For the kind of experienced individuals, would you guys recommend I solve problems in a certain pattern to practice? like focusing on math problems first or problems that cover a certain topic? or would it be better or the same to just randomly solve problems that are +100-300 my current rating.

Im sure this is a commonly asked question but I couldn't find anything to help me. Can I leave the contest once I've registered ? If yes, how ? I'm aware that if i don't solve anything it wouldn't affect my rating but i'd rather not participate at all.

For those who consider themselves decent in number theory, do you have any suggestions for a quality introductory course that would be suitable for beginners like me?

How can I effectively think of potential test cases that might break my approach when solving competitive programming problems? I often find it challenging to identify test cases that could potentially challenge the correctness of my solution, even after finding an approach. As a result, I may think that my approach is correct, but there could actually be a test case that my solution does not handle correctly, which I failed to consider. How can I effectively find and consider these test cases?

Not sure If everyone has or had these struggles before but I've never seen anyone point it out. Could just be me, who knows.

As a beginner in competitive programming, I struggle with mathematical problems. Would taking a course in discrete mathematics or any other related course help improve my mathematical knowledge and thinking abilities, considering my limited math background which only extends to high school level? PS I forgot most of the math I took in school anyway.

Is it normal for beginners to take a lot of time to just read the problem and understand what the problem wants you to do? I'm having a hard time understanding the problem's description and I often give up and go directly to the editorial for help, I'm not even passing the first stage of understanding the problem let alone solving it!