Exam Policies

• Exam logistics
• DRES accommodations
• Conflict and makeup exams
• Other stuff

Exam Logistics

• This class has three exams.
  • Midterm 1: Monday, September 29, 7–9pm
  • Midterm 2: Monday, November 10, 7–9pm
  • Final Exam: Friday, December 12, 8–11am
  Locations for each exam will be announced well in advance. On the Thursday and Friday before each midterm, we will hold optional review sessions instead of the regular lecture and lab.
• Cheat sheets:
  • For each midterm, you may bring one double-sided 8½"×11" sheet of paper with anything you like written on both sides. (Two single-sided sheets are okay.)
  • For the final exam, you may bring two double-sided 8½"×11" sheets of paper with anything you like written on both sides. (Four single-sided sheets are okay.)
  • You must write your own cheat sheets by hand on paper, unless you have a documented writing disability. No printing or photocopying.

    Even if you do have a documented writing disability, your cheat sheet cannot contain more than a handwritten cheat sheet would. This accommodation lets you print or photocopy, not bring extra information into the exam.

• Academic Integrity:
  • Except for cheat sheets, all exams are closed-everything. In particular: No medically unnecessary electronic devices are allowed in exams, including phones, smart watches, and headphones/ear buds.
  • All exams are strictly confidential for at least 24 hours, or until all conflict exams have been taken. Do not discuss your exam with anyone, either in person or online. Both Ed Discussion and Discord will be temporarily closed to posting during this time period. Once conflict exams are finished, we will post exam handouts and solutions (both for the regular exam and for the conflict) on the course website.
• Difficulty:
  • Exam problems are much closer in difficulty to lab problems than homework. You have a full week to solve each homework problem, with the help of your other group members, lecture notes, labs, lab solutions, PrairieLearn practice, office hours, Discord, Ed Discussion, multiple LLMs, other textbooks, YouTube videos, and 400 other students. In contrast, you have about 20 minutes to solve each exam problem, with nothing but a pen, a blank piece of paper, and your cheat sheet. We cannot expect students to solve homework-level questions in such a restricted setting!

DRES accommodations

• Students requiring extra time or other exam accommodations should first discuss their needs with DRES, and then provide one of the instructors with a copy of the DRES accommodation letter as close to the start of the semester as possible, but at least one week before accommodations are actually required.
• We prefer that students who require accommodations schedule their in-person exams at the DRES Testing Accommodations Center. We strongly recommend scheduling your exam at TAC at least one week in advance. If you are not taking your exams at TAC, and you have an accommodation for additional time, we must ask you to take the conflict midterms.

  If you are concerned that a disability-related condition may be impacting your academic progress, DRES offers psychological/neuropsychological assessments for students who have had no prior diagnosis and are experiencing significant academic distress.

Conflict/Makeup Exams

• Conflict midterms: For each midterm, we will schedule a conflict exam on the following day to accommodate students who cannot attend the regular exam for any of the reasons listed in the student code:
  • Another simultaneous exam scheduled earlier
  • A regularly scheduled class
  • A regularly scheduled performance or rehearsal
  • Sickness, regular employment, or other extenuating circumstances
  • Religious accommodations
  “Extenuating circumstances” do not include out-of-state job interviews or other travel. (Do not believe recruiters who tell you rescheduling is impossible; they work on commission.) Students who have registered with DRES for exam accommodations are also welcome to take the conflict midterms.
• We may forgive midterms under extreme circumstances, such as documented illness or injury, that prevent taking both the regular exam and the conflict exam. We will compute your exam average as though the forgiven midterm does not exist. Please ask Jeff for details.
• Conflict final: We will also schedule a conflict final exam to accommodate students who cannot attend the regular final exam for any of the reasons outlined in the student code:
  • Another final exam at the same time
  • Three consecutive final exams in 24 hours
  • National or state professional examinations
  • Sickness, injury, or other extenuating circumstances
  • Religious accommodations
  “Extenuating circumstances” do not include already purchased plane tickets; the date of the final exam was announced in August. Students who have registered with DRES for exam accommodations are also welcome to take the conflict final.
• Makeup final: Students who cannot take either the regular final exam or the conflict final exam because of serious extenuating circumstances, such as illness or injury, should request an Incomplete from their college (Engineering or LAS). Neither the instructors nor the CS department can give Incompletes, and final exams cannot be forgiven.

  Any student who does not take the final exam and who does not have an Incomplete will be given a grade of ABS (“absent from final”). As of Fall 2025, the university no longer allows assigning "ABS" grades. Any student who does not take the final exam will be given an exam score of zero, and their overall course grade will be computed normally. (Despite what is incorrectly written in the Fall 2025 Student Code, missing the final exam is not an automatic F.)

  If necessary, we will offer a makeup exam early next semester for students who cannot take the final exam, either with or without an Incomplete. Please ask Jeff for details.

Other Policies/Reminders

• Whenever we ask you to describe an algorithm, your description must include a time analysis. Faster correct algorithms are worth more than slower correct algorithms, and slower correct algorithms are worth more than faster incorrect algorithms.
• Deadly Sins will be penalized, just as they are for homework. Write general solutions, not just examples. Don't submit code. Algorithms require English specifications, especially for dynamic programming. Don't cheat.
• Greedy algorithms always require formal proofs of correctness. Otherwise, proofs are required on exams if and only if we explicitly ask for them, using the word "prove" in bold italics.