User:Aoum/ACSL
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American Computer Science League (ACSL)
The American Computer Science League (ACSL) is a nationwide computer science competition for middle and high school students in the United States and abroad. It consists of a series of individual and team-based contests, designed to test knowledge in various areas of computer science, including algorithms, programming, and discrete mathematics.
History
The ACSL was founded in 1978 as a way to encourage students' interest in computer science and provide them with an outlet for showcasing their skills. The league has since expanded to include participants from schools across the world.
Structure of the ACSL
The ACSL competition consists of several divisions to accommodate a wide range of skill levels, from beginners to advanced students:
Divisions
ACSL has five divisions: Senior, Intermediate, Junior, Classroom, and Elementary, providing an appropriate challenge for students of varying ages and abilities. Schools can participate in one or more divisions, depending on the students' skill levels. Contest topics are similar across divisions but vary in terms of depth and difficulty.
Each division allows schools to form multiple teams, each consisting of a maximum of 12 students. Schools can choose to compete in the 5-score division (sum of the top 5 students' scores) or the 3-score division (sum of the top 3 students' scores).
Here is a breakdown of each division:
- Senior Division - Best for high school students with programming experience, especially those taking AP Computer Science.
- Contest format: 30-minute online 6-question short answer test + online programming problem to solve in 72 hours.
- Intermediate Division - Best for high school students with little or no programming experience and advanced junior high students.
- Contest format: 30-minute online 6-question short answer test + online programming problem to solve in 72 hours.
- Junior Division - Best for junior high and middle school students who are learning programming or have some coding experience. Students in grade 9 or below may participate.
- Contest format: 30-minute online 6-question short answer test + online programming problem to solve in 72 hours.
- Classroom Division - Open to students in all grades, and ideally suited for students taking AP Computer Science Principles or other computer science courses without a heavy programming component.
- Contest format: 50-minute online 10-question short answer test, featuring non-programming problems from the Junior, Intermediate, and Senior divisions.
- Elementary Division - Open to students in grades 3-6.
- Contest format: 30-minute online 6-question non-programming test, with each contest focused on a different category of content. Topics vary from algorithms to basic discrete mathematics.
Team Registration and Scoring
- Each school can register multiple teams per division, and each team can have up to 12 students.
- The team score is calculated by summing the top 5 (or 3) students' scores in a contest.
- The cost for registering a team is $150 per division (except the Elementary Division), and each additional team costs $75. For the Elementary Division, the costs are $100 and $50, respectively.
- After the first registration, additional teams can be registered.
- A student can only participate on one team, and once a student is assigned to a team, they cannot change teams after Contest #1.
End-of-Year Finals
High-scoring students across all divisions are invited to participate in an end-of-year online Finals competition.
Contest Topics
The ACSL tests students on a variety of topics, including:
- Algorithms - Sorting, searching, pathfinding, etc.
- Programming - Solving problems using code, algorithmic thinking.
- Discrete Mathematics - Logic, combinatorics, graph theory, set theory.
Resources
There are several resources available to help students prepare for the ACSL contests:
- Official ACSL Practice Problems - The ACSL website offers a range of past contest problems that students can use for practice. These problems help familiarize participants with the format and level of difficulty of the questions asked.
- YouTube Videos - A great set of 21 YouTube video lessons covering the ACSL topics, each an hour long, has been created by the ACSL friends at RICHCODE based in Orange County, CA.
- Books and Textbooks - Books such as Introduction to Algorithms by Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, and Clifford Stein provide in-depth coverage of algorithmic techniques, which are useful for the ACSL's algorithm-focused sections.
- Online Coding Platforms - Websites like Codeforces, Codewars, and HackerRank offer coding challenges and competitions that align with the problem-solving skills required for the ACSL.
- Discrete Mathematics Resources - Websites like Khan Academy and Art of Problem Solving provide tutorials on topics like combinatorics, logic, and set theory.
- ACSL Forums and Discussion Groups - Participating in forums such as the AoPS Community can help students connect with others preparing for ACSL and share strategies and solutions.
- Practice with Online Judges - Platforms like USACO and TopCoder provide regular programming challenges that allow students to hone their skills and get familiar with algorithmic thinking.
See Also
- American Computer Science League (This page is similar to this AoPS page because it was Aoum that made the page.)
- List of Computer Science Competitions
- USACO
External Links
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