Do you want to be a game developer or an AI expert? I would suspect that the things you should do are going to be quite different.
Also, what do you mean by "at par"? Status? Money? Knowledge? Expertise in a given area, and if so, what?
Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
11–20 of 70 posts
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#12First, you need to think about what you want to do after graduation, such as becoming an Android game developer or a graduate student focusing on AI. Then figure out what you need to do to achieve your goals (such as work on projects or do research) and keep working on it. Everything will be fine and you can be at par with the best.
Most of my undergrad friends are really torn between academia and industry. And since I'm in my sophomore year, I feel it's too early to make the right call.
Anyways, I do need to decide sooner or later.
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#13You have already mentioned the top one for me: passion.
Colleges rarely teach you what you need to know professionally - they can't, tech moves too fast. Instead, they teach you how to learn what you need to know. This is an important distinction because it should inform your approach to your professional growth.
1. Stay passionate both about software and your own growth/education in it.
2. Start some personal projects and, important, work on them until they reach a place where you can talk about what you learned, the techs you used and be able to at least show a page or two of it working.
3. Be forthcoming in interviews about your desire to create. The longer i am in software the more importance i put on hiring creative people.
Finally, think of software development as modern day blacksmithing. Those who do well have a few things in common: passion, persistence and a great set of artisans (mentors) to learn under. Prioritize finding some people who have compelling opinions on software development and work with them. It will change how you build software and the value you will bring to teams in the future.
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#14Do you want to be a game developer or an AI expert? I would suspect that the things you should do are going to be quite different. Also, what do you mean by "at par"? Status? Money? Knowledge? Expertise in a given area, and if so, what?
Though I have an interest in games and AI / ML, I would still consider being a good software engineer first. I'm aiming for a strong foundation and expertise in one field: AI or anything related. Being a fresher, I believe I won't get to work straight at these.
And by "at par", I meant the same opportunities that a top school student gets.
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#15You have already mentioned the top one for me: passion. Colleges rarely teach you what you need to know professionally - they can't, tech moves too fast. Instead, they teach you how to learn what you need to know. This is an important distinction because it should inform your approach to your professional growth. 1. Stay passionate both about software and your own growth/education in it. 2. Start some personal projec…
I'm following the first two points earnestly and I'll start with the third one as well.
And the mentor aspect is what I'm missing right now. So, I have planned to contribute to open source and/or apply to GSOC '17.
Any other ideas how to find suitable mentors?
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#16There is no "best," but you mention AI in two of your three questions, which I think answers the third.
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#17First, you need to think about what you want to do after graduation, such as becoming an Android game developer or a graduate student focusing on AI. Then figure out what you need to do to achieve your goals (such as work on projects or do research) and keep working on it. Everything will be fine and you can be at par with the best.
Most of my undergrad friends are really torn between academia and industry. And since I'm in my sophomore year, I feel it's too early to make the right call. Anyways, I do need to decide sooner or later.
I don't know what it's like there, but I would get involved in research with a professor if possible. Doing so had a really positive impact on my undergrad experience, and will inform if you want to stay in academia or not.
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#18[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#19Do you want to be a game developer or an AI expert? I would suspect that the things you should do are going to be quite different. Also, what do you mean by "at par"? Status? Money? Knowledge? Expertise in a given area, and if so, what?
Though I have an interest in games and AI / ML, I would still consider being a good software engineer first. I'm aiming for a strong foundation and expertise in one field: AI or anything related. Being a fresher, I believe I won't get to work straight at these. And by "at par", I meant the same opportunities that a top school student gets.
My opinionated version is that you should bail out on games and focus on AI/ML, then try to get into the best grad school you can and get really good at difficult things that other people can't do (even better, things that they can't do and don't want to do). Games fail that test because too many people want to work on them.
Becoming a good software engineer seems to come from working with people with good taste (on real projects). In my experience I haven't met anyone who learned to be a good SE from university (it may be possible, but I doubt it would happen at a mediocre university).
Re: Ask HN: What a 2nd tier college student must do to be at par with the best?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of my undergrad friends are really torn between academia and industry. And since I'm in my sophomore year, I feel it's too early to make the right call. Anyways, I do need to decide sooner or later.
I don't know what it's like there, but I would get involved in research with a professor if possible. Doing so had a really positive impact on my undergrad experience, and will inform if you want to stay in academia or not.
College is a good place to try things out before diving into them. But I have found no passionate profs in my college and getting a research internship under a good prof is a task in itself.