- Why two divisions? We are trying to make the contest more available to a wider range of team’s abilities. The problem set from recent years has grown quite large. This is due to the wish to accommodate as many teams as possible. The result is that the problem set contained many ‘easy’ problems that the stronger teams were obligated to attempt to be competitive for a slot in the North American Championship (NAC) and World Finals (WF). This left them less time to work on the harder problems that most closely mirror the kinds of problems that will be seen at the NAC and WF. In addition, statistics showed that teams that were less algorithmically savvy were going to solve a few problems at the very most in the problem set. Many of these teams did not solve any problems at all beyond the three hour mark of the contest. By splitting the problem set to two divisions (D1 and D2), stronger teams can work a problem set closer to the NAC and WF, which prepares them much more for competing in the NAC and WF should they make it. Less strong teams can work a problem set more suitable to their current abilities and expect to solve a good number of problems throughout the contest through the final hour.
- How many problems will each division have? Each division will have at least 8 problems.
- Will there be any problem overlap in the divisions? This is very likely. The harder problems in D2 could serve as easier problems in D1.
- Will there be any ‘easy’ problems in D1? There will be some problems that are reasonably easy, but not like the complete ‘gimme’ problems included in the last couple of problem sets. Such problems may well originate from D2.
- Who decides which division a team will compete in? The coach of that team and the team itself will decide the appropriate division for that team. To help determine team placement, a team should attempt to complete the problems given in the following zip file. The problems serve as a baseline for D1. If a team cannot solve all three of these problems, that team should compete in D2
- As a coach, how do I designate a team as D2? When naming your team, place D2 as the first two characters of the team name.
- Will there be awards for each division? Yes! First, second, and third place teams in D1 and D2 will receive plaques and medals.
- Will there be site winners for each division? Yes! There will be a D1 and D2 site winner for each site. Site winning teams will receive a plaque.
- Who is eligible for a slot in the NAC and WF? Only D1 teams are eligible. It is our hope that newer teams will try D2 this year and then return next year and compete in D1.
- Does competing in D2 count against eligibility for future regional competitions and World Finals? Not directly. The only restraint on competing is based on age and year in school as defined on the main ICPC website. That information can be found at this link: ICPC Regional Rules. A student may compete in at most 5 regional contests and two World Finals as per the main ICPC rules. There are also year in school and age limits. Competing in D2 will not count against a student for one of the 5 regional contest allowed. However, there are age and year in school restrictions that must be met (as described at the link given previosly). Should a student not meet those restrictions, it is possible to petition for an exception.
- How will the scoreboard work? There will be separate scoreboards for each division.
- Will there be rankings for both D1 and D2? Yes.
- How will balloons work? D2 balloons will (should) have the number 2 written on them. Teams should rely more heavily on the scoreboard to see what problems are being solved in each division just in case there is an oversight in balloon labeling for D2.
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