IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT GRADING REQUIREMENTS

A passing exam score on the final exams for all three courses is required in order to pass all three courses and earn the CORe credential. If you do not pass CORe, you will not be awarded a credential for the program. All grades are final and we do not offer exam retakes, under any circumstances.

The final exam is the most weighted component of one's CORe grade, so having lower scores on the exam (50% of final course grade) can outweigh quiz performance (35% of final course grade) and participation (15% of final course grade)

For more information on grading, visit the CORe Grading Information page.

CORe Exam Integrity Policy

During this exam, you are required to complete all questions yourself without assistance or collaboration. You may not use any external sources to obtain answers. You may not use the CORe courses, the exam review materials, or your personal notes. The only materials you may use during the exam are a calculator and blank paper. When you enrolled in CORe, you committed to upholding the HBS Online Honor Code throughout the CORe course and the CORe examination.

Please review the following examples of unauthorized conduct as outlined in the honor code:

Plagiarizing, copying (or allowing another to copy), or in any way giving or receiving unpermitted aid on an exercise or examination. Participants should not share questions or responses with other participants, nor should they use any materials shared by past participants.
Unauthorized aid from other individuals or any widely available AI tools such as ChatGPT, Bing, Claude, Grammarly, or HBS Online’s AI Course Assistant in generating responses to course prompts, assignments, or simulations.

Participants who violate the HBS Online Honor Code will not be eligible for a Credential of Readiness and will not be eligible to join other programs with HBS Online.

Please note that HBS Online closely monitors your answers to the CORe examination using advanced technology. We scan for indications of unauthorized aid, including assistance from AI during the exam, which is strictly prohibited.

If HBS Online detects abnormal and/or irregular activity in your own work or with another participant during the CORe examination, your final grade will be entered as Fail.

We strongly encourage you to review the Honor Code to ensure that you understand what is and is not permitted prior to taking the CORe examination.

TECHNICAL ISSUES AND EMERGENCIES

What should I do if I encounter technical issues during the exam?
Please plan ahead and complete your exams well before the deadline, particularly if you've experienced connectivity issues in the past that have disrupted your ability to work through CORe.

If you encounter any technical issues while taking the exam, please take the following steps to help us assist you with your issue:

1. 1. Stop working through the questions.
  2. Contact us immediately through the HBS Online Support Portal, and wait to hear back from us to take any further action. Submit an Exception Request > CORe Exam Technical Issue via the Contact Us form under the “Help” section. In your message, please indicate the exam question you are working on (ex. FA question 12) when you encountered the issue.
  3. Do not continue with your exam. You will receive additional time once your issue has been resolved. We will provide you with a new "minutes remaining" time limit that will not be reflected in the on-screen timer. We suggest that you have an alternate method of timing yourself on hand, such as your phone or a kitchen timer, just in case it is needed.

A technical issue would be something that blocks your progress: an image not appearing, a question not loading properly, or an inability to choose or submit an answer. Please include as much detail as possible about your issue if you need to contact us.

If you choose to continue through your exam after experiencing a technical issue, we cannot troubleshoot retroactively to:

Edit your responses
Reset the exam or allow retakes
Grant credit for answers chosen at random
Grant credit for answers completed after the 60-minute time limit

I have an emergency and can't complete the exam within the exam window. What should I do?
If you are experiencing an extreme and unexpected circumstance that interferes with your ability to complete your exam, you may submit an exception request to reschedule your exam through the HBS Online Support Portal. For examples of some circumstances for which we may offer exceptions, please review our Requesting an Exception to Our Policies article.

To request an exception, please log in to your HBS Online Dashboard and submit an Exception Request > CORe Exam Window Request via the Contact Us form under the “Help” section.

Exam Window Extension: If you are requesting an extension and have completed at least one exam, request a New Exam End Date deadline to complete the remaining exams. You do not need to enter an updated start date
New Exam Window: If you are requesting to reschedule your entire exam window and have not completed any exams, request a New Exam Start Date and New Exam End Date (within a 5-day window). Please note that we can only offer to reschedule exams up to 2 months after the original exam window.

