I have an upcoming midterm that I booked time off of work in order to study and write on a Saturday night. My boss is unwilling/unable to give me the time off to write the exam on the Saturday night. I do not wish to miss the midterm and have to defer for such a ridiculous reason. I am going to contact my professor about the problem, but was hoping for some suggestions on what protocol I need to follow before I do.

Call in sick. School >> work (assuming its a near minimum wage job) so just say your sick that day and there isn't much he can do. Either that or see if someone can pick/exchange your shift just for those hours

The school is under no obligation to do anything about it; your prof may decide to help you out but I think it's unlikely.

I had an issue similar to this in high school, where a work shift conflicted with a mandatory school requirement. The only way to get time off in this job was to switch a shift, and one person was available to switch with me but wouldn't (not because he was busy, just because he didn't want to). I ended up calling in sick to work. It sucks because your boss will know you're lying, and they could retaliate, but at the end of the day your education is more important. You're working to support your education, right? Not to throw it away.

Tell your boss to go fuck himself, and that you are going to write the midterm so that you dont end up in a dead end job like the one he is likely in. Education is wayy more important than any part time job. If you boss is going to respect that, there are surely more part time job opportunities out there for you

msaf is the solution to everything

MSAF or just say "___ course is killing me. too sick"