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Midterm 1 Fall 2025 Release Notes

Stats and grade discussion:

Stats and grades will be discussed in the place listed below. If you have questions you can follow-up with instructors on Piazza.

  • GT/OMSA students: Presented during Bootcamp OH session on Oct 2 at 630pm ET; Recording will be posted within 24 hours
  • VMM students: Recording of session will be shared by Friday evening
  • Everyone: Powerpoint will be posted in Piazza in the post-exam pinned post (#729 for GT, TBD for VMM)

Post-exam survey:

Please share your study strategy, what you've liked so far, and what we could improve. This information helps ensure we're investing time in the aspects of the course that most benefit you. Survey Link (GT only).

Access to your Midterm 1:

  • Access Workarea:
  • GT Students: Click on link through Canvas like when you started the exam (no Honorlock required)
  • EdX Students: Access submissions via the below instructions
  • Access Submissions: You can access that from Vocareum directly labs.vocareum.com
  • First time logging in: If you haven't logged in here before, enter the email address you used and reset password.
  • Common bug: If you see only one assignment, you need to log out and log back in, then you should see everything.

Solutions: Official Solution

General post-exam reminder:

Now that midterm 1 is over, it's a good time to review all of the resources the class offers and assess how useful they are. As a reminder, the major resources are:

  • Piazza (pinned notebooks threads for homework questions, private posts for help on specific things)
  • Bootcamp which includes (all can be found on the pinned Piazza post):
  • Live sessions (1-2 week) walking through Colab notebooks, past exams, test-taking strategies
  • Colab notebooks and supplemental resources
  • Recordings and documentation for everything above, allowing you choose the content that's most useful for you
  • Notebook Review Sessions (Thursday evenings)
  • TA Office Hours (1:1 TA Sessions; GT only)

Version History

  • 1.0.3 - 28 Sept, 2025 - Improve ex0 demo testing.
  • 1.0.2 - 26 Sept, 2025 - Improve ex8 tester.
  • 1.0.1 - 26 Sept, 2025 - Adjust ex10 grading.
  • 1.0.0 - 26 Sept, 2025 - Initial Release.

Exam Overview

Midterm 1 is available starting 26 September, 2025 12:00 UTC.

  • 11 exercises, 19 total points, 15 point cap (you need 15/15 for 100%)
  • 4 hour time limit
  • Exercises are independent - solve in any order, difficulty indicated by point values

Important Notes

  • Demo cells illustrate problems but aren't complete tests - your solution must pass the actual grading script
  • Test case variables are available after running test cells to help with debugging
  • Avoid excessive printing - your code runs 20+ times, so remove prints before submitting

NEW: Exam Prerequisite

GT students must complete a "Pre-exam Checklist" before accessing the exam. This brief review of exam policies and key information takes less than 5 minutes and can be completed anytime after the exam opens. You can find it in the Modules section of Canvas, right above Midterm 1. We recommend completing it early in case you need to review anything in more detail.

Policies & Resources

Common Issues

  • "Passed" but no points: See the Vocareum Guide for potential causes
  • Platform issues: Time limit includes buffer for minor problems covered in troubleshooting guides