People straight out of college will spend a month doing 100+ Leetcode problems targeted at the companies they're aiming for. Leetcode tracks problems used at in

People straight out of college will spend a month doing 100+ Leetcode problems targeted at the companies they're aiming for. Leetcode tracks problems used at interviews, so there's a very good chance they'll see a problem identical or similar to one they've solved already, and it's just pattern recognition. After the 3rd or 4th time doing this, practicing the same problems just to pass interviews isn't very appealing, especially if you've saved money and can do something more interesting. You could try to "wing it" and derive it on the spot, but you'll be outcompeted by someone doing a lookup of a solution + alternate solutions from cache.