I am writing this for everyone who is currently rated under Expert.
I know how incredibly demotivating it is to compete right now. It feels like a quarter of the leaderboard is using AI to help them in some sort of way, if not flat-out pasting the entire solution.
Here in India specifically, we have a huge culture of chasing ranks and colorful titles because we think it’s a golden ticket to a top-tier job. Some people will even brag about their rating spikes when all they really did was prompt an AI for the logic.
But what’s the point of all this? Do you actually feel that rush of adrenaline when you see "Accepted" on code you copy-pasted? Deep down, you knew you couldn't solve it, and maybe admitting that is just too hard for some people.
Problem setters pour hours into crafting these beautiful problems for us. The least we can do is not ruin their hard work just to claim a rank or title that isn't ours yet.
For me, CP has always been a journey. Even though I’m "only" a Specialist, it has completely changed how I think. I catch myself trying to think about these problems through random daily activities, and I genuinely love that feeling.
I might not have a high rating, but I’m proud of how I fight in every single contest. I'm proud that I actually enjoy the problems instead of just treating them as a chore. I’m continuously pushing myself to improve because I know I haven't even scratched the surface of what's out there yet.
If you’re reading this and feeling stuck: don't give up. This "cheater era" probably isn't ending anytime soon. But if we put our heads down, grind, and actually become as good as the goals we've set for ourselves, it’ll all be worth it in the end.
"cheater era" — hits hard.
these cheaters are gonna find it hard when they sit for OAs, I have low rating too, but I am constantly trying to get better, i may not be a genius when it comes to figuring out formulae, and I screw at constructive algo questions(that are jus 800) rated but I am not giving up, Im ready for the grind!!!
honestly speaking i personally know people who cheated their way through OA's as well
Almost 5k accepted submissions on Problem D in yesterday’s Educational Round… that’s brutal
To be fair, the difficulty gradient of yesterday's Edu Round was more like a div 3 than that of a usual div 2 round.
Agreed…But, Problem D didn’t feel like a 5k-solvable problem. That level of solves is honestly abnormal.
agree
Yeah fr, it even felt easier than some Div. 3s.
I don't know why people cheat themselves like if you cannot solve a problem here in you own space then how can you solve it in a pressure situation like an onsite OA. I also get temptations to cheat and i will admit(not my best decision) i did cheat in one contest with alternate id, i also got a good rank but the satisfaction was missing and it did not feel mine. The urge to use AI is very high after all the daily depression and failure of cp and my inability to think but all those traits is mine and if i cheat then these traits will not leave me anytime soon.
is shakespeare really dead?
shakespeare found alive in india, experts puzzled
hard
well done
Thank you aakarsh-2004 for mentioning the issue
I was about to touch speciality when I left 1.5 years ago........now I went back to grey......I earlier thought my skills are degraded ......it feels so bad .....as from lower tier colleg I came back here to gain expert postion to get a top tier companies's referral.......
Out of curiosity, do companies that look at your rating or rank on codeforces even exist? I have never had a single company ask me about my rating/rank. The only real impact codeforces had on me was that I became better at OAs and live coding, but that just came from experience, not from the rank.
I agree. Everyone knows people cheat on cf so no one really cares about ratings when it comes to job or college application.
Yes, some do in India, being a CM or above is like a proxy for someone's problem solving skills from HR prespective during initial screening. You can see most of the cheaters and even some genuine candidates flex their ranks in their Linkedin, the clout helps with job hunting and stuff.
company donnot ask for it, but its most effective way in india to get a referral.......for people belonging from lower colleges it very hard to get shorlisted for OA without referral
beutifully written and raised thousands of peoples voice who actually and honestly grind up , Appreciate it. :D wishing you the best, thanks for sharing!
Thx bro, truly impressed
gopal.thecoder what do you think?
However, that was 5 months ago; now, the title should be changed to: To everyone grinding below CM in the AI era.
CM and Master are also heavily impacted, you can see I was a Master since 2022 and now I found it even quite struggling for a CM.
Even LGM like tourist jiangly will be affected if the authors and coordinators are not removing cheaters during the contest. I see many times some grey and green users beat tourist during the contest, and they just get removed by authors since top 20 are closely watched by these eyes.