Finals Week Survival Guide: Best Study Spots on Campus

By Kamal Tomlin, Class of ’26 

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 4, 2026) — These last couple weeks in April on campus are always gorgeous. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom, sending pink petals down onto students walking past the Massry School of Business, while chipmunks and rabbits dart across campus, playing tag and racing toward what feels like the end of the semester.

As the sun beams down on Campus Center West during golden hour and I enjoy a warm breeze and celebrate the end of Second Winter, I let myself relax and think — it’s finally over. Then I check my Outlook inbox, scroll through the barrage of announcements from Brightspace, and suddenly the clouds roll in to cover the sun. The breeze turns into a gelid gust of wind and a hawk swoops in and carries off a rabbit. 

Finals season has begun.

Anyone who’s had the pleasure of pulling a semi-all-nighter in the Main Library knows that the second floor is one of the best places for that hushed lock-in session. Especially useful if you’re a solo studier, the tattooed desks on the second floor offer the perfect encapsulated environment to shut out the outside world — or your friends who keep inviting you to go do something fun when they know you have that essay due in 20 minutes and you’ve only got three words written. (I mean, it’s possible to write an essay in 10 minutes, right…?)

Each desk is unique, with its own story and modern art gallery penciled or scratched onto its surface for your viewing pleasure when your Pomodoro timer goes off. My personal favorite is the one six seats to the right of the men’s bathroom — write a note and say hello! (That’s a joke, please don’t vandalize school property.)

But what if you hate the idea of being trapped in a stuffy library, cut off from the fresh air and long-awaited warmth of late spring? In that case, the balcony on the second floor of Campus Center West is calling your name. If you’re looking for a spot to study with friends, the round tables make for the perfect golden-hour view, with the smell of Campus Center food and flowers supplementing your study session. Even the lounge chairs offer a great sunset-facing spot when it starts getting a bit darker out, and you need a place to lie down after hours of rigorous studying — that definitely wasn’t you just scrolling on Reels after ignoring your screen time limiter. 

As the gorgeous Albany sunset shifts from gold to indigo, though, don’t forget to finally shut off your phone and grab an energy drink from the 518 Market to keep the momentum going. You’ll probably need it.

Happy end of the semester, Great Danes. You’ve got this!