[pnathan]

It's certainly the case that I have never personally have desired to do the ACM competitions, as they, IMO, reflect neither CS aptitude nor software engineering capability. I always chose to do my homework, sleep in, or fool around with my own interests.

But it did seem from the outside that those doing ACM competitions were the upper echelon of the school.

Perhaps a CTF situation would be similar. We can only see what unfolds.