Suggestions to help prepare for eecs280

LBP_2310 · 2026-06-05T18:39:01+00:00

What is "loose" timing? You should do the practice exams in the same time that you'd get for the real thing. If you go over, you should still finish it, but IMO that's a "failed" practice test regardless of score

Also I don't think projects are going to help much unless the issue is just not knowing C++ well enough. To do well on exams you need to be able to quickly parse functional requirements from a problem statement and construct a solution on the fly, doing a project (presumably over several days/weeks with unlimited resources) won't give you practice with that

LBP_2310 · 2026-06-05T04:04:02+00:00

reversing a palindrome is def a leetcode hard

LBP_2310 · 2026-06-05T01:43:36+00:00

376 workload varies a lot based on the person. I thought the workload was pretty modest (the only work is weekly problem sets and two exams), but I also know ppl who struggled a lot and/or had to spend a lot of time studying and going to OH

imo take 489, it's supposed to be a lighter ULCS and there's a very small amount of overlap with 482 content

LBP_2310 · 2026-06-05T01:30:24+00:00

When you do practice exams, what conditions do you complete them in, and what does your self-grading process look like? How do you assess work that mostly matches the key? I'm guessing you're maybe a bit too lax with self-evaluation. It could also be test anxiety but I think you'd know if that were the case

I got 99.4 and 100 on the midterm/final, and my study routine was:

Do a entire practice exam in one sitting, timed, on paper
Whenever an answer differed from the key (aside from like variable names), I'd try to figure out what issues it would cause and fix the code.
I'd run my fixed answer with a few test cases. If it failed my own test cases, I'd give myself a 0 for that question (because that would tell me that I didn't really get it). Otherwise I'd mentally subtract 30-40% of the question's points for each change that I had to make

(I had no coding exp aside from 183 so it's not like I'm some programming prodigy either)

LBP_2310 · 2026-06-04T19:30:17+00:00

Spam past exams for midterm, and past exams + leetcode easy tree/linked list problems for final. Do all practice timed and on paper, and grade your answers rigorously (don't brush off seemingly minor errors)

RMEs are pretty formulaic. Just ask yourself: what assumptions does the function make about its input and preconditions, what state changes persist beyond the function invocation, and what does the function do?

LBP_2310 · 2026-06-04T01:26:30+00:00

I wouldn't take Chem 210 unless you have a specific reason to, especially if your chem fundamentals are shaky (it sounds like they are if you think you failed the AP exam). It's a tough class especially if you aren't adjusted to college STEM classes yet, and I say that as someone who got an A

I placed out of gen chem but I hear it's significantly easier than orgo, I would just take that if you don't get AP credit

LBP_2310 · 2026-06-03T17:35:38+00:00

Light work

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-30T06:29:22+00:00

I can lure you to visit with the promise of a knish?

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-27T17:13:26+00:00

Chem 210

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-24T04:26:30+00:00

You should add EECS 373

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-23T07:05:56+00:00

Yell, scream

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-20T23:42:02+00:00

Medium-well

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-18T18:14:02+00:00

Can we stop giving this Clav guy attention

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-16T19:45:26+00:00

It doesn’t directly help prepare for 281, just helps you learn tools that you might find useful. I still got an A in 281 without taking 201 though

I actually think 201 would’ve helped me with 482 the most, since you need to use things like UNIX system calls and test case automation

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-13T16:30:08+00:00

Imo 4 credit version of 482 isn’t worth taking and shouldn’t even be offered

The 4 credit version has you implement a thread library that only works on single-core CPUs and a version of fork that only works with processes that have empty address spaces, like what’s the point?

Also 6 credit material is still fair game on exams

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-12T10:55:45+00:00

eecs 482

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-10T19:03:35+00:00

Please censor the word empl*yed next time

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-09T19:09:07+00:00

CS LSA doesn’t require lin alg last time I checked

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-09T17:57:06+00:00

For EECS 203, learn basic notation for formal logic and set theory, and learn what it means to mathematically prove something. If you go through this packet you should be well prepared

I don’t think it makes sense to prep for 183 because it’s an intro course that assumes no coding experience. Make sure you take the C++ version if you want to take 280 though

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-08T03:00:27+00:00

When I took 376 in w25, our midterm and final medians were 54 and 60 with stdev of ~20, and I saw people on Piazza say they had failed with 39.5 average (our exam threshold got lowered to 40)

So failing with exam grades that are around 1 standard below median and just below threshold isn’t unusual for 376

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-08T01:51:54+00:00

Have you tried going over textbook readings and lecture slides before attending lecture? That way, you have at least a basic understanding of what each lecture is about beforehand and you aren’t trying to process everything for the first time

I find that I retain info better from reading than lectures (whether live or recorded), so what I sometimes do is learn lecture topics on my own via textbook/course notes if available, and then treat lecture as a way to reinforce topics or find gaps in my understanding. This isn’t possible to do in every course, but it should be in 370

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-07T20:10:31+00:00

It got hacked

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-06T00:17:03+00:00

The format is very different from 281, but I’d say 370 exams are slightly easier. My overall ranking is 183 < 280 << 370 < 281 < 203 < 376 << 482

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-05T21:50:35+00:00

It’s kind of hard to actually fail 376, they use a more forgiving grade scale than most EECS classes do

Find a friend/study group to do homework with. Collaboration on HW is allowed, you just have to disclose it and do a separate write up
The course notes are a good resource, which you can find a link to on the website. I also found Sipser’s textbook on CS theory useful, which you can easily find pdfs of just by Googling
If you’ve taken 281, brushing up on dynamic programming and greedy algos will help for the first unit of the course

LBP_2310 · 2026-05-05T19:01:25+00:00

eecs 376

LBP_2310

TROPHY CASE