Time Management Under a Clock
Budget minutes per problem by expected value, not by order on the paper.
Budgeting
A 150-minute exam with 4 problems is NOT 37 minutes each. Estimate each problem's difficulty first, then allocate: 20-40-50-40 beats equal splits when problems have different weight. Re-check the plan at fixed checkpoints (minute 60, minute 100): are you on plan? If not, re-plan — plans are tools, not contracts.
Partial-credit arithmetic
A 40% subtask banked is worth more than a 100% solution that never lands. When stuck at 80% confidence on the full solution with 30 minutes left, ask: can I GUARANTEE the subtask in 10 minutes instead? Then take the guarantee.
The two-pass sweep
Pass 1: read all, solve all "immediate" problems (I/O, simulation, one-idea problems). Pass 2: return to heavy problems with the score already safe. Beginners lose most points by doing the reverse — grinding problem B while D's 15-minute solution sits untouched.
Stamina is a skill
Contest performance degrades with fatigue. Practice full-length mocks at your real exam time of day, eat beforehand, skip no sleep the night before. This sounds trivial; it decides ties.