Failed Feb. is it hard to promote in the Open?

General Questions
#1

Why is Open considered be to harder? Does it test additional topics? Will the cutoff be lower? Is the promotion % the same?

Note: Specifically for the silver division.

#2

Well, they provide an extra hour, so that means it must be a little different than previous contests…
However, the claim that US Open is supposed to be harder varies year-by-year.

???

Depends…

Also depends…

I recommend you look at historical data from 2017-2020, and hopefully that will give you more case-by-case data that may answer your question.

#3

For example, Cow Steeplechase wouldn’t be something I should expect regularly in a contest right? Sweep line is a plat topic in the guide. I am expecting hard problem solving, like the “Left Out” problem. However, Steeplechase is definitely testing extra topics that’s not in silver right?

#4

Well, there are more “Ad-Hoc” problems, so I wouldn’t necessarily call it an additional topic, more or less problem-solving than anything.

#5

So it is still possible to promote but in general harder?

#6

Sure.

#7

What are some ways I could practice Ad Hoc problem/? What counts as Ad Hoc compared to regular algorithms problems? Aren’t problems these days in silver all kind of Ad Hoc?

#8

Check out 2018 Open Silver, hope that can boost your confidence :slight_smile:

#9

Try CodeForces problems. These problems will help boost your logical reasoning skills, which can be applied to Ad Hoc USACO problems.