The USACO coaching team is proud to announce the schedule and format
for the upcoming 2005-2006 pre-college programming contest season.

Most of the hallmarks of the USACO competition remain unchanged:

    * All pre-college students throughout the world with access
      to the internet are eligible (except cheaters who have been
      banned)

    * No fees are charged

    * Contest languages include C, C++, Pascal, and Java

    * Registration at http://ace.delos.com/usacoregister (for both
      contests and training)

    * Training at http://train.usaco.org

    * Contests beyond the first-year level are three to five
      hours in length

    * Cheaters are banned for life

    * Results are widely disseminated and reported on the USACO
      web site

    * The 'big prize' is an invitation to the USA Invitational
      Computing Olympiad in Colorado Springs, CO in the first half
      of June, 2006.

    * The 'biggest prize' is selection for the four-student USA
      international traveling team that will represent the USA in
      Mexico at the International Olympiad where 70 other countries
      will also compete in August, 2006.

We will continue to run thre three standard divisions:

    * GOLD DIVISION: The elite level with the most difficult
      challenges. The lowest-level competitors in this division
      should be able to create a dynamic programming algorithm from
      scratch (similar to the old Green division).

    * SILVER: Just below the Gold division, Silver competitors
      should know a number of standard computer algorithms (e.g.,
      the flood-fill algorithm). Silver is similar to the old Orange
      division.

    * BRONZE: Students who can write programs that work, including
      ad hoc programs that don't require fancy optimized algorithms.

    * NOVICE: For first year students. Problem levels escalate
      through the year in parallel with standard instructional
      curricula. Contests will be one hour in length and are
      intended to be administered during class.

Both Gold and Silver levels are "invitation-only". Invitations are
earned by:

    * Doing well on the October 14-17 qualification exam

    * Doing well at the Bronze or Silver Level on subsequent contests

    * Special cases as determined by the coaches

    * Achieving the Gold/Silver level in previous contests

Our first contest will be the three hour USACO Qualification Exam.
Only those who wish to move up from their current competition level
need take this exam. Its scores will be used only for qualifying
-- they will not be used for determination of national champions,
invitations to travel camps, etc.

The tasks and scoring are anticipated to facilitate placement of
competitors at the proper level. Not all competitors will solve all
problems. It is possible (after subsequent contests) to be invited
to move down a division if it is clear that the contestant is
misassigned.

Below is this year's schedule for the Bronze, Silver, and Gold
contests. We still don't have the means to run novice contests, though
we're working on it.

Contest lengths are not shown because we choose the length based
on the problems the contest contains. Except for the US Open, which
is proctored and held on a single day for USA contestants, contests
run from Friday morning until Tuesday morning, USA Mountain Time:

    * 14-17 Oct, 2005 -- USACO Qualification Exam
    * 11-14 Nov, 2005 -- USACO Qualification Exam
    * 9-12 Dec, 2005 -- USACO December Contest
    * 13-16 Jan, 2006 -- USACO January Contest
    * 10-13 Feb, 2006 -- USACO February Contest
    * 17-20 Mar, 2006 -- USACO March Contest
    * 27 Apr, 2006 -- US Open USA/proctored students
    * 28 Apr-1 May, 2006 -- US Open international division
    * Early June, 2006 -- USA Invitational Competition, Colorado (~8 days,
      by invitation)
    * 19-26 August, 2006 -- IOI, Merida, Mexico (by invitation)

We look forward to an exciting year of competition. Please join us!

RK

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          ((__))       Rob Kolstad                   USACO Head Coach
           (00)         kolstad@sage.org              +1 719-481-6542
     -nn--(o__o)--nn-    http://www.usaco.org    Colorado Springs, CO
    ===================================================================