How to Prepare for Prelims
Course Offerings
When are prelims courses offered?
Fall: Networks, Architecture, Theory, Algorithms, Compilers
Spring: Logic, Operating Systems
Offered every semester: AI, Graphics
Do I have to take every prelims course I plan to sit for?
No, although you should definitely consider at least sitting in on the course. Learning a subject on your own for prelims is challenging, but not impossible, given the history of prelims questions at our disposal. However, you should consider finding a study buddy who has taken the course.
Studying
What makes a good study group?
Two is the optimal study group size—no more, no less. Studying alone means any questions you have must be answered by professors (who may have little time) or textbooks (which may take you a long time) or your class notes (which may not exist). Larger study groups have more people involved, which leads to more schedules to plan around and wasted time chatting during the meetings. Although larger groups may have more combined knowledge, they are also likely to have more combined ignorance—meaning you may waste valuable time waiting for a topic you understand to be explained to people who don’t get it yet.
Who should I study with?
Pick a study partner who is at your level but perhaps you each have different specialty subjects—this will make filling holes in both your knowledge easier. Also try to find someone with study habits that are similar to yours, or who will push you to study to the best of your ability.
How should I study?
How you study depends on how you like to prepare for exams; the best advice is to know how you work. Some people cram for exams the night before—these people may spend two very long weeks after New Year’s preparing (although you should note that the exact week prelims are given may change from year to year—don’t get burned if you only have 10 days after New Year’s!). Others prefer to study as early as the summer before, religiously following a study plan of every topic before winter break, and then calmly reviewing in the days before the exams.
Test Day
Who writes the prelims questions?
Every year, two faculty are selected to write prelims questions for each subject and grade responses.
How do I prepare for the ordeal?
Make sure you have a game plan before you go into the test. You have a limited amount of time, plan how you will approach selecting questions, maximizing the amount of each question you think you can answer correctly before actually writing the answers out! Read through all the questions in a section before answering them, this will also help you manage your time during the test. To practice, save one set of prelims questions and try to simulate testing conditions.