While we review your request, please do not attempt to complete any part of the exam. We cannot erase your submitted answers or offer retakes under any circumstances.

Can I retake the exam if I did not perform well?
We do not offer exam retakes, under any circumstances. If you anticipate an issue that may affect your ability to test, please submit an Exception request as soon as possible to reschedule your exam. All grades are final and cannot be appealed.

EXAM ACCESS

Where do I take the final exam?The CORe final exam will be administered on the HBS Online Course Platform. Please be sure to access the course using an updated version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox on a supported device (tablets and mobile devices are not supported). To get started on your exams, select the 'start' button on any of the three exam tiles displayed on the course dashboard.

Do I need to register or make an appointment for the final exam?
No, the CORe final exam will be made available on the Course Platform to participants who completed all the CORe modules by your cohort's respective final deadline. Please refer to your Course Announcements to double-check the start and end dates of your cohort's exam window.

Will I have access to the course content and exam practice during the exam window?
Yes, you may still access your course materials and exam practice during the exam window. Please note that completing the exam practice is not required and will not be taken into consideration for final grades.

I can't see the final exam on the Course Platform yet. Where is it?
The exam will be available on the Course Platform to participants who completed all the CORe modules by the final deadline of the course. Please refer to your Course Announcements to double-check the start and end dates of your cohort's exam window. All exams will need to be completed during this window, so please double-check your local time against our opening and closing dates and times.

EXAM EXPERIENCE

What is the format of the final exam?
The exam will be divided into three sections: Business Analytics, Economics for Managers, and Financial Accounting. You'll have 60 minutes to complete each section. Each of the three sections will feature 45 questions, most of which will be multiple-choice or multiple-selection.

Is the exam experience similar to taking the module quizzes?
The exam experience will be similar to your end-of-module quizzes, except that you are not permitted to use your personal notes or any other study aid, nor are you permitted to access the CORe course content while taking the exam.

Can I take the exams at different times within the exam window?
You do not need to complete all three sections of the exam on the same day, but you will need to complete each individual course section in a single timed sitting. All three sections of the exam must be completed before the exam window ends. Once you begin a section, however, the timer will start, and you'll be graded based on the number of questions completed in that period.

What if I don't complete all 45 questions within 60 minutes?
If you have not completed all 45 questions when the timer reaches 60 minutes, you may continue to answer the remaining questions. However, keep in mind that any questions completed after 60 minutes, even if they are answered correctly, will be scored as incorrect. For example, if you completed 40 questions in 60 minutes and got 35 of those correct, you would have 35/45 correct - the remaining 5 unanswered questions would be counted as incorrect.

How does the timer on the Course Platform work?
Once you begin your exam, there will be a timer counting up at all times above the exam questions. You will not be removed from the page if the counter goes beyond 60 minutes, and may continue and complete all questions. However, we will only grade questions completed within 60 minutes.

Can I skip questions and come back to them later?
You'll be required to complete each question on the exam before you can proceed to the following one, and you may not edit your answers once submitted. You will not be able to “skip” questions and come back to them. The general format will look very similar to your end-of-module quizzes, except that you are not permitted to use your personal notes or any other study aid, nor are you permitted to access the CORe course content while taking the exam.

EXAM TOOLS

Will the final exam be proctored? Do I need a webcam for the final exam?
No, the exam will not be proctored by an individual and you will not need to use a webcam or download any external software. However, all participants will be required to affirm their compliance to the HBS Online Honor Code during their exam, which will include not referring to notes. Your exam timer will not begin until after you have confirmed your commitment to the HBS Online Honor Code.

Participants who violate the HBS Online Honor Code will not be eligible for a Credential of Readiness and will not be eligible to join other programs with HBS Online.

