15-213 Introduction to Computer Systems (ICS): Exams

  • There are two online exams: a midterm and a final.
  • All exams are closed book, closed notes.
  • However, you may bring one (1) double-sided 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of notes, which can be handwritten or typed, to the midterm, and you may bring two (2) double-sided 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of notes to the final.
  • Your note sheet may not contain any pre-worked problems.
  • You may also bring blank scratch paper, but you are not permitted to use a calculator or any other electronic aid.
  • There will be questions similar to previous exams, questions that will test your understanding of the lab material, and new types of questions.

Midterm Exam - Week of March 3rd

  • The midterm will be delivered online over a span of 3-5 days in a set of proctored network-isolated clusters. Please sign up for an exam slot.
  • The nominal time for the exam is 80 minutes, but students will have 5 hours to complete the exam if they need the extra time.
  • You are responsible for everything in Chapters 1-3 and Chapter 6 in your textbook.
  • Your TAs will hold an exam review in DH 1212 at 6:30pm on Sunday, March 2.
  • To study, read each chapter and work in study groups to review slides, review your own notes, work the practice problems in the book, and do problems from previous exams. Note that in previous years, Chapter 6 (memory hierarchy) was covered by Exam 2:

Exam 1:


Exam 2:

Final Exam - Week of May 5th or 12th

  • You are responsible for everything in Chapters 1-3 and Chapters 6-12 in your textbook. You can expect questions on topics such as, but not limited to, floating point, assembly, stacks, caches, VM address translation, process control, Unix I/O, concurrency, and synchronization.
  • To study, read each chapter and work in study groups to review slides, review your own notes, work the practice problems in the book, and do problems from previous exams. Note that in previous years, Chapter 6 (memory hierarchy) was covered by Exam 2: