Final Exam
The Final Exam (or State Exam) is the final act of finishing your studies.
On the Final Exam you will have to defend your Thesis Work, and take the Final Exam about the entire BSc material before the Examination Board gathering 3 teachers from our Faculty and 1 external member (from another University).
The Defence means basically presenting the Board your Thesis Work using a computer (preferably a lab PC; if reasonable, your own laptop is allowed): what it is about, how it works, show your code, answer the Board's questions. You will have about 10–15 minutes.
Then the actual Final Exam part is similar to a regular oral exam. The Board will assign you one (or two) topic(s) from the List of Topics covering the whole BSc material. Then—after some time of preparation—you will have to discuss the topic with the Board: present your knowledge, answer their questions. Download the List of Topics below:
- List of Topics for the Final Exam (old curriculum)
- List of Topics for the Final Exam (new curriculum)
The final grade of the final examination is derived from the average of the grade of the degree thesis, of the defending of the degree thesis and of the oral exam. The final grade of the degree certificate equals to the final grade of the final examination.
The Final Exam usually takes place during the last weeks of the exam season; you will be informed about the exact date by your student coordinator.
To everyone’s attention!
New regulation for Students enrolled in or after September 2022
Due to the change in Sections 382 and 383/A of the ARS (ELTE Academic Regulations for Students), students of the BSc program in Computer Science (with all curricula) may opt for the new regulations of the Final Exam and for the new grading rule of the degree certificate.
According to the new regulation, the Final Exam will consist of the defence of the thesis, which will also include an assessment of the student’s knowledge of the subject material related to the academic background of their thesis. In this case, with the acceptance of the thesis supervisor, student is required to choose 3 topics related to his/her thesis from the list of Final Exam Topics.
According to the new regulation the student receives a single grade for the thesis and the thesis defence, which shall be the grade received for the final examination. The grade of the degree certificate shall be the average of the cumulative average of the subjects completed during the programme and the final examination score.
Students enrolled before September 2022 are required to declare their decision on the IK - Registration for Final Exam form on whether they wish to take the final examination under the old or the new regulations.
Some Hints…
…to guide your preparation.
You are suggested to ask your supervisor to help to prepare for the Final Exam during the consultation course: practice the defence, talk it over how to build up the presentation and the answers to topics.
When defending your Thesis Work, you will have about 10–15 minutes to present your program. So be sure that you can talk enough about your topic and software, but don't make it too long. Talk understandably, be calm, use nice whole sentences, let your presentation be well-structured.
The Final Exam is not a regular exam, so you do not have to learn all the proofs and too much detail, but you have to be able to recall the basic definitions and theorems, noteworthy examples, counterexamples, diagrams etc. You will have to show the Board that you are familiar with the given area of Computer Science. You should be able to have a conversation in each topic. The most important keyword is: overview. You'll not be asked for tiny details of difficult proofs, but you'll have to show that you understand the basic problems and solutions at a bachelor level in any area of Informatics. You should be able to tell a few correct sentences about each phrase in the List of Topics. Having no idea at all about a topic means failing the exam.
In any case, be confident and show the Board what you know.