American Express vs DE Shaw Interview Questions
American Express lists 23 LeetCode interview questions while DE Shaw lists 105. They share 3 problems — 13% of American Express's bank and 3% of DE Shaw's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 20 American Express-only and 102 DE Shaw-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 3 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both American Express and DE Shaw.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add American Express-specific problems like Minimum Deletions to Make Character Frequencies Unique, Maximum Equal Frequency, Divide an Array Into Subarrays With Minimum Cost II and DE Shaw-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: DE Shaw skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
3 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both American Express and DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
Unique to American Express (20)
Problems in American Express's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.
Unique to DE Shaw (102)
Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at American Express.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do American Express and DE Shaw share?
American Express and DE Shaw share 3 LeetCode interview questions. 20 problems appear only in American Express's list and 102 appear only in DE Shaw's list.
What topics overlap most between American Express and DE Shaw?
The most common shared topics between American Express and DE Shaw are Array (2 shared questions), Hash Table (2 shared questions), String (1 shared questions), Sliding Window (1 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (1 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: American Express or DE Shaw?
American Express has 8 Easy, 12 Medium, and 3 Hard questions. DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. DE Shaw has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both American Express and DE Shaw?
Start with the 3 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 American Express-specific and 20 DE Shaw-specific questions to round out your prep.