Thu, May 17 7:00 PM

Exams

There are three scheduled exams: two prelims and a final.

EXAM DATE TIME PLACE REVIEW
 WHAT IT COVERS
Prelim 1 Thu 09/27/18 5:30-7:00
7:30-9:00		 OLH255, PHL101,
PHL203, URHG01		 Sun 09/23/18
1:00-3:00pm
Place: Hollister B11
 P1-StudyGuide.pdf
Prelim 2 Thu 11/15/18 5:30-7:00
7:30-9:00		 BKL200, BKL219,
URHG01		 Sun 11/11/18
1:00-3:00pm
Place: Hollister B14
 P2-StudyGuide.pdf
Final 
Mon, 10 Dec
 9:00-11:30 Barton East
 TBA FinalReview.pdf


About the FINAL

BRING YOUR CORNELL ID CARDS TO THE FINAL. WE WILL SCAN THEM IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN RECORDS AND PREVENT MISTAKES.

The final is optional. As soon as we have graded everything, we will determine tentative letter grades and make them available on the CMS. You will have a few days to complete a quiz on the CMS. It is titled "Accept Course grade". You either accept the tentative course grade as your course grade or decide to take the final.

If you accept the grade, it is your course grade. It will not be changed.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK US WHEN TENTATIVE COURSE GRADES WILL BE AVAILABLE! It will be a few days AFTER the deadline for A7. We have to grade A7 and determine tentative grades. That all takes time.

If you walk into the final room, you must complete the final. For example, you may not decide half way through the final that you don’t want to take it.

A few students missed one of the two prelims and are required to take the final unless other arrangements have been made.

Taking the final may lower or raise your course grade. Our past experience: Taking the final changes the letter grade for very few ---perhaps 20 in a course of 600. A few lower their grade, more raise their grade, most stay the same.

For those who want to take the final but either (1) have a conflict or (2) are authorized to have a quiet room or extended, email Jenna Edwards, jls478 at cornell.edu.

After the tentative grades are made available, we cannot answer questions like "How close was I to a C? Why didn't I get a B+ instead of a B? My friend got an A+ and I was close to her, why didn't I get it also? What do I have to get on the final to raise my grade? We can't answer those questions.

Read the course web page "Course info" on Grades. You will learn why exams are the major influence on the course grade.

THANKS!

About prelim 2: Room Assignments. Read Carefully!!!!!

0. BRING YOUR CORNELL ID CARDS TO THE PRELIM. WE WILL SCAN THEM IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN RECORDS AND PREVENT MISTAKES.

Here are room assignments:

If assigned 5:30, have no conflict, and netid is in lac326..rzt4: room URHG01 (Uris G01)

If assigned 5:30, have no conflict, and netid is in sa2229..zz632: room BKL200: (Baker 200)

If assigned 7:30 but have conflict and can take it at 5:30: room BKL200: (Baker 200)
--------------------------------

If assigned 7:30, have no conflict, and netid is in aa2277..gyz2:room URHG01 (Uris G01)

If assigned 7:30, have no conflict, and netid is in hcm58..ky356: room BKL200 (Baker Lab 200)

If assigned 5:30 but have conflict and can take it at 7:30: room BKL200 (Baker Lab 200)
---------------------------------

All others have been emailed.

======================================================

The following tells you when you should take prelim 2. THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM PRELIM 1!!!

5:30PM EXAM. Netids and first names starting with a letter in l..z

7:30PM EXAM. Netids and first names starting with a letter in a..k

If you can take the prelim at the assigned time, do nothing more. Just come to the prelim at that time.

If you cannot take the prelim at the assigned time, complete quiz P2Conflict on the CMS before midnight on Thursday, 8 November. Choose option a, b, c, d, or e, depending on the following.


a. My netid and first name starts with a letter in l..z so I am supposed to take the prelim at 5:30. I have a conflict and will take it at 7:30. I don't have to do anything else.

b. My netid and first name starts with a letter in a..k so I am supposed to take the prelim at 7:30. I have a conflict and will take it at 5:30. I don't have to do anything else.

c. I am authorized to have extended time or a quiet room. I will email Jenna Edwards immediately to tell her what time I will come to Gates 460 for the prelim (5PM or after).

d. I have a conflict with both the 5:30 and the 7:30 exam. I will email Jenna Edwards immediately and explain the situation.

e. I will be out of town the evening of the prelim. I will email Jenna Edwards immediately to explain the situation.

NOTE: It is standard practice at Cornell to take two prelims in one evening if you have a conflict. Sorry about that.

We apologize for this process of handling conflicts for the prelim. With so many students (over 600), it's the best way to handle this issue. Because the course is so large, we have permission to hold the prelim twice. If we were not able to give it twice, resolving conflicts would be a nightmare.

 

 

About course grades

If everyone did A work, everyone would get an A. That has never happened because of the wide range of abilities in this class. For the past 5-6 years, the average grade has been about a B to a B+. We expect that to be the case this semester.

Please read about grades on the course website: courseinfo.html#grading

Review sessions for final

Two review sessions will be scheduled, one on Java and the other on data structures and algorithms.

Conflicts

If you have a conflict with another exam or other university-sponsored event:

By University policy, courses are not obligated to provide makeup exams for students taking concurrent courses, and we will not do so in this course. The Courses of Study states: "Students are expected to be present throughout each semester at all meetings of courses for which they are registered."  The term "meetings" includes exams, even when scheduled in the evening.

Past Exams

Prelim 1

Prelim 2

Final

Quizzes

There may be occasional in-class quizzes.

Quizzes will count for a small percentage of your final grade.  Any unused quiz "weight" will be shifted to the exams or assignments.