Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I just found this website, what should I do next?

A: Please read through this FAQ and the Syllabus page. If you are registered (or waitlisted) for the course, the course staff will enroll you in the technologies we will use for communication (Piazza) and homework assignment submission (Autolab, Gradescope). If it is after the first day of class, you have been registered for more than two days, and you still don’t have access to one of these, then go ahead and enroll yourself in Piazza using your Andrew Email and send a “Private Note” to the instructors that includes your Andrew ID.

Q: How does 10-418 differ from 10-618?

A: Students in 10-618 will also complete a course project. Otherwise, the courses will be identical in all respects.

Q: How does Section B differ from A?

A: Each semester in the Machine Learning Department, we run into the same problem: More students register for our courses than we have seats in the classroom. Some time after the Add Deadline, enough students drop the course that we are left with empty seats. Those seats could have been given to those waitlisted, but by then it’s too late. As a result, many students excited about machine learning miss out.

To address this issue, we’ve created a “livestream” section (Section B) this semester that is identical to the other section except that the lectures are viewed at the same time online. Students in the online sections will be required to attend exams in-person and will have access to all other in-person aspects of the course (e.g. office hours). If you join , you will be a full part of the course. Here’s the best part: If physical seats open up in the other sections, you will be able to join for in-person lectures too.

Can we guarantee students in Section B will eventually get a seat? No. However, I expect a fair number of students will.

So if you are currently waitlisted for Section A, we encourage you to sign up for Section B.

Q: How do I watch the “livestream” of the lectures / recitations.

A: Click the video link on the Schedule page. (If it’s not there yet, it will be soon!)

Q: Will I be able to get off the waitlist?

A: No one should be on the waitlist. Just sign up for Section B (see above), which has infinite capacity. (There is a bug in the registration system that occasionally causes a waitlist on Sections B. However, someone will manually add you within a week.)

Q: Does this course have recitations?

A: This term, we will have occasional recitations on Friday at the same time and location as the Monday/Wednesday lectures. Some of them will review the material from the previous week. We might also include a few to review background and prerequisite material. We’ll interchangeably refer to these as “recitations” and “review sessions”.

Whenever we are having a Friday session, it will be listed on the Schedule page.

Q: Where can I review the course policies?

A: See the Syllabus page for tentative course policies.

Q: What does grading look like for this course?

A: The grading is based on exams, homeworks, and class participation (and a course project for 10-618). See more details in the Syllabus page.