The Philadelphia Classic

The Philadelphia Classic (PClassic) is Philadelphia's Premier Competitive Programming Competition held at the University of Pennsylvania. We host events semesterly for high school students. Prizes and awards are given out to the top scoring teams, and registration for the competition is free for all high schools. We will be allowing middle school students to participate in the competition as well!

EMAIL: organizers@pclassic.org

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History

Founded in 1998, PClassic emerged as an annual competitive programming competition tailored for high school students, organized by the Penn's PClassic Organizer Team. After many years, PClassic introduced a beginner-focused novice division, alongside the decision to host PClassic biannually (Fall and Spring). Recently, attendance rate has risen to 300+ participants and organizers each event, making PClassic one of Pennsylvania's largest competitive programming competitions.

🤔 Frequently Asked Questions

For more details, check the "About" page.

*NOTE:* For the spring 2025 contest, the contest will be online via codeforces; NOT at UPenn campus. The PClassic Competition takes place at 107 Towne Bldg, Philadelphia, PA 19104. To enter, come to Levine Hall. Look for big glass doors; these will be the only ones unlocked.
Contest Entrance Map
There is street parking in the vicinity, along Walnut, 33rd, and 34th Streets.

We ask that each school has an adult chaperone. That person doesn't need to be a teacher—it can be a parent or other involved person—but we need someone to be responsible for getting everyone here and then back home. Please email us if this would be an issue; we've made exceptions for special cases in the past.

At least two; teams should be at least two people, but are generally four. Most schools bring 2-3 teams, but many also bring 5 or 6. If you're thinking about bringing more than 6 teams, please email us so we can discuss it.

Yes! We will provide free lunch, water, and other snacks for our attendees to enjoy. We usually order ~100 boxes of pizza for each of our events! Each team gets at least one. There are also several boxes for coaches/chaperones.

Each member of the top 3 advanced teams get a trophy and a prize. Each member of the top 1 classic team gets a trophy (We may give out trophies for the top 3 classic teams soon!). Unfortunately, we do not give out prizes for the classic teams. In the past, this has encouraged more overqualified advanced teams to do the classic division to obtain the prizes— this is not in the spirit of the contest!