American Computer Science League (ACSL)

ACSL organizes computer science contests and computer programming contests for elementary, junior, and senior high school students. This year, our 41st year of continuous operation, over 300 teams in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia are participating in various divisions. ACSL is on the approved activities list of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). ACSL is also an institutional member of the Computer Science Teachers Association.

Official Website: www.acsl.org

Language:

Chinese & English

Consist

Preliminary：round 1 (Top 65% enter Final rounds)
Final: Round 2-4

Date

Preliminary

Round 1: 18 Dec, 2022 14:00-16:40
Round 2: 19 Feb, 2023 14:00-16:40
Round 3: 19 Mar, 2023 14:00-16:40
Round 4: 22 Apr, 2023 14:00-16:40

All-Star Contest: August, 2023

Locations

Paper-based in partnering school

Programming Language

Any programming language you are good at

Competitors:

3 students per team (at least 2 students)
(Note:Individual participation is also allowed, but there is no team award.)

Divisions:

The Senior Division is geared to those high school students with experience in programming, especially those who are taking a Computer Science AP course. We suggest that students do not register for the Senior Division during their first year of ACSL participation.
The Intermediate Division is geared towards senior high school students with computer programming experience, and advanced junior high students.
The Junior Division is geared to middle school students with no previous experience in programming. No student beyond grade 9 may compete in the Junior Division.
The Elementary Division is open to students from grades 3 -6. It consists of non-programming problems. Four categories, one each contest, will be tested. The contest consists of a 30-minute, 5-question test each month.

Note: Experienced lower grade students can choose higher level contest. For example, primary school students with high programming skills can choose senior or intermediate or junior contest, and junior school students with strong programming skills can choose the senior contest. However high school students can't choose lower level contests.

Content

Part 1 (Individual round): 5 short answer questions in 30 minutes. 1 point for each question.
Part 2 (Team round): 1 programming question in 2 hours, worth 5 points. (All members of the team are required to answer and submit answers)

Elementary Division Only Individual written contest: 5 short answer questions in 30 minutes. 1 point for each question.

Final qualification

The top 65% of teams from the preliminary round are invited to attend the final competition

Requirements

Each team can use the programming language they are most familiar with to solve the contest
WIFI or other internet access is not allowed during the competition

Grading

Individual scores: Individual written score + Individual programming score
Team scores: Average team written scores + Average team programming scores

National awards

Reward by different levels
Individual awards

Perfect Score: Get a perfect score in round 2 to round 4
Individual top Scores: top 20% individuals

Team awards

Gold: Top 10% teams
Silver: Top 25% teams
Bronze: Top 35% teams
Regional Honorable Award: Regional top 20% teams (Except for national awards)

Reward by different levels. Team members who miss one round at most can receive team awards.

All Star Contest

The winning teams/individual will be invited to participate in the All Star Contest. All Star Contest will be held on August, 2023. All the teams will compete in their own division.

The short answer topics that are covered in ACSL Round 1-4

Each topic is linked to the page of the ACSL wiki

Division	Elementary	Junior	Intermediate & Senior Division
Round 1	Computer Number System	Computer Number System.Recursive Functions. What Does This Program Do?- Branching	Computer Number System.Recursive Functions. What Does This Program Do?
Round 2	Prefix/Infix/Postfix Notation	Prefix/Infix/Postfix Notation. Bit-String Flicking. What Does This Program Do? - Looping	Prefix/Infix/Postfix Notation. Bit-String Flicking. LISP.
Round 3	Boolean Algebra	Boolean Algebra. Data Structures. What Does This Program Do? - Arrays	Boolean Algebra. Data Structures. FSAs and Regular Expressions.
Round 4	Graph Theory	Graph Theory. Digital Electronics. What Does This Program Do? - Strings	Graph Theory. Digital Electronics. Assembly Language.

*Note: The Short Problems topics are the same in the Intermediate and Senior Divisions.The Senior Division problems are more challenging than those in the Intermediate Division.

Date

20th August, 2022

Content

Primary：20 multiple choice questions
Junior, Intermediate and Senior： 20 multiple choice questions（written contest），2 Programming problems.

*PS：Subject to the actual number of questions.Primary division only has written contest.

Written Contest

Primary：: 60 - minute exam consisting of 20 multiple choice questions.
Junior, Intermediate and Senior：60 - minute exam consisting of 20 multiple choice questions. Team members need answer independently

Programming Contest

Format: 3 students per team (at least 2 students)
Content: 2 Programming problems scored with 10 points per question. All members of the team are required to answer and submit answers. (3 hours)

Awards

Global Awards（only Individual）

Gold：Above the score line set by the organizing committee
Sliver：Above the score line set by the organizing committee
Bronze：Above the score line set by the organizing committee

National awards

Top Scores: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Individual / Teams
Gold: Top 10% Individual / Teams
Silver: Top 20% Individual / Teams
Bronze: Top 35% Individual / Teams
Honorable Award: Top 50% Individual / Teams

Grading

Individual scores: Individual written score + Individual programming score
Team scores: Average team written scores + Average team programming scores
If there is a tie, the individual/team with the highest score in the written short answer questions will win; if it is still a tie, the individual/team with the higher programming score will win.
PS： Points from the Regular Season are not counted in the All-Star contest

Agenda(The schedule is subject to the day of the tournament)

Date	Time	Session
20th August 2022	09:00-09:30	Zoom Debugging+Registration+Opening Ceremon*
	09:30-10:30	Written Contest（multiple choice）*
	10:30-11:00	Trivia Bowl*
	11:00-11:30	Guest Sharing*
	11:30-13:00	Break
	13:00-16:00	Programming Contest
	16:00-17:30	Work Presentation*
	17:30-18:00	Closing + Awarding Ceremony*

PS：The schedule is subject to the day of the tournament，Primary only participate in session marked star（*）。

1. CAN THE STUDENTS BRING A CALCULATOR TO ACSL？

Calculators can not be used on ACSL.

2. REFUND POLICY

If, for some reason, the student is unable to attend after paying the fee, please contact us. If you apply before the registration deadline, 25% of the registration fee will be deducted as academic materials and service fees. If you apply after the registration deadline, no refund will be given.