Math 51
Spring 2013

Exam Policy

All exams for Math 51 are closed-book, closed-notes, with no calculators or other electronic aids permitted. Each midterm counts approximately 26% toward your final grade, and the final exam counts approximately 38%. (Your overall exam average is the sum of all points earned on all exams, divided by the total possible points; this average counts 90% toward the final grade. No scaling or curving is applied to individual exam scores.)

If you have a course-related or competition-related schedule conflict with a midterm exam, you must at least a week in advance of the exam to make arrangements for an alternate (early) sitting; the same policy holds for OAE accomodations. No other schedule conflicts are accommodated for midterms, and alternate exam times are limited. The date and time of the Final Exam are set by the University; all students must take the exam at this time.

There is a regrade process after each midterm exam to address possible grading issues on individual problems. Your original, unaltered exam must be accompanied by a cover letter clearly explaining why the particular problem merited more points, and it must be turned into your TA no more than two weeks after the official exam date. (Once submitted, any part of the exam may be regraded; please also note your exam may have been photocopied to ensure compliance with the Honor Code.) The submission deadlines are firm, and no exceptions will be made, so please arrange to pick up your exam paper from your TA in a timely manner. (For privacy reasons, we can only release your exam, whether in paper or electronic form, to you.)

Midterm Exam 1

Exam 1 is on Thursday, April 25th, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.   Solutions   Grade Distribution

The mean score was 51.9 points out of 80, with a standard deviation of 12.1 points. The top quarter of the class scored 62 points or above, the median score was 54, and the bottom quarter of the class scored below 45 points. (See the histogram linked above for a more detailed view of where your score stands.)

Although letter grades are not given for individual exams, if the final grade were to be based on this exam alone, the B/A cutoff would be at approximately 59/60 (out of 80 points), the C/B cutoff would be at approximately 45/46, and the lowest C-minus would be approximately 35 points (out of 80).

Midterm Exam 2

Exam 2 is on Thursday, May 16th, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.   Solutions   Grade Distribution

The mean score was 46.2 points out of 80, with a standard deviation of 13.7 points. The top quarter of the class scored 57 points or above, the median score was 47, and the bottom quarter of the class scored below 37 points. (See the histogram linked above for a more detailed view of where your score stands.)

Although letter grades are not given for individual exams, if the final grade were to be based on this exam alone, the B/A cutoff would be at approximately 55/56 (out of 80 points), the C/B cutoff would be at approximately 38/39, and the lowest C-minus would be approximately 29 points (out of 80).

Final Exam

The Final Exam is on Friday, June 7th, from 7:00pm to 10:00pm, in Hewlett 200. You must take the exam at this time.

Previous Exams

The following exams were given in previous incarnations of Math 51. Material covered on a given midterm of a given course may not exactly correlate to the material covered in Math 51 this quarter, so please bear this in mind when working these examples. Also keep in mind that the midterm exams are not of a uniform length, since different courses set different time limits (60 minutes, 90 minutes, 120 minutes, etc).

When reviewing these exams you should attempt to solve the problems on your own without looking at the included solutions. Working the problems with the solutions at hand will do you no good at all.