About
The Fourth High School Programming Contest (HSPC) hosted by Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) brings talented students from high schools and middle schools to participate in an organized competition. Students compete individually to demonstrate their programming skills and problem solving abilities by attempting to solve eight programming problems within a three hour period.
Experience
Get hands on experience working on real coding questions in a fun and fast paced environment
Prizes
Win cool prizes from the industry sponsors and the envy of your peers
Fuel-up
We recommend you eat before the competition starts
Registration
All California high school students and advanced junior high students are eligible. Middle school students will compete in the Pre-High School Category.
Sign up for $20 registration fee.
Sign Up Now Join Mailing ListSchedule
The event will start at 11:00 AM on April 25 online. We will provide link and instruction to participants on the competition day
| Start | End | Activity | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 am | 12:00 pm | Check-In | Online via Zoom |
| 12:00 pm | 3:00 pm | HSPC Contest | Online via HackerRank |
| 5:00 pm | TBA | Award Presentation | Online via Zoom |
Awards
This year’s awards are provided by our sponsors:
Individual Prizes
Top 5 individual performers in the individual category
Grace Hopper Awards
Top 5 female contestants in the individual category
Middle school students will compete in the Pre-High School category.
Rules
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Who is eligible to compete?
The competition is open to all California middle school and high school students (public, private, or home schools). Participants may be any student currently enrolled in grades 6-12. Advanced junior high and graduating seniors are also welcome to participate.
Will there be teams?
Yes, you can either compete individually or choose to form a team of 2 members. Teams will compete in the team category. Each team member needs to register individually.
How long is the competition?
The contest will consist of 6 problems to be solved over a 3 hour period. The set of problems will span various levels of difficulty.
What languages can we code in?
Solutions to the problems must be coded in Java, Python or C++. No other languages are allowed.
Can you bring books?
You are allowed to bring a total of two books to the contest. These must be “traditional” books – you may not compose your own book or set of notes.
Can you bring standalone software?
You are NOT allowed to bring any software or disks/usb into the lab. If you need a piece of paper, you may ask the lab proctor for blank paper. Any question should be submitted to the judges in writing.
What if I have a question during the competition?
Each clarification question will be considered and acknowledged, but the judges reserve the right to not answer any question that may reveal the answer. The question and its answer may be provided to all contestants if it seems relevant.
Does performance matter?
Yes. Performance is a criterion for judging if a solution is correct. Your program must execute and deliver a correct answer within one minute in order to be considered correct. For some of the problems there may exist a solution that might work, but is so inefficient that it will take longer than a minute to finish.
How will we submit our solutions?
We will be using HackerRank as the problem submission system. You can take a quick tutorial on how to use HackerRank.
Can we use outside/third-party libraries?
Yes, but there will not be any third party libraries provided for you. Only standard libraries will be provided, but you may type in any support libraries on your own and submit them as part of your solution.
Scoring and Judging Criteria
- Ranking will be based on overall score, where the score is determined primarily by the number of problems solved correctly.
- Time will be used as a secondary scoring method in order to break potential ties. In the case where multiple contestants have solved the same number of problems, the tie breaker will be the total time taken to solve the correct problems (i.e., the contestant solving the problems in the least amount of time will have the higher ranking).
Computer Lab Rules
- NO Food or Drinks allowed in the labs. There will not be an official break, but you may briefly leave the contest area to go to the restroom or to get a drink.
- NO Personal Laptops. Each student will be assigned a computer in one of the CPP labs. You may use only the assigned machine to solve the problems.
- NO Internet use. The Internet will be turned off in the labs. You may not search the web or use the Internet in any other way in order to obtain hints or tips.
- NO use of cellphones/electronic devices. While in the lab, all electronic devices must be turned off. Electronic devices are not allowed to be used during the competition. In general, any disturbance that causes other contestants to lose their concentration will be handled by the lab proctors.
- NO outside contact during the competition. You may not use a wireless device to contact or talk to anyone during the contest period.
