DE Shaw vs Snap Interview Questions
DE Shaw lists 105 LeetCode interview questions while Snap lists 84. They share 10 problems — 10% of DE Shaw's bank and 12% of Snap's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 95 DE Shaw-only and 74 Snap-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 10 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both DE Shaw and Snap.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add DE Shaw-specific problems like Binary Tree Cameras, Find Minimum Cost to Remove Array Elements, Maximum Number of Subsequences After One Inserting and Snap-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Snap skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
10 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both DE Shaw and Snap.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Letter Combinations of a Phone Number | Medium |
| Koko Eating Bananas | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Open the Lock | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Basic Calculator II | Medium |
| Decode Ways | Medium |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Word Search II | Hard |
| Wildcard Matching | Hard |
Unique to DE Shaw (95)
Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at Snap.
Unique to Snap (74)
Problems in Snap's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Meeting Rooms II | Medium |
| Word Ladder | Hard |
| Minimum Window Substring | Hard |
| Design Log Storage System | Medium |
| Making A Large Island | Hard |
| Number of Distinct Islands | Medium |
| Bus Routes | Hard |
| Word Break II | Hard |
| Combination Sum | Medium |
| Reverse Words in a String | Medium |
| Bricks Falling When Hit | Hard |
| Alien Dictionary | Hard |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do DE Shaw and Snap share?
DE Shaw and Snap share 10 LeetCode interview questions. 95 problems appear only in DE Shaw's list and 74 appear only in Snap's list.
What topics overlap most between DE Shaw and Snap?
The most common shared topics between DE Shaw and Snap are String (7 shared questions), Hash Table (4 shared questions), Array (4 shared questions), Backtracking (2 shared questions), Breadth-First Search (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: DE Shaw or Snap?
DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. Snap has 5 Easy, 52 Medium, and 27 Hard questions. Snap has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both DE Shaw and Snap?
Start with the 10 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 DE Shaw-specific and 20 Snap-specific questions to round out your prep.