Greetings.  First, please remember that you are asked to fill out 
course evaluations before Dec. 7.  Go to the math department's 
home page,

https://www.math.tamu.edu/ ,

and follow the prominent link near the top of the page.

More importantly:  One of you has, for a good reason, requested 
to take the final exam on Friday, Dec. 7 (one day before the 
announced period).  The easiest way to handle that is to make the 
test available to all of you on that day.  Also, the earlier you 
finish the sooner I can grade the tests and turn to my other 
class.  Therefore, I am declaring the exam period to be from noon 
on Friday, Dec. 7, to noon on Monday, Dec. 10, with the computer 
set to cut off access at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 10 in accordance with 
the original announcement.  

In the same spirit, the computer will allow 4 hours for the test, 
although I consider it a 3-hour test and you should budget your 
time accordingly.  

Also, as befits a graduate exam, some of the questions, or the 
last parts of some questions, will be, umm, adventurous.  Don't 
panic.  I do NOT calibrate by the undergraduate scale of 90% = A, 
..., 60% = D.  What might be an adventure?  Well, you know that I 
have a physics background and that "linear algebra for 
applications" to me means mostly applications to differential 
equations, ordinary or partial.

Finally, I still intend to provide some commentary on Drew 
Macha's question about Least Squares and Lagrange Multipliers.  
That probably won't be available until after the finals, so stay 
tuned for a Christmas or New Year bonus lecture.  Also, I expect 
to be able to scan your graded finals back to you as I did with 
the midterms.