15 stops, 127 things to do. Work through them one stop at a time and tick things off as you go.
This is an upper bound, not a minimum. It is long on purpose. DSA is a skill, and you only get it by doing it badly for a while first.
Ignore anything that says "solve these 10 patterns and crack FAANG". It is the biggest clickbait in the industry.
Striver alone is not enough for an OA (aadhi duniya Striver karke baithi hai). First year: finish Striver first and use this sheet alongside it. Second year with Striver unfinished: finish it now, then come here.
Stop depending on video lectures. Build the habit of learning from Codeforces, LeetCode and CSES editorials.
Give a lot of contests, and always upsolve from the editorial.
Read Codeforces blogs. They show you several approaches to the same problem, which is how you actually improve.
The one hard rule
Do not use ChatGPT or any other AI tool for DSA practice, not even for debugging. In the real OA there is no assistant, and you will have to debug your own logic.
Put together by
Krishna Mittal, Sachit Jain, Rudransh Pratap Singh
Pre-final year SMP mentors, batch of '28
With guidance from
Batch of '27
Pick up at the stop marked 'you are here', clear it, and move on. Every stop stays open, so you can jump ahead. A problem ticked once is ticked everywhere it appears.
Saved in this browser only. Sign in with your institute account to keep it everywhere.
The road
DSA is the most important part of internship season. With AI-written projects everywhere, it is the one thing companies can still judge you on. You cannot clear an OA without it.
Alongside Striver, do the CSES sheet. It is underrated, and its problems are the building blocks of many harder ones.
If you got this far, you already know the list was never the point. Keep giving contests, keep upsolving, and keep reading editorials.
Stuck on a stop, or found a dead link? Ask a senior.
Ask a Senior