📚 Prep Guide
Prepare to
Win
A practical guide covering what to study for each round, which resources to use, and tactical advice that makes a real difference on competition day.
What to Study
Round-by-Round Preparation
Timed individual challenge — 5–7 problems in 3 hours. Focus on correctness and efficiency.
Arrays & Strings
Two-pointer, sliding window, prefix sums
Recursion & Backtracking
Subsets, permutations, constraint satisfaction
Binary Search
Classic and answer-space binary search patterns
Graphs & Trees
BFS, DFS, shortest paths, tree traversals
Dynamic Programming
1D/2D DP, knapsack, LCS, interval DP
Sorting & Greedy
Comparison-based, counting sort, greedy proofs
Collaborative exercises assessing how well you communicate, delegate, and plan as a team.
Articulate your skillset
Be clear about what you're strong at and want to work on
Role awareness
Frontend, backend, ML, product, presenter — know what suits you
Problem decomposition
How to break a vague brief into trackable tasks
Scope management
What's MVP vs. nice-to-have — practice ruthless prioritisation
8-hour in-person build. You get a problem statement on the day. Ship a working prototype.
Web / app fundamentals
React or Next.js for frontend, Express/FastAPI for backend
Database basics
PostgreSQL or SQLite, basic schema design, simple queries
REST API design
How to structure endpoints, status codes, request/response shapes
Deployment basics
Vercel, Render, or Railway — be able to ship a URL in minutes
Git workflow
Branches, PRs, merge conflicts — smooth team collaboration
Live presentation + Q&A in front of industry judges. Confidence, clarity, and depth matter.
Demo-first structure
Open with a live demo, then explain the how and why
Technical depth
Know your architecture inside out — judges will probe it
Impact framing
Who is this for? What problem does it solve? Why now?
Handling hard questions
It's fine to say 'we'd approach it this way' for things you didn't build
Curated Resources
Where to Practice
These are the platforms and resources our mentors recommend. All free.
Competitive Programming
Best for Round 1 prep — work through Medium problems
For algorithm depth and contest simulation
Reference for every algorithm and data structure
Structured roadmap — follow it in order
Web & App Development
Free, full-stack curriculum — beginner to advanced
If you plan to build a web app in Round 3
Fastest way to build a Python backend API
Concise, practical videos on modern web tech
Machine Learning / AI
Practical deep learning — top-down approach
Datasets, notebooks, and beginner-friendly ML courses
Deep neural network fundamentals from first principles
Pre-trained models and NLP/vision pipelines
Presentation & Soft Skills
Classic framework for concise, high-impact decks
How to present a product under time pressure
From Experience
Tactical Tips
Advice that's easy to overlook but makes a real difference on the day.
Start Round 1 with the easiest problem
Lock in early points before spending time on hard problems. Partial scoring rewards breadth.
Know your stack before Round 3
Switching to an unfamiliar framework on build day is a trap. Use the tools you can move fast with.
Have a boilerplate repo ready
Set up a starter project (auth, DB, basic API) before Round 3 so you're not wasting build time on scaffolding.
MVP first, polish second
A working bare-bones solution beats a half-built feature-rich one. Ship the core use case first.
Practise your demo out loud
Run through your Round 4 demo at least 5 times before the presentation. Muscle memory under pressure.
Assign a dedicated presenter
Don't rotate who's speaking mid-presentation. One person drives, others handle backup questions.
You're ready. Register.
500 seats. One-time ₹99 fee covering all four rounds. Registration closes July 31 or when seats fill up.