Update 7/23/2023
I got back to Candidate Master!!!
I haven’t really followed the plan that I laid out earlier. Instead, I started doing problems from Timus, as per Um_nik’s suggestion.
I sort of got lucky this contest, as too many people got stuck on problem C. There’s a long way to go before I can truly say that I belong above 1900 - I need to at least be able to solve problem D consistently.
Introduction
After the 2022 US Open, I decided to retire from competitive programming. At that time, I was tired from not making any progress for a year, and I thought that I’ve reached my ceiling.
Now, I’ve decided to restart my journey. I’m genuinely passionate about competitive programming, and the problems intrigue me tremendously. I even plan on doing it at UCLA by joining the ICPC team.
Plan
Before I “retired”, I mainly practiced on codeforces by solving random questions (what a lot of good competitive programmers recommend). Looking back, however, I think it was a mistake. I learn the best through systematic trainings, and the scattered training style just doesn’t work for me.
After comparing a few resources, I’ve settled with USACO Guide. Its interface and content has improved so much compared to the last time I visited, and the way it systematically divides the topics should fit me very well. It also combines problems from various online judges, which makes it a lot easier for me to track progress. Given that I’ve had some background on most of the gold division algorithms, I’m allowed to skip the “easy” problems.