Competition Schedule

Here are some of the competitions you can participate in! Each entry in the schedule links to the matching competition description.

2026–27 Schedule

Oct 19, 2026 – May 2027ACSL (four contest windows)
To be announced (ran Oct–Dec last year)Meta Hacker Cup
Nov 8, 2026CALICO Fall
Nov 9–20, 2026Bebras Challenge
Nov 21, 2026CodeHER
To be announced (usually late November)PClassic Fall
Dec 6, 2026M(IT)² Winter Contest
To be announced (Dec 1–12 last year)Advent of Code
To be announced (Jan 3 last year)Virginia Tech HSPC
To be announced (Jan–Feb + US Open Mar 28 last year)USACO contest weekends
Jan 28, 2027NACLO Open Round
Feb 17, 2027Canadian Computing Competition
Feb 27, 2027Code Quest
To be announced (winter)Stanford ProCo
To be announced (Mar 1 last year)BAPC
To be announced (Mar 7 last year)HPE Codewars
To be announced (Mar 7 last year)Harker Programming Invitational
To be announced (Mar 14 last year)UGIT
To be announced (Apr 11 last year)CALICO Spring
To be announced (Apr 18–19 last year)CMIMC Programming
To be announced (~April last year)TeamsCode Spring
To be announced (May 2 last year)TJIOI
To be announced (May 30 last year)ACL-IT
To be announced (Jun 6 last year)mBIT
To be announced (Jun 14 last year)WWPIT
To be announced (Jul 30 last year)Turing Cup
To be announced (Jul 31 – Aug 4 last year)LIT
To be announced (~mid-August last year)TeamsCode Summer

Individual Contests

USA Computing Olympiad (USACO)

The main US Olympiad, through which students can qualify for the International Olympiad in Informatics. Everyone starts in Bronze and is promoted by score up to Platinum.

usaco.org

UGIT — USACO Guide Informatics Tournament

Free online contest by the USACO Guide community, held on Pi Day.

joincpi.org

CodeHER

Free online contest for girls and non-binary students, with three experience divisions.

codehercompetition.org

Turing Cup

Free online contest by X-Camp Academy. Runs on Beijing time.

announcement on codeforces.com

Canadian Computing Competition (CCC)

Canada’s national competition but US schools can register too.

cemc.uwaterloo.ca

Meta Hacker Cup

Meta’s worldwide competition, aimed primarily at college students and adults; high schoolers can take part in the early rounds.

facebook.com

Online Team Contests

CALICO (UC Berkeley)

UC Berkeley’s contest, held twice a year, with problems from beginner-friendly to very hard. Compete online, or in person at Berkeley.

calico.cs.berkeley.edu

M(IT)² — MIT Informatics Tournament

MIT’s tournament with cash prizes. Compete online, or on campus at MIT.

mitit.org

LIT — Lexington Informatics Tournament

Summer tournament with a flexible start window. Separate middle school prizes.

lit.lhsmathcs.org

mBIT (Montgomery Blair High School)

Early-summer tournament with an online mirror. Middle school winners recognized separately.

mbit.mbhs.edu

TJIOI (Thomas Jefferson High School)

Spring tournament with a dedicated middle school division and a free online mirror.

activities.tjhsst.edu

Virginia Tech High School Programming Contest

Online team competition hosted by Virginia Tech. Middle-school friendly.

vthspc.cs.vt.edu

WWPIT (West Windsor-Plainsboro)

Spring informatics tournament, online with an optional New Jersey site.

wwppc.org

TeamsCode

Student-run contests each spring and summer. Middle schoolers welcome.

teamscode.org

CMIMC Programming (Carnegie Mellon)

Carnegie Mellon’s informatics round: teams of up to 4, solved over a weekend window.

cmimc.dev

In-Person Contests

BAPC — Bay Area Programming Contest

Gunn High School’s ICPC-style contest in Palo Alto, with an online mirror.

bapc.gunncpc.com

Stanford ProCo

Stanford’s annual contest for Bay Area high schoolers.

stanfordacm.org

Harker Programming Invitational

The Harker School’s contest in San Jose, for middle and high schoolers. The online mirror is not eligible for prizes.

announcement on harker.org

Code Quest

Lockheed Martin’s contest at sites across the country, including Sunnyvale. Teams need an adult coach.

lockheedmartin.com

HPE Codewars

In person — may need travel

HPE’s contest in Texas, Colorado, New Jersey and Roseville, CA, with a virtual option.

hpecodewars.org

PClassic (University of Pennsylvania)

In person — may need travel

The Philadelphia Classic at UPenn, held each semester; schools register teams.

pclassic.org

ACL-IT (Academies of Loudoun)

In person — may need travel

Tournament at the Academies of Loudoun in Virginia, open to all experience levels.

aclit.org

Theory Contests

American Computer Science League (ACSL)

Four contests through the school year, each a short theory quiz plus a programming problem in the upper divisions:

Elementary (3-6 grade) with theory only
Classroom (all grades) with theory only
Junior (middle school) with theory and coding
Intermediate (middle and high school) with theory and coding
Senior (high school) with theory and coding

acsl.org

Bebras Computing Challenge

A free 45-minute computational-thinking challenge, taken at school each November. No coding.

bebraschallenge.org

NACLO — North American Computational Linguistics Open

Pen-and-paper logic and linguistics puzzles, written at registered sites. No programming or language background needed.

naclo.org

Practice Year-Round

Codeforces

Rated online rounds several times a week; Division 3 and 4 rounds are aimed at newcomers.

codeforces.com

AtCoder

Beginner Contests nearly every Saturday morning, US time.

atcoder.jp

Advent of Code

Daily puzzles every December, solved in any language at your own pace.

adventofcode.com