Competition Information

Address & Parking

The competition will be at the Center for Technology and Learning Media (CTLM): 1650 Arapahoe St, Golden, CO 80401

We recommend parking at the CTLM Parking Lot on 18th St, and will have volunteers around the building waiting. Parking is free since it is a weekend. Please arrive before 9:00am (ideally 8:30am) so that you can check in. The competition ends at 3:00pm.

Once at CTLM, enter to the left of the “Gordian Knot,” and we will direct you to the opening ceremony room, CTLM102. We will have volunteers and signs in case you get lost.

See the Mines campus map here.

In-Person Check In

Students will receive a QR code in their email which will act as their ticket for the competition. A volunteer will scan the student's QR code to make sure all of the necessary forms have been signed.

Practice Competition

We'll send out details via email a week before the competition describing how to test in the practice competition.

Food

Food will be provided around 11:30am on competition day.

Contact Information

Please email support@mineshspc.com with any questions.

Tips for Success

Before the competition..

  • Get a good night's sleep.
  • Look at the problems from the last few years for an idea of what the competition is like.
  • Setup your development environment so that you can test your code locally.
  • Discuss strategies with your team: who will work on what, who will do the typing, what types of problems your team wants to start with, etc.

During the competition..

  • Carefully read the problems. Be sure to test your program on the sample inputs.
  • Your solutions will be tested against a large number of test cases, many of which you cannot see.
  • We recommend that you make up your own inputs to test your solution to make sure you have handled all edge cases.
  • Take a break or two to clear your mind. These problems are hard!
  • Do not blame each other. Stay positive in your interactions.
  • Don't stress out, and HAVE FUN!

After the competition..

  • Congratulate yourselves. You accomplished something great.
  • Do not be disheartened if you did not win. Use the experience as opportunity to grow as programmer.
  • If you had fun, try some of the other problems on Kattis and keep programming!