Agnimandur's blog

1 on 1 Competitive Programming Coaching
By Agnimandur, 3 years ago, In English

Hello Codeforces!

Coaching

I am a USACO Platinum contestant, former Codeforces International Master rated 2377, Leetcode 2600, member of the Binarysearch.com contest team, and author of Codeforces Round 736 (Div. 1) and Codeforces Round 736 (Div. 2). I'm offering one on one competitive programming lessons OR leetcode practice, online over Zoom.

  • I can help you get better at USACO.
  • I can help you gain Codeforces rating.
  • I can help you with Leetcode.com and Binarysearch.com problems. I can help explain common interview programming techniques.

Price

The price is $50 an hour due to exceptionally high demand.

Interest

If you're interested, please send a direct message to Agnimandur over Codeforces! Alternatively, send a direct message over Discord to Agnimandur#9256.

Frequently Asked Questions

Suggest more questions in the comments and I'll respond to them up here!

  1. What's your coaching method and why do you think it will help in a problem solving? My coaching ideology is simple: the only way to improve is to practice. You have to be willing to put in the time and energy to practice. I come in by helping guide your practice: I can point out common ideas, so that you can look out for them in later problems. I can discuss coding details, so that you can solve problems faster later. And I can hopefully instill in you the confidence to solve harder problems, without giving up or looking at editorial.

  2. Why do you think people have to pay you instead of, for example, solving random problems? In what your lessons better than practicing independently and why does it worth $20 per hour? You can solve random problems if you'd like. I only offer my services as an option, if you feel like you need more direction and mentorship. $20 is a reasonable market rate.

  3. Do you understand that gaining mathematical thinking skill (if you don't have it form birth, that is true for 99%) is hard and long process that require many years? And no coach can significantly speed up this process. Nevertheless, this skill is crucial for problem solving. Tell the truth to people, how long will they need to take lessons from you and, therefore, pay you, to reach at least 2000 rating? Absolutely, problem solving skill is something no coach can "teach" you. What coaches can do is hone that skill. Everyone can solve difficult problems if they have the encouragement, willpower, and time to solve them. Many hours of practice will make the difference, not just one coach. Do not expect a miracle improvement to 2000 if you don't want to put in many hours of your own time.
  4. I know that people from top 100 (I won't say who exactly, just dm some youtubers) are ready to give lessons for even cheaper, why not to take lessons from more skilled experienced people for less cost? Perhaps, but are these classes 1 on 1? I know Errichto does group lessons.
  5. Will there be a free evaluation session? Yes!

UPDATE: Price increased to $35/hr due to demand.

  • Vote: I like it
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  • Vote: I do not like it

Comments Comments (41)
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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

Auto comment: topic has been updated by Agnimandur (previous revision, new revision, compare).

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +27 Vote: I do not like it

You're great, but I can't pay you $20 an hour, can I pay you $20 a year? ^_^

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +35 Vote: I do not like it

Interesting, so how much teaching experience do you have? I am assuming you must be pretty experienced since you're asking for $20 per hour.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +68 Vote: I do not like it

Why people are downvoting this? $20 is not that much.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +67 Vote: I do not like it

    There are many countries where you can feed an entire family a week for 20 dollars.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +203 Vote: I do not like it

      And there's a place where he lives.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +59 Vote: I do not like it

      In Canada we have group lessons for $30/hour so this would actually be a pretty good deal

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +35 Vote: I do not like it

      That's complete BS, an average family would be like what 3-4 people? So a cost of less than a dollar per day per person. That means an annual cost of ~365 dollars a year (even less). According to this (see the per capita food expenditure, in table format, sort by cost) in 2017 (so with no 4-year inflataion) there were just India and Venezuela that would barely fit this computation. Yeah sure, there's a slightly smaller cost if you buy more, but also "an entire family" is more than 3 people, and certainly you don't get "many countries". The figures that I know of as tutorial costs in the economically developed countries are much higher and for an average level, not competitive level (not saying the guy is worth it or something, but the price seems more than fair).

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -37 Vote: I do not like it

    $20=1600 rupee in India , imagine if he even teach 30 hour per month to one guy , he have to give him 50000 , and many people dont even earn this much in indian subcontinent

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +94 Vote: I do not like it

      Well, imagine that he asked a price that was reasonable in India. I'm sure there exist countries where that would be insanely expensive as well.

