Problem Sets and Solutions

Late-assignment Grading

Assignments must be turned in by the specified date and time (usually 5 PM). The deadline is automatically extended to 11:55 PM. Extensions past that point require a dean's excuse. (For graduate students, a note or e-mail message from their DGS will suffice.)

To allow for the exigencies of computer failures and personal crises, each student will have 3 discretionary late days, which you can use on one assignment or sprinkle around more than one. These are calendar days, not business days. As the homework assignments will be submitted electronically, the "write date" on the student's homework file will be considered the completion date for late assignments.

After you use up all of your discretionary late days, assignments turned in late will be graded according to the following formula: S = R * (1 - d / c), where S is the grade given, R is the grade the work would have gotten if turned in on time, d is the number of days by which the work was late, and c is equal to 5. Thus, the value of a late assignment decays daily, with a half-life of 2.5 days. Examples: work turned in 1 day late gets 80% credit, 2 days gets 60%, and 5 days gets 0. Past that point you start getting negative points, which is hardly worth it. (What exactly constitutes being one day late? Is 23.5 hours a day? 17.35 hours? We're fairly lenient, but the only way to figure out how lenient is to perform experiments. It's better to play it safe.)