About the exam
The exam is a traditional paper-and-pen school exam at Silurveien (check the exam page for more precise information about where and when). You are not allowed to bring any material on the exam (no textbook, no notes, no calculator, no computer), but the problem sheets will (like some previous years) contain a short list of formulas and definitions. The exam is based on the lectures, the weekly problems, and the mandatory assignments, and I don’t think there is anything on it that will come as a surprise if you have followed the course regularly.
You will write the exam on three layer carbon sheets (?gjennomslagspapir?). The two top layers are for the graders, the bottom one is for you to keep. It is important that you use a pen and not a pencil, and if you need to delete some material, just scratch it out and don’t try to erase it (there are no style marks!). Also, try not to write with the sheets on top of each other as what you write on the top sheet will penetrate to the rest (but don’t worry too much – the graders are on your side and will do their best to sort things out).
You are allowed to solve the problems in any order you want (it may be a good idea to start with a problem that looks ?safe?), but it is usually best to turn them in in the right order (problem 1, problem 2 etc) as it is much easier for the graders to overlook something in a chaotic paper.
I have tried to arrange the problems in increasing order of difficulty, but this is not always possible for problems with several items (subproblems). Hence the last problem may often start with some soft questions before it gets to the more challenging stuff. We give partial credit, and it is usually better to have done something on a problem than nothing at all (unless what you written is total nonsense, in which case all you have done is wasting valuable time).
The exam has a total of 110 points (12 questions, all except two counting 10 points). The paper will be graded according to the evaluation criteria of the Department of Mathematics adjusted to a 110 point scale.
As the course has been taught in English, the problem set will only be available in English, but you can, of course, reply in English, Norwegian (or Danish/Swedish) or any combination you find convenient.
Good Luck!
Tom