The USA Computing Olympiad (USACO) holds web-based algorithmic programming contests during the academic year, usually four total, from December through early spring, one per month. The final contest is the US Open, carrying more weight and serving as our national championship exam. Contests usually run for four continuous hours in length for a normal contest, and five for the US Open. For maximum flexibility, you are free to schedule this block of time anywhere within a Friday-to-Monday contest weekend --- your timer starts when you log into the contest and download the problems. Contest tasks are presented on the web, and you submit your final solutions through a simple web interface.
Participation is free and open to all. Pre-college / USA students are typically ranked separately from "observers" (all others participating). There is no pre-registration required to compete; all you need is an account on the site. During the Friday-Monday timeframe of an active contest, a button will appear on our homepage that will take you to the contest page, where you can see additional details about the contest and click another button when you are ready to start.
Contests are offered in four divisions:
- Bronze, for students who have recently learned to program, but who have no training in algorithms beyond basic concepts like sorting and binary search.
- Silver, for students who are beginning to learn fundamental problem-solving techniques (e.g., recursive search, greedy algorithms) and fundamental data structures.
- Gold, where students encounter more standard algorithms of a more complex nature (e.g., shortest paths, dynamic programming) and more advanced data structures.
- Platinum, for advanced students who are well grounded in algorithmic problem-solving techniques, who wish to challenge themselves with sophisticated and more open-ended problems.
All participants start in the bronze division, and those who score particularly well in a contest will be promoted to the next division. Contestants with a perfect score will be automatically promoted to the next division while a contest is running; in this case, if interested, they can click to start the contest in the next division (with a full clock) during the same Friday-Monday timeframe. Others will need to wait until results are announced at the end of the contest to see if they meet the (contest-dependent) cutoff for promotion.
Detailed technical specifications and rules for our contests are available here.
Location(s)
- Remote
Schedule
- Contests are held December through March
Cost/Compensation
- Free
Eligibility Requirements
- All are welcome to participate in USACO contests and training.
- Only pre-college students in the USA are eligible for selection as finalists to attend the USACO training camp and to contend for membership on the USA IOI team.
Deadline
- Rolling
Application or Entry Requirements
- A completed online registration form
Notifications of Decisions
Financial Aid Details
Other Dates to Keep in Mind
Have other questions?
The USA Computing Olympiad (USACO) is a highly regarded organization that fosters and promotes excellence in computer programming and algorithmic problem-solving among American high school students. Founded in 1992, the USACO provides a challenging platform for talented young programmers to hone their skills through a series of online contests and training camps. With a mission to identify and nurture the nation's brightest computational talents, the USACO selects and trains the United States' team for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), where participants compete on the world stage.
