MC Programming Competition | Montgomery College, Maryland

2025 High School Programming Competition

Friday, February 21, 2025
3 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Germantown Campus, High Tech Building (HT) (campus map)

The Montgomery College High School Programming Competition is held annually to provide an opportunity for high school students to compete and compare their programming skills.

We’re excited to announce that the Fifteenth High School Programming Competition (using Java or Python Languages) will be held Friday, February 21, 2025, at 3:00pm EST. Our competition is open to students who live or attend school in Maryland, Virginia, or DC. The competition will be held in person in Montgomery College. Competition Location is on the 2nd Floor, High Tech Building (HT), Germantown MC Campus - 20200 Observation Drive, Germantown, MD 20876

We can’t wait to see you on campus!

Registration Instructions

Registration is opened on January 24, 2025 and ends on Friday, February 14, 2025.

Team Registration Form

To comply with the Montgomery College policy of protection of minors on the College campus, each team must be accompanied by a chaperon/coach. This person must be an official employee of your school and they must be registered at the same time as the team. Registration should be done by the schools’ teacher/coach/chaperon.

The following information will be required to be provided in the form:

School Name
Coach Name/Chaperon Name (Coach or Chaperon should be school employee)
Coach email address/Chaperon email address.
Total Number of teams (2 students per team)
List of teams, team members and each team level. There are two levels: Introduction and Advanced.
- List of Topics for Java Introduction and Advanced is listed here (PDF, )
- List of Topics for Python Introduction and Advanced is listed here (PDF, )

Students will compete in teams of 2 with teams being placed in either the Introduction Level or Advanced Level. Each team will demonstrate its programming skills and problem-solving abilities by attempting to solve several Java or Python programming problems. The MC HS Programming Competition generally includes 5-6 problems of varying difficulty (easy to very challenging) to be solved in 90 minutes. Competitors will sharpen not only their computer science problem solving skills, but their strategy and teamwork as well.

Students may compete using Java Eclipse, Python IDE. Computers (MC PC running Microsoft Windows) will be provided. Sample questions and Rules for the Introduction and Advanced Levels from 2019 year you can see here:

Sample questions and Rules for Introduction Level: 2019 Programming Competition Intro Teams (PDF, )
Sample questions and Rules for Advanced Level: 2019 Programming Competition Advanced Teams (PDF, )

Student teams are scored for their solutions by a panel of judges made up of professors at Montgomery College and other local universities.

Competition Day Schedule

Friday, February 21, 2025

2:30pm - 3:30pm: Arrival, registration, and snacks
3:30pm - 4:00pm: Logistics and introduction to the competition
4:00pm - 5:30pm: Competition begins
5:30pm - 6:00pm: Pizza
6:00pm - 7:00pm: Guest Speaker, Prizes, Awards

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who can compete in the Montgomery College HS Programming Competition?
All high school students living or going to school in Maryland, Virginia, or DC are eligible to compete.

• How long is the contest?
The contest itself is 90 minutes long. We serve snacks and provide some training on using the competition platform immediately prior to starting the clock, and there is a speaker and awards ceremony at the conclusion. We typically begin the clock at 2:30pm and students are ready to leave us by 7:00pm.

• How big are the teams permitted to be?
Students can only compete in teams of two. Students cannot compete alone. If a student doesn't have a team when they register, we will assign them to a team based on their programming ability.

• What level of programming knowledge is required to compete?
Any student who has some programming knowledge in Java will be able to solve some of the problems. Teams will be placed in either the Introduction Level or Advanced Level.

• What resources can students consult during the competition?
Students can use Eclipse and Java API. Students cannot "ask" the internet any questions, so the use of sites like GitHub and Stack Overflow is restricted to code already created that they can search. Students cannot use any Al tools during the competition. Likewise, communication is restricted to team members and our MC proctors.

• Can I see problem sets from prior contests?
Yes! A set of problems we have used in the past can be found on the MC Competition web page.

• Can students compete virtually?
The contest is in-person on the MS Germantown Campus. We do not have a virtual option.

• What materials do students need to compete? Does every student need a laptop?
Each team will compete with one MC class computer. No secondary uses can be used: the use of phones and smartwatches is forbidden.

• Is lunch provided?
We serve snacks before the contest, and a treat when the contest is over.

Have more questions? Want more information? Contact us at MCProgrammingCompetition@montgomerycollege.edu