Hello guys,
I am doing cp for the past 1.5 years, but my rating is fluctuating between upper 3 star(1770<x<1850). In today’s contest I participated and again fell to 3 star from 4 star. I pretty much participate in each and every contest held here on codechef(rated-unrated), regular of cf(lower specialist there),hackerearth and anywhere I find any ongoing contest(atcoder,hackerrank). Is it that I am wasting my time by doing these contests while I am not showing any commendable improvement,and also in which I could study new things or am I going on the right path? Just need this small advise.
Thank you.
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counterexample: ruban - Codeforces
Practice and experience is good, but it has to be done right to be effective.
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Yes, but from what I’ve seen a lot of beginners get discouraged very quickly, because they don’t understand the effort other people have put in.
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I would argue, especially in the case of this person, if they’ve been doing CP for 1.5 years and only feel bad about not making progress, then they should stop because it’s clearly not fun for them. Someone who feels like they’re “wasting their time” probably is.
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It’s really good doing all the contest regularly but keep in mind about practicing lots more problems than the ones you encounter in competitions, because just giving tests may not improve one’s score. Plus don’t think the road to candidate master or 6* is yet a long one. See you’re learning right now and when you’ll be ready there will be a sudden increase in rating you’ll see. I myself was around 1400 on codeforces for a while an year ago , then jumped to 1700 then 1900 and eventually to 2100 recently.
PS: Don’t take rating as a burden, if you enjoy CP do it, if you do not want to participate in any contest then no one is forcing you.
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No, I think you misunderstood. I absolutely love doing cp and love problem solving. Thats why I participate in whichever contest I find. I am just asking, should I do each and every contest I find like I do now, or should leave the unrated and non important ones and learn something new and just take part in all the official rounds on cc and cf.
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Sir,can you provide a road map to follow as a beginner.I get confused by various number of resources on the internet.Kindly provide the topics(in sequential order) i need to practice to ace in CP. Thank You
I am not worried about rating and enjoy cp. I can usually solve 3(A,B,C) problems in cf within 1 -1hr 20 mins. I am just asking, as I am stuck in an interval, should I do contests(the unrated ones) hosted everyday in different platforms or focus of more problem solving and taking part in official ones.
I’d go with problem solving.
I see, and that’s nice to hear 
I think participation should depend on how you are right now. Do you see gaping holes in your knowledge and fail to solve problems due to not knowing topics? If so, out-of-contest practice and learning is the way to go. If you find yourself struggling with focus or similar, throwing yourself into contests would be best.
Don’t worry Just upsolve the question everytime. Soon you will be at top
I think biggest mistakes we do is not upsolving the questions… doesn’t matter how many contests you participate in if you are not upsolving them then you are just applying the same knowledge again and again in a different way…
i would just suggest not to take so many contests but focus more on upsolving it…
Hope it helps.!
Thank you.
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Thank you everyone here. This helped me a lot. 
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