# Midterms

Twice this quarter you'll sit a midterm in the form of a mock technical interview, the kind you'd have for a standard software engineering role. Midterm 1 covers the first block of the course (algorithm analysis through balanced trees); Midterm 2 covers the second (heaps through union-find). Each is worth 15% of your grade.

These aren't meant to catch you out. The point is to give you a low-stakes rep at the thing data structures knowledge is actually for: explaining your reasoning out loud, under a little pressure, to another person.

## Format

You'll have a roughly ~10 minute conversation with a TA about a course-related problem. You'll work through your approach, the structures involved, the tradeoffs, the runtime together. It's meant to be a conversation: your interviewer can nudge you when you're stuck, the way a good real-world interviewer would. You can take your interview online or in person, whichever you prefer.

## Preparing

Review the material from the block the midterm covers — lectures, your homework problems, and the section worksheets. The best preparation is practicing out loud: explain a problem to a friend, or walk through a structure as if you were teaching it. You won't be asked to memorize anything obscure. You will be asked to reason.

## How it's graded

These midterms are graded *mostly* on effort and engagement, not on getting a flawless answer. Roughly:

- **Preparation & engagement** (the majority of your grade): you showed up ready, worked the problem, and stayed in the conversation.
- **Communication:** we can follow your reasoning as you go.
- **Technical reasoning** (a smaller slice): your thinking about structures, tradeoffs, and runtime is sound. A wrong turn costs little if you reason through it; only being consistently, unrecoverably off takes meaningful points.

In practice: come prepared and engage, and you'll land at or near full marks. 

## Accommodations

If you have DRS accommodations, or you can't make any of the available interview slots, contact the instructor at vagar343@uw.edu as early as possible and we'll arrange an alternative.