JUST_SUBMIT's blog

Not a normal SPECIALIST !
By JUST_SUBMIT, 7 months ago, In English

FINALLY I AM SPECIALIST !!!

I have been doing Competitive programming for nearly 4 years now, I achieved many wins in national competitions and other Platforms but somehow Codeforces was my weak point, I've been stuck in newbie rating for longer than anyone could imagine (even after attending 60+ contests).

If you can take a look at my rating graph, you will notice a huge gap, that is when I stopped doing Codeforces because at some point I decided that it's not for me, I was starting to be good at solving Div.2 A-B in 15 minutes but I keep messing up Problem C even with 1H 30 minutes of solving it. At first I thought it was a knowledge issue so I started working on my algos and DP, that helped me get better in national contests and technical interviews, but not Div.2 C. At that point I stopped attending contests due to me hitting the rock bottom saying that I will never get better.

After a while, I started remembering how couldn't even get to PUPIL rating and I couldn't even get a single Accepted verdict on simple problems but now Alhamdolilah I can solve them in a matter of seconds, that made me rethink what could be the issue in the famous problem C.

After starting again, attending many contests and hitting the 100 mark (yes 100 contests and still not Expert lol) I started to notice a pattern: I always start solving problem C with the mindset that it's impossible for me to even think of the idea. Now, fixing a bad mindset is harder than training to solve problems, I can now solve up to 1800 rating problems but not in the contest, heck I can even solve them in 30 mins which is an EXPERT level, but I can not do that while being in the contest. Luckily, as problem solvers we know that one step of solving the problem is knowing what it is about, now I know what was my issue, and I am starting to fix it.

I decided to write this very long text to say to all people who are stuck in PUPIL, or even NEWBIE: Don't look at other people's ratings, you can find a lot of them starting after you and getting to specialist and expert, that does not prove anything, people are different, but at some point, you will get your blue color, that is now my mindset, even if it takes 4 more years, I will get it.

Have a nice day everyone, hope you can get your color too :P

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7 months ago, # |
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Counld you tell me how to fix a bad mindset?Thank you!!!

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    7 months ago, # ^ |
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    Well what I started doing is giving contests but this time not caring about rating, even if it means dropping 100 points in my rating, another think I started doing is trying to focus on Div.2 C while the contest is running even if I couldn't solve B or A, I would just skip them if it takes more than 30 minutes and start focusing on C (the one that i cant solve).

    Also I started to take my sleep time seriously because it was one of the main reasons why I don't perform well in contests and get discouraged.

    Hope it helped and if you have more question I would be happy to answer.

    Also good luck, you will get there and once again, don't look at other peoples' rating changes, everyone is different.

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7 months ago, # |
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Congratulations!

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7 months ago, # |
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:) Congratulations!

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7 months ago, # |
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feeling motivated after reading your text.Congrats !

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7 months ago, # |
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Congratulations, and you're right, that is absolutely the way you should think.

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7 months ago, # |
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bro I think that you are stucked at a particular rating for a very long time because you are just solving 800 level problems when I just viewed your profile you have solved a very less amount of problems solved of 1200>= what's your view on this

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    7 months ago, # ^ |
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    Indeed, that was a very big issue but don't take the amount of 800 rating problems solved too seriously, because 100+ of them is from contests (I always solve problems A and B and they are usually around 800 rating).

    Also that is a really good point that I missed in the blog, thank you for mentioning it for anyone who needs the information: whenever you feel confortable in a specific rating let's say $$$x$$$, start solving problems with rating $$$x + 200$$$ and keep going like that.

    Also don't take the rating difficulty that I solved too seriously because I usually practice harder problems in other platforms and THAT is also a bad thing to do because solving problem here in codeforces is more likely going to help you get better at codeforces style problems not like practicing ICPC style problems that are more Topic Based.

    Hope I answered your question.

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7 months ago, # |
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I believe that the problem here is that you are not solving harder problems, for example: you have solved 250+ problems of 800's but only 9 of 1500 problems, if you start solving harder problems i promise you the results is going to be better

good luck.

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7 months ago, # |
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Congratulations!

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7 months ago, # |
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Great Blog. Congratulations.

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7 months ago, # |
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Congrats, by looking at your graph you deserved it.

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7 months ago, # |
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Congratulations and thanks for motivating !!

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7 months ago, # |
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Congrats broski! I don't think that most experts can solve 1800-rated problems in under 30 mins or they would be CM+ so that is some crazy skill.

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    7 months ago, # ^ |
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    thank you! I sadly still cant solve them in contest and I only solve some specific topics in 1800 rated problems that's why, but that's actually new information to me, solving 1800 in 30 mins can make you CM that's actually amazing I thought I have to be able to solve 2000+ to be CM LOL

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      7 months ago, # ^ |
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      You can expect 50% of z-rated users to solve a problem with a rating of z in a contest. So for an 1800-rated problem, not all 1800s are even solving it in the contest. Some CMs might even miss it if they are having a bad day. Of course, there will be many low experts / specialists who end up solving it too.

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7 months ago, # |
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Congrats! Can't wait to see you as an expert. I'm new to codeforces, and excited to climb up the ranks like you did! :)

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7 months ago, # |
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congrats

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7 months ago, # |
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"Have a nice day everyone, hope you can get your color too"

I am confused. My color is White, How am I gonna achieve White?

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    7 months ago, # ^ |
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    Author meant he would like others to get their willing color/rank, e.g. up to expert .

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7 months ago, # |
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Congrats!

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7 months ago, # |
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i also have a really bad mindset. basically after doin div1 A and Bs i always think that C is too hard(judging by number of ACs that time) and just try a few random approach and then stop trying. How may i get rid of it?

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