41–50 of 70 posts
All that matters is your passion and how much you put into the work you do.
One thing is to just learn the subjects and get as good a grade as possible. Even if a class is subpar, just learn the subject. I had to submit an assignment once about process scheduling in Linux etc. After ten minutes study, I knew I had an A+ on the assignment already. But I had always wanted to look into that topic any how, so I spent several more hours reading about it for myself. I always wanted to learn about scheduling, and if I punted on it then, when would I ever study it? If I did that all the time my skill level would be high.
If you study and get good grades and have a good relationship with professors (go to office hours and schmooze a little, pay attention and participate in class and be prepared and listen), you can always apply for a Masters at IIT or elsewhere. So you can still get that name if you want it.
If the subject is theory of computation and the teacher is sub-par, just go above and beyond. Learn about big-O and the squeeze theorem and pushdown automata for the class, but for yourself as well. Read (some of, all of) a non-assigned book on automata theory if necessary.
Insofar as projects, one thing I suggest is doing projects related to coursework. Toward the end, or right after a class on C++ - write your own C++ program, or fix an issue with a Github hosted C++ program and send a pull request. If it is a graphics class on OpenGL, write your own program in OpenGL towards the end or right after the class - maybe explore iOS/Android OpenGL ES. Or look at scikit-learn after an AI class. Ground some of the theory you learn in class with application.
Your classes covering concurrency and threading and critical sections and mutual exclusion may seem boring in school, but if you're a programmer you will run into these things and you will be happy you learned how to deal with it properly a few years back, even if you haveto go back and read up on it. The AI stuff may sound exciting, but getting all these details right together is what will get you to be a good programmer.
From what you wrote, my main advice is don't be too all over the place. If you have a class in databases and a class in Java, that semester, spend a lot of time learning about the theory, and maybe a little time in application setting up MySQL on your desktop and writing a Java program to populate kt. It's OK to have one other side project going at a time of something that interests you, but you should be spending a lot of time learning about databases and Java.
If you have time on your hands, just dive more into it. For example, in the USA, a drink may be 2.5 liters. In some countries that is 2,5 liters (comma, not period). I once submitted a patch to a Java project doing a switch/case by country. The upstream told me the Java had a DecimalFormat class that already did that. My method was a waste of time, and also less complete. It was something about Java I nad not learned. You're just scratching the surface in class, there's a lot of ground to these subjects.
So get a good grasp of each subject you study. Meanwhile, if you have an interest or specialty you'd like to pursue, do that as well.
What I really care about when I interview you is how you answer my questions (this doesn't mean that I expect you to be able to answer every question fully), how well I can gauge the depth of your knowledge, and whether or not I think you will listen to senior engineers, learn what you need to do quickly and with an appropriate level of mentorship, and be a team member rather than someone trying to do his/her own thing.
Ok, I'll admit that someone who went to a for-profit school is going to have a higher bar to pass, but I haven't had to worry about that yet.
I am glad to see a question asked from college student. I am always interested to hear from others in college. I am twenty-one-years-old, attending a community college in the states and studying a bit of computer science. I am going to go off on sort of a tangent and offer you some general advice: 1. Do not worry about what other people think. You mentioned in the beginning of your question about being looked as "sec…
And I'm gonna follow your advice and blog about my learning experiences. Infact, there are valuable gems of advice here and I'm thinking to compile them together in a blog post for many other curious students like me.
I checked out the game you developed...looks awesome. Look - since you are passionate about solving problems and making things, why don't you just create sources of passive income or build some business from the ground up? This way you will be able to bypass any reputation issues that your university has and focus on your creativity instead.
I feel like this is good advice to some people, but it also requires a business skill-set / interest, which is not everyone's cup of tea.
Everyone in our country, from academia to industry, looks at us as second class undergrads Go and work somewhere where your university's reputation is unknown, then people will rate you on your work rather than the university you went to.
I can't really speak for anyone else, but speaking as someone who has been involved in interviewing and making hiring decisions, I don't care what school you went to. I care that you graduated, and I care to a slightly lesser extent what your degree is and what your GPA was. What I really care about when I interview you is how you answer my questions (this doesn't mean that I expect you to be able to answer every que…
I think someone who has worked in Microsoft - who might not have contributed much - minor bug fixes compared to the guy who has a worked in a startup - build products from scratch and all that in an extensive deadline - staying up entire nights on a new few occasions to make the release date ends up getting a straight reject.
Few tips: 1. Apply to startups. If you are looking to apply to the big four, make sure you do your diligence and work hard at coding contests. 2. Practice peer-teaching. VIT is a huge college. There are more people like you, and you can easily help each other by doing projects together. 3. The industry, in general, rewards freshers who have worked in large teams and projects before. 4. Make sure you get a good intern…
And regarding software education, I believe MOOC is going to play a very big role in the near future especially in countries like India where hard working and deserving students lack quality world class education.
And given the Indian affinity for certificates and credentials, I believe this could be a great start up idea too.
Few tips: 1. Apply to startups. If you are looking to apply to the big four, make sure you do your diligence and work hard at coding contests. 2. Practice peer-teaching. VIT is a huge college. There are more people like you, and you can easily help each other by doing projects together. 3. The industry, in general, rewards freshers who have worked in large teams and projects before. 4. Make sure you get a good intern…
You are doing great! Don't let institution name bother you, it does not matter much, it helps in getting interviews etc, but if you work smartly you will get that anyway. Few things I would focus on: 1. Build a strong CS and Math background, especially since you are interested in AI, ML. Academia is the best place to do this. Look at the curriculum of top engineering schools like mit, cmu for your sophomore year and…
For internships, I believe start ups are the best bet to gain experience and maybe gain a mentor for life.