- The CPP labs are equipped with the following computers and software: - Eclipse for Java and C++
- Netbeans for Java and C++
- Thonny for Python 2 and 3
Previous Contests
HSPC 2020
View High School ProblemsView Middle School Problems
| Place | Contestant | School |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Seungho Lee | Egan Junior High School |
| 2nd | Taeksoo Kwon | El Cerrito Middle School |
| 3rd | Nathan Kang | Walter Reed Middle School |
| 4th | Melody Yu | Rancho San Joaquin Middle School |
| 5th | Carolyn Lee | Orchard Hills School |
| 6th | Jiuyu Zhang | Jeffrey Trail Middle School |
| 7th | Devon Y Chang | Rancho San Joaquin Middle School |
| 8th | Nick Li | Ynez School |
| 9th | Mathew Xie | Foothills Middle School |
| 10th | Zachary Ian Miller | Science Academy STEM Magnet |
| 11st | Hyunmyung Jang | SCCS |
| 12nd | Jasmine Jung | Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) |
| 13rd | Chloe Wu | Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate |
| 14th | Jack Liu | Chaparral Middle School |
| 15th | Will Chen | Sierra Vista Middle School |
| 16th | Sean Kim | Walter Reed Middle School |
| 17th | William Yifu Liang | Portola Springs |
| 18th | Justine Lee | LACES |
| 19th | Millie Wang | Redwood Middle School |
| 20th | Isaac Seo | Christ The King |
| 21st | Jiwo Jeong | Jeffrey Middle School |
| 22nd | Joon-Hyung Daniel Noh | Walter Reed Middle School |
| 23rd | Sean Zeng | Rancho San Joaquin Middle School |
| 24th | Arthur Liang | Alvarado Intermediate |
| 25th | Zihao Wang | Suzanne Middle School |
| Place | Contestant | School |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Melody Yu | Rancho San Joaquin Middle School |
| 2nd | Carolyn Lee | Orchard Hills School |
| 3rd | Jasmine Jung | Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) |
| 4th | Chloe Wu | Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate |
| 5th | Millie Wang | Redwood Middle School |
| Place | Contestant | School |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Aaron Chew | Valencia High |
| 2nd | Catherine Cho | Harvard-Westlake |
| 3rd | Andrew Chung | Northwood High |
| 4th | Donggun Kwak | Harvard-Westlake |
| 5th | Yash Jain | Moreau Catholic High |
| 6th | Justin Kim | Los Osos High School |
| 7th | Tom Binford | Taft Charter High STEAM Magnet |
| 8th | Ho Lyun Jeong | Troy High School |
| 9th | Divyanshu Bhadoria | Mission San Jose High School |
| 10th | Arvin Ding | Portoloa High School |
| 11st | Aaron Hao | Diamond Bar High School |
| 12nd | Peter Gao | San Dieguito High School Academy |
| 13rd | Justin Chung | Northwood High |
| 14th | David Y Lee | Torrey Pines |
| 15th | Minjun Andrew Kim | West Ranch High |
| 16th | Tony Cha | Palos Verdes High |
| 17th | Allen Weng | Irvine High |
| 18th | Xu (Bill) Zhang | Sage Creek High |
| 19th | Justin Ji | Whitney High |
| 20th | Julie Kim | Branham High |
| 21st | Jung Choi | Troy High |
| 22nd | Paul Kang | La Canada High |
| 23rd | Devin Han (Haochen Han) | Troy High |
| 24th | Ryan Zhu | Diamond Bar High |
| 25th | Yanhua (Ian) Li | Troy High |
| Place | Contestant | School |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Catherine Cho | Harvard-Westlake |
| 2nd | Julie Kim | Branham High |
| 3rd | Zhiyu Shen | Walnut High School |
| 4th | Jaeeun Park | West Ranch High |
| 5th | Audrey Lee | Mira Costa High |
