Deadlines, Late Work, and Extensions

This course has been carefully designed to maintain a consistent weekly cadence. Having the same structure each week is essential to keep the course on schedule, flow smoothly, and reduce mental overhead for everyone.

Assignments are always due at the same time: Fridays at 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

This schedule allows both students and course staff to take the weekend to rest, recuperate, and prepare for the upcoming week. Late submissions disrupt this cadence, making it harder for both students and staff to maintain high-quality work.

However, we recognize that sometimes life circumstances, other commitments, or unforeseen factors can make it difficult to complete your best work before an assignment deadline. To that end, over the years we have developed a generous, fair, and flexible policy:

Submission Policy

• Initial Submission Deadline: You must submit your assignment by the due date, which is Friday at 5:00 pm Pacific Time. If you do not submit by the deadline, you will not receive any credit for the assignment.

• Resubmission Window: Grading will not begin until Sunday evening (48 hours after the assignment deadline). This means you have until Sunday at 5:00 pm Pacific Time to review and resubmit your assignment if you want to make any changes or corrections. You do not need to communicate with course staff to take advantage of this policy—simply resubmit the assignment on Gradescope. We will always grade the most recent submission received before Sunday at 5:00 pm. Submit early and make sure your best work is the final version you submit -- we will not roll back to or restore earlier versions of your homework submissions.

• Strict No-Credit Cutoff: No work will be accepted after Sunday at 5:00 pm. This deadline is strict in order to give the TAs sufficient time to grade your work and stay on schedule. It also ensures fairness for all students.

Important Notes

• Initial Submission Requirement: To be eligible for resubmission during the weekend, you must submit a meaningful attempt at the assignment by the initial deadline (Friday at 5:00 pm). A meaningful attempt includes substantive work that shows engagement with the assignment (e.g., partial solutions or draft code for several -- but not necessarily all -- of the homework problems). Submitting a blank or minimal placeholder file to meet the initial deadline will not qualify for the resubmission window, and the assignment will be graded as a zero.

• Encouragement to Start Early: We strongly advise starting assignments early and making steady progress throughout the week. This approach reduces stress, allows for better-quality work, and provides time to handle any unforeseen challenges.

Additional Extensions

While the policy above is designed to accommodate most situations, we understand that emergencies or truly extenuating circumstances can occur. If you are facing a crisis or a significant personal challenge, please prioritize taking care of yourself first. When you are able, send an e-mail to the course instructors (Anjali and Zach) as early as possible, and we will work with you to determine reasonable accommodations. Each request will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and in some cases, documentation may be required to provide additional flexibility. It's not possible to list everything that fits into this category, but some examples are: significant illness or injury requiring immediate medical attention, significant personal loss, and other sudden emergencies. Having visitors or failing to plan for other deadlines is not an extenuating circumstance.

Summary

• Assignments are due: Fridays at 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

• Resubmission window: Until Sunday at 5:00 pm (no need for communication; we grade the latest submission).

• Strict cutoff: You must submit a solid attempt by the initial deadline and no submission updates will be accepted after Sunday at 5:00 pm.

• Extension requests: Must be made via email to both instructors and will be considered only for emergencies or significant extenuating circumstances.

This policy aims to provide flexibility for students, incentivize starting assignments early, and minimize administrative overhead for course staff. We believe it balances fairness, structure, and empathy, ensuring that all students have the best opportunity to succeed in this course.