Late policy

Written by Julie Zelenski

Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you think, even when you take Hofstadter's Law into account."

Late policy: just the facts

1. The cutoff for on-time submission is midnight of the due date. Late days past the due date are counted in 24-hour periods. Submitting just past midnight until midnight of the next day is one day late, and so on.
2. By submitting by the due date, you earn the on-time bonus for that assignment, typically a ~5% perk. (the assignment writeup will specify)
3. If you miss the due date, you have until the hard deadline to make a submission. Late submissions are accepted after the due date and up to the hard deadline. These late submissions are not penalized, but do not earn the on-time bonus.
4. Submissions are not accepted after the hard deadline. The hard deadline is typically 2 late days past the due date, but may be restricted to fewer, or even none, on a per-assignment basis. For a given assignment, refer to its writeup to verify its hard deadline. The hard deadline is strictly enforced.

Late philosophy

The philosophy driving our late policy has three goals:

• Encourage good time-management. Time management is a valuable skill and we want to provide incentives for you to balance your commitments and adapt/triage as necessary to meet deadlines. We follow industry tradition to reward engineers for meeting the product ship deadline. Our policy rewards timeliness, but also allows you a little penalty-free extra time when you need it.
• Empower you to make your own decisions. You are The Decider for when your situation warrants slipping to the hard deadline. Knowing the value of the on-time bonus and state of your progress, you choose when it make sense to push to hit the deadline and when to use the extra time to make a stronger submission. Slipping to the hard deadline on one assignment cuts into the time you have for completing the subsequent one, so consider the impact on your overall schedule when making your decisions.
• Keep things fair. Deadlines are the same for all students, there are no exceptions. All students have the opportunity to earn the on-time bonus, but when not feasible, they can slip to the hard deadline without penalty.

Frequently asked questions about the late policy

Do I need to make special arrangements for a late submission?

No, just submit normally. The timestamp on your submission determines the assignment's lateness.

Don't we get grace days, like we had in CS106?

The late days after due date and before hard deadline are effectively free grace days. Work submitted on-time earns a bonus, late work is treated neutrally. If you feel you would benefit from extra time, you may submit up to the hard deadline without penalty.

I'm having a scheduling crisis. What are my options for accommodation?

• The due date is the same for all students without exceptions. We do not move the due date and/or award bonus points for work that is not submitted on-time.
• If you cannot finish by the due date, your first recourse is to use the extra time already granted to you and slip the schedule to the hard deadline.
• Plan to make a submission by the hard deadline in all circumstances. As necessary, consider tradeoffs to ensure you can earn partial credit for what you have completed; i.e submission must build, ideally passes most/all sanity tests, and unattempted features or unresolved bugs don't interfere with basic functioning. Ask us if you need advice on how best to triage to hit the hard deadline.
• Extra time in addition to the already-provided slip will only be granted for truly exceptional circumstances. In such situations, contact the instructor (not the TAs) in person. Initiate this request in advance of the deadline, not after. You must make at least an initial submission by the hard deadline in any case. If we grant the request, that submission can be replaced.

If slipping to the hard deadline is penalty-free, why wouldn't I just treat the hard deadline as the actual deadline?

Yes, you could submit every assignment at the hard deadline if that is your choice, but we don't recommend it. We're setting the due dates for reasonable completion and reward you for keeping pace with the schedule. If you are aiming for the due date and something unexpected comes up, you still have until the hard deadline to complete your work. If you're running up against the hard deadline and get waylaid, you are left with no recourse but to make an incomplete submission. Don't let this happen to you!