HSPC 2019 (May 4, 2019)
View High School ProblemsView Middle School Problems
| Place | Contestant(s) |
|---|---|
| 1st | Davin Jeong |
| 2nd | Adrian Lei |
| 3rd | Melody Yu |
| 4th | Andrew Shen |
| 5th | Mason Wang |
| 6th | Catherine Cho |
| 7th | Edward Jung |
| 8th | Jack Liu |
| 9th | William Ma |
| 10th | Allen Weng |
| 1st | Nathan Kang Caden Kang |
| 2nd | Issa A. Alwazir Mohammad Ibrahim Khan |
| 3rd | Maddison Chau Mario Castelo |
| 4th | Enzo Cayetano Emiliano Melendrez |
| 5th | Hakop Zarikyan Dru Reed |
| 1st | Melody Yu |
| 2nd | Catherine Cho |
| 3rd | Sahana Anand |
| 4th | Hannah Moon |
| 5th | Cindy Ding |
| 1st | Arto Mihalache |
| 2nd | Arvin Ding |
| 3rd | Ryan Zhu |
| 4th | Daniel Chou |
| 5th | Harry Jaeyoung Cha |
| 6th | Warrick He |
| 7th | Andrew Chung |
| 8th | Brandon Kam |
| 9th | Peter Husman |
| 10th | Sheldon Zhu |
| 11th | Aaron Chew |
| 12th | Allen Liu |
| 13th | Divyanshu Bhadoria |
| 14th | Xu (Bill) Zhang |
| 15th | Jialong Sun |
| 1st | Eric Lee Matthew Kwon |
| 2nd | Justin Kim Kevin Jang |
| 3rd | Christo Bakis Jimmy Li |
| 4th | Joseph Kim Hyun Joe Jeong |
| 5th | William Trang Thomas Li |
| 6th | Anderson Tsai Brad Byun |
| 7th | Sean Lee Bryce Casaje |
| 8th | Ethan Wang Ethan Kosaki |
| 9th | Chieh-Hsiu Hung Zhaoyang Jia |
| 10th | Justin Chung Junha Kim |
| 1st | Heather Dinh |
| 2nd | Shivana Anand |
| 3rd | Julie Kim |
| 4th | Joanne Lee |
| 5th | Su Hyang Kim |
HSPC 2018 (May 19, 2018)
View Problems| Place | Contestant(s) | School | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Peter Gao | Diegueño Middle School | 4 Questions | 54 Minutes |
| 2nd | Andrew Shen | Sierra Vista Middle School | 2 Questions | 41 Minutes |
| 3rd | Andrew Chung | Sierra Vista Middle School | 2 Questions | 42 Minutes |
| 4th | Mason Wang | Redwood Middle School | 2 Questions | 91 Minutes |
| 5th | Xu (Bill) Zhang | Aviara Oaks Middle School | 1 Question | 43 Minutes |
| 6th | Peter Park | Oxford Academy | 1 Question | 73 Minutes |
| 1st | Edward Jung Minseo Kim |
Rancho San Joaquin Middle School Pioneer Middle School |
4 Questions | 54 Minutes |
| 2nd | Davin Jeong Donggun Kwak |
Horace Mann Walter Reed Middle School |
3 Questions | 53 Minutes |
| 3rd | Adrian Lei William Ma |
Jeffrey Trail Middle School Lakeside Middle School |
2 Questins | 26 Minutes |
| 4th | Nathan Kang Caden Kang |
Walter Reed Middle School | 2 Questions | 29 Minutes |
| 5th | Victor Lee Joshua Nam |
George K. Porter Middle School | 2 Questions | 114 Minutes |
| 6th | Hyeonchae Kim Julia Jung |
Rosemont Middle School Rancho Pico Junior High School |
1 Question | 42 Minutes |
| 1st | Hyeonchae Kim Julia Jung |
Rosemont Middle School Rancho Pico Junior High School |
1 Question | 42 Minutes |
| 1st | Jarred Allen | Troy High School | 7 Questions | 58 Minutes |
| 2nd | Gene Ho Lee | Grover Cleveland Charter High School | 7 Questions | 90 Minutes |
| 3rd | Edward Jin | Beckman High School | 7 Questions | 92 Minutes |
| 4th | Shivana Anand | Troy High School | 7 Questions | 124 Minutes |
| 5th | Lyron Co Ting Keh | Crescenta Valley High School | 7 Questions | 132 Minutes |
| 6th | Jefferson Lee | Woodbridge High School | 6 Questions | 73 Minutes |
| 7th | Joshua Moreno | Beaumont High School | 6 Questions | 81 Minutes |
| 8th | Sahil Jain | BASIS Independent Silicon Valley | 6 Questions | 90 Minutes |
