How to prepare for Google Asia Pacific University (APAC) Test?

How to prepare for Google Asia Pacific University (APAC) Test?
How to prepare for Google Asia Pacific University (APAC) Test?

Introduction

Google Asia Pacific University is an opportunity where university students from Asia participate to get hired by Google. It’s an annual event and hiring occurs once through this for Google. The most buzz of any teenager is to work for a tech giant like Google. But, not are as technically skilled as Google would hire. Most of the applicants need to clear a lag to renumber of interview rounds to qualify for being a software engineer at Google.

This is where Google Asia Pacific University (APAC) comes into play. It is an opportunity for students in higher education institutes to get hired by Google. In this article, we will briefly describe what it is and how to prepare for it.

Eligibility Criteria for Google Asia Pacific University (APAC)

There is no restriction on the number of rounds anyone can sit in. You must be currently pursuing a Bachelor, Master, or Doctorate degree and intend to graduate in 2021. Only the best score will be taken into account. Shortlisted students may be called for interviews for internships as well as full-time roles after reviewing their form entries and performance in the APAC tests.

You are not a resident of Crimea, Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or Quebec or anywhere that the Test is prohibited by law.

Exam Pattern for Google Asia Pacific University (APAC)

It consists of various rounds starting from the practice round, round A, round B…Round E each having three hours to complete the exam. Each contest has four problems to be solved. Each such problem has two types of input one with small constraints and the other with larger constraints having more score. Top performers are shortlisted for further interviews. The difficulty of these rounds does not increase simultaneously but vary in type of questions.

The test consists of various rounds irrespective of any eliminations. The rounds are exclusive rounds the best of all the rounds is taken for a candidate.

Previous Asked Questions in Google Asia Pacific University (APAC)

The rounds include following important topics:

  • Number Theory
  • Greedy Algorithm
  • Binary Search
  • Dynamic Programming
  • Divide and Conquer
  • Hash tables, maps
  • Trees, BST
  • Convex Hull
  • Graham’s Scan
  • KMP algorithm and other string matching algorithms
  • Graph algorithms like DFS, BFS, Dijkstra

For more practise you can refer to the Coding Ninjas’ CodeStudio.

Prerequisites for Google Asia Pacific University (APAC)

Participating in these competitions require a great in-depth understanding of data structure and algorithms. This includes strong skills in data structures and algorithms. Most of the problems will include:

  • Array-based problems
  • HashMap
  • Stacks, queues
  • Binary Trees, Binary Indexed Trees, Binary Search Trees
  • Graph-based algorithms
  • Priority queues or heap

How to Register for Google Asia Pacific University (APAC)?

You can directly go to their official site and register for the contest.

Preparation Tips for Google Asia Pacific University (APAC)

  • Start with learning data structure and algorithm and keep practising in various other platforms like CodeStudio by Coding Ninjas, CodeChef, Codeforces, CodeJam etc. It will help to improve problem-solving skills and get you habituated with online coding IDEs.
  • Brush up some really important algorithms like, greedy, dynamic programming, divide and conquer, shortest distance graphs etc.
  • Get familiar with asymptotic time complexity notations. This will help you to analyse your current problem complexity and if that is slow then you have to think of a different or optimised algorithm.

It is always advised to practise past years Google Asia Pacific University (APAC) competition problems which will help to get you an idea of types of problems. Personally, I will suggest aiming within 100 in the first few APAC tests which will improve your chances for interview shortlisting for Google.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I prepare for Google APAC?

Keep strong fundamentals of data structures and algorithms and keep a consistent practise along with practise previous year papers.

What is the APAC exam?

The Google APAC University Graduates Test is an online test designed to look for young talent majoring in Computer Science and related fields, to further determine interview eligibility at Google.

How difficult is Google APAC?

This hiring test is fairly tough as you will be competing with the best coders around Asia.

How many rounds are there in Google APAC?

There are total six rounds including the practise round each of three hours.

Does Google Hire through APAC?

Yes, Google selects top performers for the further rounds of interviews.

Key Takeaway

No matter how difficult it may appear but it is always a good idea to participate in all competitions, this will not only increase the experience but also provides a better learning opportunity and compete with all participants around the world.

Hope this article helps an aspiring developer and programmer to ace the Google APAC rounds.

By Aniruddha Guin