Top 5 Coding Competitions for High Schoolers
Coding competitions are a great way to grow your programming skills, problem solving skills, and meet new people. It not only helps you standout in your college applications, but it is one of the most meaningful experience that can help you think outside of the box and gain new techniques in programming.
So, what are some good competitions out there?
Top 5 Coding Competitions
USA Computing Olympiad (USACO)
Regarded as a highly prestigious coding competition this is a great opportunity for students to enter and solve many challenging problems. There are three online contests and a national competition where students can use various programming languages to solve the problems given to them under a specific time limit. The top 24 contestants get to go to a summer camp hosted by Clemson University and the top 4 programmers at that camp represent their country in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).
International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)
After passing the USACO competition, programmers have the chance to qualify for the IOI. Every country sends a group of 4 students to compete. These participants will need to know how to program in C++ and many other programming languages and use algorithms. This will really boost a person’s college application.
Technovation Challenge
This is a female coding challenge where a group of up to 5 girls (ages 10-18) and their mentor build an app in order to solve many real world challenges. For example, one of the senior division winners had created an app called MindRelief which targeted supporting positive mental health of others. This is a phenomenal experience for girls who love coding and want to grow their coding skills and meet many other women who share the same interest as them all over the world. The winners receive prizes and even scholarships.
American Computer Science League
This competition is regarded as one of the most prestigious coding competitions in the US. In this competition, a team of 3-5 complete 4 tests. There are four rounds, region, state, national, and eventually global where students can compete with kids from all over the world and winners get a cash prize. In order to compete, your school must be registered with the American Computer Science League and participants must be able to program in Python 3, Java 8, or C++.
Imagine Cup
A competition run by Micrsoft, this is a fantastic opportunity for participants in groups of 3 use their innovation skills and program an app that helps combat real world issues. This is a good opportunity to network with professionals and peers and builds on problem solving and coding skills. There is a cash prize for winners of around $100,000 and a mentorship from Microsoft mentors.
Overall, coding competitions have many benefits that can be gained out of them. They are a very good way to set your foot into the computer science field and gain experience that can impact you positively in the your future careers!
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