Can I use my own pen, paper, and calculator?
Yes, you can use your own scratch paper and writing tool, as well as your own calculator. If you wish to use calculator software on your computer, you may do so. These are the only resources you are permitted to use during the final exam. During the exam, you cannot use or reference the CORe courses, the exam review materials, your personal notes, Excel, or any other external sources. The only materials you may use during the exam are a calculator and blank paper.

Will Excel be covered in the final exam?
There's no embedded spreadsheet, but Excel functionality will be covered. You're expected to know which functions you would use to calculate an answer, what the correct setup of that function would look like, and what the parts in a multi-part function represent. You should also know how to read and use the outputs from histograms, descriptive statistics, and regressions.

Can I use an online translator during the exam? English is not my first language.
Translation tools such as Google Translate are not permitted during the exam. The terminology on the exam will be terms you have already encountered throughout the course.

GRADING TIMELINE

Will I get my grade immediately after completing the exam?
At the end of the exam section, you will receive a completion confirmation message. You will not receive a score at the end of the exam. Once the exam window concludes, we'll calculate your final grade based on the exam, module quizzes, and participation. Please allow 45-60 days from the conclusion of the testing window to receive your grades, though we expect to provide them sooner.

Can I review my answers after receiving my grades?
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide the questions and correct answers for our exams, as several are used by multiple groups of CORe participants.

Can I get my final grade earlier? Or receive my credential while waiting for my final grade?
Unfortunately, we are not able to release final grades earlier for any individuals or provide a Credential of Readiness indicating successful completion without processing your final grade. If you need to verify your participation in the CORe program, we encourage downloading a Course Verification Form directly from your dashboard at any time. A Course Verification Form contains, your participant details, including your current status in the course, description of the course, and HBS Online ID.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Are there minimum score requirements for the final exam?
There is no pre-established minimum percentage or score for the final exam.

Why can't I retake the exam?
We do not offer exam retakes, under any circumstances. If you anticipate an issue that may affect your ability to test, please submit an Exam Exception request as soon as possible via the How to Request an Exam Exception page to reschedule your exam. All grades are final and cannot be appealed.

If I do not pass all three sections of the exam, can I earn the CORe Credential or receive a participation certificate?
A passing exam score on the final exams of all three courses is required in order to pass all three courses and earn the CORe credential. Unfortunately, participants are not able to receive individual certificates for the subjects that they did pass.

If you do not pass CORe, you will not be awarded a credential for the program. However, we do offer Course Verification Forms, which can confirm your participation in the program. Please note that this document will indicate that you did not earn the credential, but will confirm your participation in the program. You are welcome to download a Course Verification Form directly from your dashboard.

I performed poorly on the exams, but have a strong quiz average and actively participated throughout the course. How will this impact my final grade?
The final exam is the most weighted component of one's CORe grade, so having lower scores on the exam (50% of final course grade) can outweigh quiz performance (35% of final course grade) and participation (15% of final course grade).

I am a participant who is taking the course for credit. How can I request a transcript that includes credit hours and/or a course number?
The Harvard Extension School manages all for-credit student accounts and credit transfers. You can contact them directly at inquiry@extension.harvard.edu.

Please note that this is applicable only to for-credit participants in the CORe program.

I'm seeing a "Resume" button even after completing the final exams. Do I need to do anything else?
Once you have completed the final exam for all three subjects, there is no further action for you to take. Please disregard the "Resume" button if you have completed all three subject exams.

I need to verify my participation in the program, but final grades are not released yet. What should I do?
If you need to verify your participation in the CORe program, we encourage downloading a Course Verification Form directly from your dashboard at any time. A Course Verification Form contains, your participant details, including your current status in the course, description of the course, and HBS Online ID.

Have more grading questions? Review the CORe Grading Information page. You may also find it helpful to connect with your peers on your cohort's Community Networking group or other social networking apps.

Still can't find what you're looking for? Please refer to the HBS Online FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), or visit the HBS Online Support Portal for any questions, comments, or concerns about your Harvard Business School Online experience.

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