CS109 Midterm
Tuesday, February 10th 7-9pm

Logistics

The CS109 midterm is a 2-hour, closed book, closed calculator/computer exam. You are, however, allowed to bring 3 pages (front and back) of notes in the exam, formatted in any way you like. Make sure to practice before the exam.

Where to Go

Exam location is by last name:

Bishop Auditorium:
Last names beginning with A-L

Building 420-040:
Last names beginning with M-Z

Alternative Arrangements

If you can not make the CS109 midterm because of an academic conflict (such as having another midterm) we will help you schedule an alternative. Please reach out to us ASAP if that is the case (email Isabel).

Coverage

The midterm puts special emphasis on the material from the first four problem sets and the first four sections. This includes material in lecture up to and including class on Wed Feb 4th. In the course reader this corresponds to Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. We will place extra emphasis on content seen on psets and in section.

Answer Format

You are going to be solving probability questions by hand. To that extent we are not interested in numeric answers, but rather in formulaic answers. It is fine for your answers to include summations, products, factorials, exponentials, and combinations, unless the question specifically asks for a numeric quantity or closed form. Where numeric answers are required, the use of fractions is fine. You must show your work. Any explanation you provide of how you obtained your answer can potentially allow us to give you partial credit for a problem. For example, describe the distributions and parameter values you used, where appropriate.

What about the Phi table? I am not going to make you look up values from a phi table. Instead you can leave your answer in terms of phi (the CDF of the standard normal). For example $\Phi(\frac{3}{4})$ is a fine final answer. This was not the case in the past so you will see questions which ask for a numeric answer in the practice exams.

Essential Practice

We recommend working through at least one practice midterm exam under realistic conditions (timed) before you take the midterm. Note: You should not expect that a TA will have prepared to answer these problems in office hours (there are far too many for them to prep them all). If you ask about one of this problems on the Ed forum or in office hours please be ready to give the full context, and be aware that the TA might not be able to prioritize them. This is especially true if you ask about them more than a week before the exam.

Also note that different content has been emphasized in prior quarters. So there may be questions on these exams that will cover content not emphasized in this quarter of CS109. Feel free to ask on Ed if you want to double check about any topics.

CS109 Midterm Tuesday, February 10th 7-9pm