I began to learn about CP during the last quarter of my first year at college through the CP community at our university. I created an account on Codeforces and attempted to solve random problems, often aiming for higher rating problems to prove to myself that I was skilled.
I wasn't following any strategy, and there was no one to guide me. I simply pick random problems with ratings higher than my actual skill level and try to solve them even if it takes me days to do it.
I managed to reach a Specialist with no knowledge. and after gaining some random knowledge in various topics, I stopped training and CP for almost a year, barely solving problems when I was bored. Now, I realized all my mistakes and understand that I wasn't actually training; I was simply wasting my time.
The issue I'm facing now is that I'm in my third year at college, and in my country "Egypt", passing a job interview requires more than just problem solving you also need to know about the technology stack relevant to the position. Additionally, I have to complete my graduation project, which involves studying some AI. While I know that FAANG and similar companies do PS only interview, I know that it's very difficult to land a job there, even with qualifications. The possibility of reaching the interview stage is around 1%, so I have ~1 year to make all of this.
(getting better at CP to reach ICPC learn some technology stack like backend development and study AI for graduation project)
So, let me ask you
have you regretted quitting CP?
Is it worth staying another year in college to reach ICPC?
Would I miss a lot if I quit now?
Since I've already walked on this path, it's hard to leave because I haven't achieved anything.
I'm 20 years old am I too old to achieve success in CP?
I have been diagnosed with ADHD would that affect the process?
Feel free to downvote this Idc.
kinda an awkward question to ask on codeforces.com
I don't know anywhere else
I'm not sure if I'm in a position to give you advice but I think you should continue to do programming contests only if you enjoy them. Age 20 is certainly not too old to achieve something in competitive programming but I don't think the achievement is worth it if you aren't enjoying the art of solving problems. If I were you, I wouldn't spend an extra year in college for the sole purpose of participating in the ICPC.
I do enjoy it but not as 10 hours+ of training a day. and thanks for your opinion anyway.
have you regretted quitting CP?
is it worth staying another year in college to reach ICPC?
Would I miss a lot if I quit now?
ADHD
thanks for your opinion
No one can escape CP. Trust.
I mean this is the problem
First, you didn't waste your time; this will help you in the future.
Do you want to get into a FAANG company? If not, then you'll have a chance to get into most of the companies in Egypt with your specialist level by studying some technologies and solving some leetcode problems (actually, a lot of companies in Egypt don't have a problem-solving interview).
FAANG companies do problem-solving, operating systems, databases, system design, and other interviews (depending on the company you applied to, so it's not just a PS interview).
For me, I was working as a MERN developer a year before, and I left my job and started focusing on CP because I enjoy solving problems and I have military service right after graduation (you'll forget
app.get('/dashboard')or<div className='container'/>but you'll never lose your problem-solving skills), or that's what I convinced myself with :").It's just you who'll be able to decide whether to quit or not.
I didn't waste my time but if I trained in a more organized way I could have achieved better results. yeah, it's just me who can decide what to do, I wish I can sign out and let someone else take control from here xD.
Just do your best or you'll spend the rest of your life in Egypt :"
:" the worst nightmare
I don't know if i have the experience to comment, but what i think is that you should do what you believe is the best, don't quit just because you think you can't do it, it think you can, but also don't stay just because someone say so. My option is that CP is a good way to stand out, so if you could do it, i think it would be good, but there is other things as well. I have been thinking about staying another year in college to train myself, i think is a good idea, but again, there are other factors. Good luck with whatever you choose to do!
thanks <3
! pupil talking alert !
i believe CP to be a fun yet quite useful skill. i believe that the usefulness of CP can be represented by a sigmoid-like function (although that starts at y=0 and y=1 represents all possible knowledge that can be applied IRL): at first you learn about basic stuff that can be applied in many real-life scenarios. then you dive into the rabbit hole of complex things and it has less applications IRL.
so the more time you spent doing CP, the less new knowledge that can be applied IRL you get. that's my opinion, would love to hear others
what is your routine tho xD
competitive programming i guess