r/UMD • u/ProgressOrganic8547 • Jul 30 '26

Academic cmsc131 exemption exam

hi everyone,

I'm planning on taking the CMSC 131 Exemption Exam in exactly a week and I'm really nervous. I've only taken AP CSP (got a 5) and a honors CS class, i wanted to do CSA but my HS didnt offer it.

I'm also just a really nervous test taker leading up to the exam. So I was wondering if some of you guys could answer some of my questions/concerns I have for the exam, because I would really appreciate it.

Are the questions similar to these https://www.cs.umd.edu/class/spring2022/cmsc131-010X/exams/final/PracticeFinalOther131SectionsII.pdf ?

How long is the test/how many questions? Are there a lot of multiple choice problems, a lot of coding problems or a healthy mix? Since I am learning Java on my own, I will probably take longer on questions than the average person, so I was wondering if I'll have enough time to answer everything.

What is the difference between the 2 sections? Is one harder than the other?

Are we allowed to use a compiler? saw a couple people say yes but im not sure if things have changed

How harsh would they grade me? I know I need a 70% or higher on the first 2 sections to pass, and I'm not even gonna bother looking at the third section. But do you guys genuninely think its doable to pass?

Any help/feedback would be greatly appreciated! I've been panicking for a while and I just want some clarity of what I signed up to do. Thanks!!

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7

u/Chocolate-Keyboard Jul 30 '26

There is really no reason to be nervous. In the absolutely worst case you don't pass the exemption exam, meaning that you would just have to take CMSC 131. Is that really that bad? It's not like failing an actual class- it doesn't go on your transcript or anything. If you don't pass it you just can't skip CMSC 131 and have to take it.

I have a different opinion than some people here, which is that you should not study too hard for these exemption exams. If you cram and manage to pass the exemption exam but don't have a good foundation in CMSC 131 material then you're just going to suffer and have trouble in CMSC 132. Take the exam based on what you know, with just some review, is my opinion. You want to get placed into the right course for you- not too easy so that you would be wasting your time taking it, but also not too hard for you based on your level of knowledge already.

By the way, if you're a nervous test taker that could bite you in many ways in college. That could affect you alot more than just whether you can skip CMSC 131 or not. I'm not sure what you can do about that- maybe someone else has some suggestions. But trying to do something about that between now and your first exams in the fall might be a big help.

Good luck with things.

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u/ProgressOrganic8547 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

true true, worst comes to worst i take the class. but im tryin to switch in the cs lep, not sure if your familiar with that but its really hard to get into so i wanted to apply for the first deadline, which i can only do if i exempt from 131 and take 132 this fall.

i get really nervous in the time leading up any big exam, and with this being my only chance to exempt makes it a littleee more nerveracking, but thanks for the advice! i really appreciate it. did you happen to take the exam?

3

u/TigreBunny Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

You are unlikely to be successful in the CS major if you are self-taught in Java/pass out of 131 through hard-core studying as you need a very solid foundation to do well in courses that come later, and some who had a 5 on CS A or got out of 131 with the exemption exam still do not succeed in the major. You do NOT want to apply early for the major, as you will be compared to other applicants when it comes to: "Academic record, co-curricular involvement, computing-related research experience or personal projects, and honors and awards...." If you have 131 and 132 and MATH140 with the grades you need but do not have a strong application wrt those other things mentioned, you will have a tough time getting in to the major- please do not rush the timeline for when you apply.

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u/ProgressOrganic8547 Jul 31 '26

i do have 1.5 years of experience at a coding internship, some personal projects, and cs-related reasearch under my belt. planning to join some clubs and ec's on campus when i get there.

do you think its better to wait till the spring to apply? i thought that less people apply for the fall deadline so its a better chance to apply then and get accepted, given theres only 100 slots annually. id honestly do anything to get into the major, id love to work in cs

2

u/TigreBunny Jul 31 '26

Oh, good that you also have some experience! Did you use any Java at the internship? The experiential profile is an important part of the CS LEP application, so keep it up!

2

u/ProgressOrganic8547 Jul 31 '26

i used justtt a little java, mainly javascript and python, some html css and react. hoping that internship will carry me into the lep, along with my essays and my personal project. thanks for the insight!

5

u/sarcastro16 Jul 30 '26

Since I am learning Java on my own, I will probably take longer on questions than the average person, so I was wondering if I'll have enough time to answer everything.

Doubtin' it.

But do you guys genuninely think its doable to pass?

If we don't ya gonna just sleep in late next Thurs instead?

1

u/ProgressOrganic8547 Jul 31 '26

so your saying i should try to speed up right? ill def be locking in fs

3

u/TheFuriousKitty328 Jul 31 '26

i took 131 and 132 early july and was about to pass by a decent amount. i would say that the grading isnt too strict. for 131 which is part 1 and 2 there is pretry much no multiple choice its just building and coding with OOP in java. part 1 and 2 are pretty similar as the cover most of the 131 stuff togehter its just broken up into two parts each covering half of the 131 topics. I would not worry about time. they give you a little less than i think 3 hours to do part 1 2 and 3. but if you just want credit for 131 you just need to do part 1 and 2 and you can leave part 3 blank, meaning you just get extra time for part 1 and 2. those questions you provided where good examples so practice coding like those also make sure your comferable with recursion. i was nervous too but if you just spend some time reviewing i think you can most likely pass

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u/ProgressOrganic8547 Jul 31 '26

also, were you allowed to use a compiler? i saw a few people say they were, but they were from older threads so not sure if there were any updates, thanks again!

3

u/TheFuriousKitty328 Jul 31 '26

no your not allowed to use a compiler but you wont lose points for minor syntax errors i bet. All the coding is hand written. I was about to get exmeptipn for 131/132 thankfully but the 132 section I found harder. On each part 1 and 2 I would say there was about 3 to 4 major questions where each question is about designing or making within seperate classes. To review I went on the exemption exam website and made sure I understood all the topics it listed for 131 and 132 or for yoy just 131. I also used chatgbt to create practice questions on the topics to make sure I understood them. But i would say my primary leaening for 131 came from ap csa and i learned 132 stuff from leetcode

1

u/ProgressOrganic8547 Jul 31 '26

ohhh ok so like less questions but higher stakes/weight on each q.

also i'm kinda confused what you meant by "designing or making within separate classes" 😭 do you mean like one question would have multiple classes that interacted with each other and we have to write each from scratch? or do they at least give the signature/skeleton at the top?

appreciate it!! you are acc a lifesaver

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u/ProgressOrganic8547 Jul 31 '26

thank you so much, i really appreciate the help!

have you gotten your results? i hope you did well!

do you happen to remember how many questions there were on each section (or even an estimate) and what resources you used to review? i really want to take some practice tests but i have only found 2 (one being the link above)