| 9th | Ba Hoang Luu | La Quinta High School | 6 Questions | 132 Minutes |
| 10th | Zachery Gyurkovitz | Inspire Charter Schools | 5 Questions | 48 Minutes |
| 1st | Arvin Ding Kevin Du |
Portola High School | 7 Questions | 101 Minutes |
| 2nd | Youngeun Kim Doseok Jang |
Palos Verdes High School Eastlake High School |
6 Questions | 73 Minutes |
| 3rd | Vinay Venkat Jason Keung |
Valencia High School | 5 Questions | 55 Minutes |
| 4th | Harry Jaeyoung Cha Sam Dae Mendel |
Palos Verdes High School | 5 Questions | 69 Minutes |
| 5th | Justin Chung Junha Kim |
Northwood High School Troy High School |
5 Questions | 95 Minutes |
| 6th | Alejandro Arteaga Kalvin Chang |
Glen A. Wilson High School | 5 Questions | 136 Minutes |
| 7th | Jason Yu Michael Yu |
University High School | 4 Questions | 69 Minutes |
| 8th | Ben Costello Scott Poole |
Upland High | 4 Questions | 129 Minutes |
| 9th | Peter Flanders Aamir Sajjad |
Glendora High School | 3 Questions | 50 Minutes |
| 10th | Daniel Truong Minh-Khoi Do |
La Quinta High School | 3 Questions | 61 Minutes |
| 1st | Shivana Anand | Troy High School | 7 Questions | 124 Minutes |
| 2nd | Tiffany Wu | Ruben S. Ayala High School | 4 Questions | 58 Minutes |
| 3rd | Jennifer Pham | La Quinta High School | 4 Questions | 75 Minutes |
| 4th | Maylis Whetsel | South Pasadena High School | 4 Questions | 79 Minutes |
| 5th | Avika Patel | Woodbridge High School | 3 Questions | 55 Minutes |
| 6th | Tiffany Trinh | La Quinta High School | 3 Questions | 75 Minutes |
| 7th | Kayla Kim | Ruben S. Ayala High School | 1 Questions | 15 Minutes |
| 8th | Su Hyang Kim | Simi Valley High School | 1 Questions | 32 Minutes |
| 9th | Hannah Chen | Whitney High School | 1 Questions | 120 Minutes |
| 10th | Katelyn Langley | Valley View High School | 1 Questions | 150 Minutes |
HSPC 2017 (May 20, 2017)
View Problems
| Place | Contestant(s) | School | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Harry Jaeyoung Cha | Palos Verdes High School | 8 Questions | 88 Minutes |
| 2nd | Sabrina Tseng | Diamond Bar High School | 8 Questions | 128 Minutes |
| 3rd | Regina Wang | Troy High School | 8 Questions | 148 Minutes |
| 4th | Saralynn Chick | Westlake High School | 7 Questions | 101 Minutes |
| 5th | Grant Leech | Glendora High School | 7 Questions | 111 Minutes |
| 1st | Jefferson Lee Aleksander Nelson |
Woodbridge High School | 8 Questions | 103 Minutes |
| 2nd | Peter Thompson William He |
Diamond Bar High School | 8 Questions | 126 Minutes |
| 3rd | Anh Ngo Alvin Nguyen |
La Quinta High School | 8 Questions | 147 Minutes |
| 4th | Hoang Luu Tri Truong |
La Quinta High School | 7 Questions | 66 Minutes |
| 5th | Tynesha Pham Angela Gadon |
Woodbridge High School | 7 Questions | 85 Minutes |
| 6th | Sharleen Loh Angela Wang |
Troy High School | 7 Questions | 160 Minutes |
| 1st | Sabrina Tseng | Diamond Bar High School | 8 Questions | 128 Minutes |
| 2nd | Regina Wang | Troy High School | 8 Questions | 148 Minutes |
| 3rd | Saralynn Chick | Westlake High School | 7 Questions | 101 Minutes |
| 4th | Felianne Teng | Troy High School | 6 Questions | 133 Minutes |
| 5th | Kelly Chou | Ruben S. Ayala High School | 6 Questions | 160 Minutes |
Welcome to Our Campus
This event is hosted and organized by Computer Science Department in the College of Science at Cal Poly Pomona
