As a beginner to DSA, NeetCode 150 usually takes about 10–14 weeks if you study around 2 hours a day, and closer to 3–4 months if your pace is lighter or you spend more time learning the patterns from scratch.

Realistic pacing

  • Fast but focused: 6–8 weeks if you already know basic DSA and can solve medium problems fairly often.
  • Beginner pace: 10–14 weeks is a realistic estimate when you are learning recursion, trees, graphs, DP, and common problem patterns at the same time.
  • More relaxed pace: about 3 months is a common schedule for completing the full list with steady progress.

What affects the time

The biggest factor is not just finishing the 150 problems, but how much time you spend reviewing solutions and redoing missed questions. The list is heavy on medium problems, so a beginner usually slows down early while patterns start clicking.

A simple way to think about it:

  • 1 hour a day: more like 12–14 weeks or longer.
  • 2 hours a day: around 10–14 weeks for most beginners.
  • 3+ hours a day: you may finish faster, but retention can drop if you rush.

Best expectation

If you are truly new to DSA, plan for about 3 months to complete NeetCode 150 in a way that actually helps you for interviews, not just to say you “finished” it.

TL;DR: beginner to DSA = roughly 2.5 to 4 months , with 3 months being the safest estimate.