Welcome to USACO 2009

This year the USACO will conduct 6 Internet contests, the US Open, plus the week-long USA Invitational Computing Olympiad.  Sixteen students will be invited to UW-Parkside in June to our annual training program.  There, four students will be chosen to represent the USA at the  21th IOI  in Plovdiv, Bulgaria August 8-15, 2009.

http://ace.delos.com/contestgate
Internet Contests

Schedule

The USACO coaching team is proud to announce the schedule and format for the upcoming 2008-2009 pre-college programming contest season.

Most of the hallmarks of the USACO competition remain unchanged:

1. All pre-college students throughout the world with access to the internet are eligible (except cheaters who have been banned).

2. No fees are charged.

3. Contest languages include C, C++, Pascal, and Java.

4. Register at http://ace.delos.com/usacoregister (for both
contests and training).

5.Training can be found at http://train.usaco.org.

6.Contests beyond the first-year level are three to five hours in length.

7. Results are widely disseminated and reported on the USACO web site.

8.The 'big prize' is an invitation to the USA Invitational
Computing Olympiad in the first half of June, 2009.

9.The 'biggest prize' is selection for the four-student USA
international traveling team that will represent the USA in
Bulgaria at the International Olympiad where 70 other countries will also compete in August, 2009.

10. And, finally, cheaters are banned for life.
 

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.

 

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 miss assigned.
 Below is this year's schedule for this year's contests.

Contest lengths are not shown because we choose the length based
on the problems the contest contains, though generally they will
be three hours in length. Except for the US Open, contests run from
Friday through Monday, USA Mountain Time:

-- Unified Contest Schedule ------------------------------------------

  [Only USACO contests are currently known]

  * 17-20 Oct, 2008 -- USACO Qualification Contest ** OPTIONAL **
  *  7-10 Nov, 2008 -- USACO November Contest
  *  5- 8 Dec, 2008 -- USACO December Contest
  *  9-12 Jan, 2009 -- USACO January Contest
  *  6- 9 Feb, 2009 -- USACO February Contest
  * 13-16 Mar, 2009 -- USACO March Contest
  * 23    Apr, 2009 -- US Open for USA (no proctoring this year)
  * 24-27 Apr, 2009 -- US Open for International
  * 27May-4Jun, 2009 -- USA Invitational Computing Olympiad (~8 days, by invitation)
  *  8-14 Aug, 2009 -- IOI, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (by invitation)

Additional contests will be announced a few weeks in advance of the
competition (just like last year's holiday contest).

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

I'll send details of each contest a few days before it starts.

 

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

  • Doing well on the October 17-20 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
     

 

 

 

 
       
Registration Training Materials
For both contests and training is at:

http://ace.delos.com/usacoregister

 

 


The USACO training pages at http://train.usaco.org are still available free of charge for anyone who wishes to practice.
 

While we have supported Java in programming contests for almost two years now, we are pleased to announce that THE TRAINING PAGES AT http://train.usaco.org NOW ALSO SUPPORT JAVA (though you have to do an extra click for the 'experimental grader' until it's solid).
U S Open

Schedule
The USACO U S Open is a five-hour proctored competition that is conducted at local high schools under the direction of a local coordinator. A 2009 USACO U S Open and International Champion will be selected. 

The USACO is open to:

  • 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
  • Contests beyond the first-year level are three to five hours in length
  • Results are widely disseminated and reported on the USACO web site
  • The 'big prize' is an invitation to the USA Invitational Competition (name still pending) in the first half of June, 2008.
  • The 'biggest prize' is selection for the four-student USA international traveling team that will represent the USA in Croatia at the International Olympiad where 70 other countries will also compete in August, 2008.

 

  •  April 23  for USA participants.
      

  •  April 24-27 for non-USA participants.


 
Criteria For 2009
We will use all contest results and work on the training materials as evaluation criteria for choosing attendees at the USACO training camp to be held in June, 2009. 
.
This means that candidates who show long-term strength (and/or growth) are more likely to be chosen for camp than those who have one lucky contest. We will be keeping a record of all  progress on the training materials.