USACO

The USACO coaching team is proud to announce the schedule and format for the upcoming 2005-2006 pre-college programming contest season.


Most of the hallmarks of the USACO competition remain unchanged:

• All pre-college students throughout the world with access to the internet are eligible (except cheaters who have been banned)
• No fees are charged
• Contest languages include C, C++, Pascal, and Java
• Registration at http://ace.delos.com/usacoregister (for both contests and training)
• Training at http://train.usaco.org
• Contests beyond the first-year level are three to five hours in length
• Cheaters are banned for life
• Results are widely disseminated and reported on the USACO web site
• The 'big prize' is an invitation to the USA Invitational Computing Olympiad in Colorado Springs, CO in the first half of June, 2006.
• The 'biggest prize' is selection for the four-student USA international traveling team that will represent the USA in Mexico at the International Olympiad where 70 other countries will also compete in August, 2006.

We will continue to run thre three standard divisions:

• GOLD DIVISION: The elite level with the most difficult challenges. The lowest-level competitors in this division should be able to create a dynamic programming algorithm from scratch (similar to the old Green division).
• SILVER: Just below the Gold division, Silver competitors should know a number of standard computer algorithms (e.g., the flood-fill algorithm). Silver is similar to the old Orange division.
• BRONZE: Students who can write programs that work, including ad hoc programs that don't require fancy optimized algorithms.
• NOVICE: For first year students. Problem levels escalate through the year in parallel with standard instructional curricula. Contests will be one hour in length and are intended to be administered during class.

Both Gold and Silver levels are "invitation-only". Invitations are earned by:

• Doing well on the October 14-17 qualification exam
• Doing well at the Bronze or Silver Level on subsequent contests
• Special cases as determined by the coaches
• Achieving the Gold/Silver level in previous contests

Our first contest will be the three hour USACO Qualification Exam. Only those who wish to move up from their current competition level need take this exam. Its scores will be used only for qualifying -- they will not be used for determination of national champions, invitations to travel camps, etc.

The tasks and scoring are anticipated to facilitate placement of competitors at the proper level. Not all competitors will solve all problems. It is possible (after subsequent contests) to be invited to move down a division if it is clear that the contestant is misassigned.

Below is this year's schedule for the Bronze, Silver, and Gold contests. We still don't have the means to run novice contests, though we're working on it.

Contest lengths are not shown because we choose the length based on the problems the contest contains. Except for the US Open, which is proctored and held on a single day for USA contestants, contests run from Friday morning until Tuesday morning, USA Mountain Time:

• 14-17 Oct, 2005 -- USACO Qualification Exam
• 11-14 Nov, 2005 -- USACO Qualification Exam
• 9-12 Dec, 2005 -- USACO December Contest
• 13-16 Jan, 2006 -- USACO January Contest
• 10-13 Feb, 2006 -- USACO February Contest
• 17-20 Mar, 2006 -- USACO March Contest
• 27 Apr, 2006 -- US Open USA/proctored students
• 28 Apr-1 May, 2006 -- US Open international division
• Early June, 2006 -- USA Invitational Competition, Colorado (~8 days, by invitation)
• 19-26 August, 2006 -- IOI, Merida, Mexico (by invitation)

We look forward to an exciting year of competition. Please join us!

RK