard drive, run other programs, and access the Internet during the assessment. We can modify this setting with this additional option:
o Non-Secure with Internet Access blocked: This option allows exam-takers to access files, applications, and programs on their device, prevents them from accessing the internet during the exam. (For comparison, Secure exams always block access to the internet.)
Final Exam Handbook
Download a printable copy of the Exam Handbook Spring 2025. The exam handbook contains operating instructions for taking your timed exams in Examplify and any take-home exams in ExamSoft, as well as other information necessary for taking your final exams. Please take thge time to read it.
Examination Rules
The following rules apply to all examinations in the Graduate Program. Additional rules may be prescribed by the Director or Program Committee for the conduct of examinations generally, and by an instructor for the conduct of an examination in a particular course. Failure to follow these rules may result in a reduced or failing grade for the examination.
The following rules, which apply generally to the relative conduct of the examinations, may be supplemented by the instructor for his or her course. A student who believes he or she has good cause for relief from one of these rules may submit a petition to the Program Committee requesting some form of relief.
- All final examinations are “closed-book” unless otherwise specified. A student may not consult books, notes, other materials, or other persons during an examination, except as authorized by the instructor. Students may have in their possession during an examination only those materials specified by the instructor.
- Unless otherwise authorized by the Graduate Program Committee, all final examinations will be at least two hours long.
- Students with appropriately documented disabilities who are enrolled in Boston University courses or programs may be eligible for reasonable accommodations. Students seeking accommodations must provide appropriate medical documentation of their disability so that the Office of Disability and Access Services can determine a student’s eligibility for accommodations and, if the student is eligible, determine appropriate academic accommodations.
- All final examinations, including take home examinations and papers, shall be evaluated on an anonymous basis to the extent possible. Students and instructors are expected to follow exactly the procedures established by the Graduate Program office for the identification of examination answers and, to the extent feasible, papers, by numbers rather than by name to assure the anonymity of the grading process.
- Use of cell phones, or other communication and/or recording devices, is forbidden unless authorized specifically by the Program Director in advance of the examination. Devices may not be used and must be shut off.
- A laptop or desktop computer may be used during timed examinations by a student who has downloaded the appropriate exam software by the deadline published by the Graduate Program, but only if that computer actually is running such exam software.
- No student may retake an examination for any purpose, except as otherwise permitted under these regulations.
- Students may review essay portions of their examinations after final grades have been released by contacting their instructors. An instructor may not change a grade based upon such a review, unless it is determined that there was a computational or clerical error in recording the grade.
- A student who, for any reason, has been granted permission to reschedule an examination after the regularly scheduled date is prohibited from discussing with other students any aspect of the examination questions or answers prior to taking the rescheduled examination. In the unusual circumstance where a student is granted permission to take an examination prior to its regularly scheduled date, the student is prohibited from discussing the examination or its contents with any student who has not yet taken the exam.
- If a student experiences a technology failure while taking a timed exam remotely, the student is responsible for using his or her best efforts to contact the law school IT and/or exam software IT support personnel to resolve the issue so that the student can complete the exam within the timed requirements. If the student is unable to complete the exam within the requisite time due to technology failure, the student may contact the Graduate Tax Program office to request additional time to complete the exam. Such request must be made during or immediately following the close of the exam and must clearly explain the issue, including at what point during the timed period the issue arose, and the steps the student took to resolve the issue. The Program Director shall have discretion to determine whether or not to grant the student additional time to complete one or more sections of the exam and may refer the matter to the Program Committee for determination. Under no circumstances should the student contact the instructor to discuss any technology or other issues encountered during the exam so as to preserve anonymity in grading.
- Students must arrive on time for in-class examinations. A student who arrives late for an examination will not be allotted any additional time after the end of the exam has been announced.
Exam Numbers
All examinations at the Law School, including take-home examinations, are given on an anonymous basis. The Registrar’s Office will assign all students a four-digit exam number each semester. You may view your exam number on the Examsoft website. Login, then move your cursor over your name in the upper-right side of the screen. Click on “My Account” and you will see your 4-digit fall exam number.
You are to bring your BU ID and your exam number with you to all exams. You will record your exam number on the printed exam questions, the 3×5 examination card, and on any scantron sheets and blue books that you use. You will be asked to complete the 3×5 card and return it to the proctor before the start of every in-class examination.
Examplify
Exams will be taken on a program from ExamSoft called Examplify. Information about Examplify, including instructions on downloading and registering the program, can be found here. Updated information and training will be available later in the fall semester.
Past Exams
Past Banking and Financial Law exams are not available in the Law Library. Faculty may choose to release past exams to students on their Blackboard sites.