      Would you do this work for (what is for you) next to nothing just so that the people in DR Congo could afford it?

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +7 Vote: I do not like it

        see just above my comment there is comment of guy There are many countries where you can feed an entire family a week for 20 dollars. I just converted that in suncontinent standard

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

        I wouldn't target my commercial at people of Congo, instead I'd choose a more appropriate demographics.

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

          This isn't targeted at anyone, it is just simply an example.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +104 Vote: I do not like it

      Just because the price is too high for your situation/preferences, how is it a reason to downvote the blog? It's not like he has the time to coach the entire Indian subcontinent, so why should he set his prices to satisfy everyone?

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +38 Vote: I do not like it

        I upvoted the blog cause he is super orz person , I just converted what that cost means for Indian subcontinent people

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it +11 Vote: I do not like it

          Sorry, I didn't mean to criticize you if you didn't downvote.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

        i think it would be so awesome if you do the same thing with one on one contribution coaching XD

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +42 Vote: I do not like it

      I think 30 hours per month is a lot for one student, by the way. To get the most value out of your money when selecting a CP coach, I'd recommend a relatively high practice-on-your-own to paid-coaching ratio.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +2 Vote: I do not like it

      I don't think he is going to teach any concept, he will be a coach. He will mostly provide guidance.

      And I think, 1 or 2 sessions per week is enough for one person.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -105 Vote: I do not like it

    i know you didn't mean it

    but saying "20$ is not that much" is disgusting to be honest

    i am not poor, but imagine if you saying this in front of many people around the world that struggle to survive or get malnutrition just because they can't afford food. They can't make a lot of money not simply because they are lazy, but they probably don't have privilege just like you that live in rich-developed country or maybe they suffer because of very complex problems in their country(maybe civil war, epidemic, low education quality, harsh climate, etc..).

    it is like you indirectly say to people that have leg disablity : "running is not that hard"

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +51 Vote: I do not like it

    One of the IOI contestants from last year charged $175 an hour for tutoring. It's absurd how much rich families in the United States are willing to pay for this kind of stuff for their kids (usually to give an edge in college admissions).

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -67 Vote: I do not like it

    and now it has become 50$ an hour lol

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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

I guess one could just go for a few sessions per month. And then learn and practice on their own based on the guidance provided by agni. Take my upvote btw.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +79 Vote: I do not like it

I can help you gain Codeforces rating.

What method is being used to gain rating? :-)

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +28 Vote: I do not like it

    What method is being used to gain rating?

    Hard Work..

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +37 Vote: I do not like it

      I want to joke that cheating is hard work too, but I don't know how well my joke will go down. :)

      P.S. The reason why I make this joke is because the first and last bullet points concern self-improvement while the middle one is simply "gain rating."

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it -12 Vote: I do not like it
        I have one question for you
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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +76 Vote: I do not like it

Please, make some details clear, so people can better understand what are they giving their money for.

  1. What's your coaching method and why do you think it will help in a problem solving?

  2. Why do you think people have to pay you instead of, for example, solving random problems? In what your lessons better than practicing independently and why does it worth $20 per hour?

  3. Do you understand that gaining mathematical thinking skill (if you don't have it form birth, that is true for 99%) is hard and long process that require many years? And no coach can significantly speed up this process. Nevertheless, this skill is crucial for problem solving. Tell the truth to people, how long will they need to take lessons from you and, therefore, pay you, to reach at least 2000 rating?

  4. I know that people from top 100 (I won't say who exactly, just dm some youtubers) are ready to give lessons for even cheaper, why not to take lessons from more skilled experienced people for less cost?

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +2 Vote: I do not like it

I would really want to do it but 20$ is a bit much for me. I wish you give some giveaways :P

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Can you share your discord link, where you are most active? Agnimandur

So that to ask some queries related to interviews, if I take your subscription in future.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

The price I was offered for an hour of 1-1 coaching is 13$ in SEA region, and I guess 20$ for NA is normal.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -21 Vote: I do not like it

    Well, now you can probably raise your price to 35$ and expect decent amount of demand still! Easy cash

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

In my country, the salary for 1 person is 400$ per month on average (there's also people have huge incomes, but not all). This is sad because I want to attend this.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +32 Vote: I do not like it

thats great idea! i want to know how many people have dm'ed you already?

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

This will be perfect for beginners!

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