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Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

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Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#151

Post by deeblering4 »

foxtr0t wrote: post #120
_t0du wrote: post #100

CS is less about coding and more about thinking analytically about coding. I started coding at 11, but some of my college classes were still pretty difficult. I wouldn't assume your classes will be a cakewalk - definitely put the time into studying your material even if you think it's easy. With respect to getting a job - I would think about programming as a tool. What industry do you want to use that tool on? I woul…

> Worst case, you'll be good at whiteboard interviews and can get a job at a FAANG company. Since when is this the worst case scenario for a CS grad? Last I checked, FAANGs value and compensate their engineers more than basically every other industry. I double majored in economics and comp sci, then got a masters in cs/ml. I didn't plan on going to a FAANG until I realized a few things: 1. Staying in academia was cle…

> Since when is this the worst case scenario for a CS grad? Last I checked, FAANGs value and compensate their engineers more than basically every other industry.

Presumably this is considered a worst case by someone who values other aspects of life more than money.

Sure, the FAANG companies are great for highly technical meta-work. And this is good for some people. Other people may prefer a more direct, less corporate, less textbook environment.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#152

Post by historyremade »

thephyber wrote: post #146

Most of early CS is struggling through math. Take the courses, but I would recommend you look into Khan Academy or some other mastery-based tutorials (mastery is when you acre able to answer enough questions with accurate answer, only then do you move onto the next section). If you assume that just because you got a C that you can forget a topic (especially the early concepts), you will get bitten later. Make friends…

"where you think about what your function/class should do early and write unit tests before you write any code"

I'm 99% sure no one get this!

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#153

Post by nickysielicki »

Learn to learn on your own. Don't be afraid to look at the material that the instructor gives you and say, "I don't think this is doing a great job explaining it, I am going to see if I can find a better explanation elsewhere." This is something you probably never had to do in highschool.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#154

Post by foxtr0t »

oneplane wrote: post #128
foxtr0t wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Worst case, you'll be good at whiteboard interviews and can get a job at a FAANG company. Since when is this the worst case scenario for a CS grad? Last I checked, FAANGs value and compensate their engineers more than basically every other industry. I double majored in economics and comp sci, then got a masters in cs/ml. I didn't plan on going to a FAANG until I realized a few things: 1. Staying in academia was cle…

The thing with the FAANGs is that they can be rather unfulfilling. At first, when you are fresh out of the playground going in to commercial engineering, everything seems great, because you suddenly get paid to do a thing you like, and there is all this technology and information and people. But that is not unique to FAANGs, and not unique to CS/IT. At some point you usually end up wanting more, either a more fulfill…

>the latter will drive you more to banks, economic institutions, insurance, government contractors, exchanges and similar jobs.

I worked for a gov't subcontractor (for the USAF) and a bank prior to moving to the bay and working at a FAANG. The opportunities to make 500k+/year don't exist, outside a few private funds that grind you to dust. If you are super well connected and you can start a military contract firm, you can make tons of money, but that has nothing to do with things you'd learn in a CS + X double major. Think tanks and other economic agencies don't compare with a good FAANG salary. You'll start at 50k and be lucky to make 200k by the end. 200k is a starting salary for a facebook engineer in most markets. I have two friends who are engineers at insurance cos, they certainly don't work there for the money.

If you're talking about jobs that don't involve CS applications, I wouldn't have any idea, but this isn't what OP was asking about.

Not everyone picks a job based one what "fulfills" them. Some people are trying to pay down college debt, support a family, support a lifestyle etc. And if what fulfills you working with very smart and driven individuals on very difficult and ambiguous problems, I think you'll enjoy working for a large tech company.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#155

Post by np_tedious »

foxtr0t wrote: post #120
_t0du wrote: post #100

CS is less about coding and more about thinking analytically about coding. I started coding at 11, but some of my college classes were still pretty difficult. I wouldn't assume your classes will be a cakewalk - definitely put the time into studying your material even if you think it's easy. With respect to getting a job - I would think about programming as a tool. What industry do you want to use that tool on? I woul…

> Worst case, you'll be good at whiteboard interviews and can get a job at a FAANG company. Since when is this the worst case scenario for a CS grad? Last I checked, FAANGs value and compensate their engineers more than basically every other industry. I double majored in economics and comp sci, then got a masters in cs/ml. I didn't plan on going to a FAANG until I realized a few things: 1. Staying in academia was cle…

I am a fairly recent FAANG (guessing from your text, probably the same one as you) arrival after a while in startups. Happy with the change so far. Your comment rings true to me. Well said

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#156

Post by jjjensen90 »

MaxBarraclough wrote: post #96
enchiridion wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#5 big time. A lot of CS grads struggle their first year or so working. Try to code something everyday. Learn to use tools. Doesn't matter what you code or what tools you use really. The idea is to get comfortable with not knowing all the answers and then get fast at figuring things out. Most importantly, get enough sleep, exercise, and sun. Your mind needs to be sharp and that starts with maintaining your body. Good…

> Try to code something everyday. Learn to use tools. fish45 made it clear they're already an experienced programmer, so I don't see that it makes sense to emphasise this. They're more likely to struggle with theory than with their programming tools.

Disagree here, myself and many many peers considered ourselves "experienced" programmers before college (starting at 7 years old etc), and we were barely intern material in reality. Push yourself every day and learn tools (there are always new tools to learn) to be relevant--this goes for students, new grads, seniors, etc.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#157

Post by anm89 »

liquidise wrote: post #68
saalweachter wrote: post #25

1. Don't assume your CS classes will always be easy. Having programmed a lot is a big advantage, but you're going to be learning a wide variety of things as a CS major that you may not have had to think about previously, and there is going to be a lot of it which isn't intuitive. Be prepared to study more than you have in the past and don't get cocky; sometimes it isn't until your junior or senior year that you get b…

I strongly second both of these points will provide some more color: > 1. Don't assume your CS classes will always be easy. Easy or quick . Some of my worst college experiences involved putting off CS work that, while still easy, had sneaky edge-cases that took many hours to cover. Don't be lazy with your CS projects and you will be in a comfortable place. > 2. Try to double major or minor in something completely unr…

I think there is selection bias in number two here. I am really skeptical that taking psychology classes really would help many people's interpersonal skills, at least not very much.

I would be more inclined to believe that the kind of person who is interested in signing up for psych classes is already more interested in understanding how other people think in a way that naturally benefits them socially.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#158

Post by bredren »

That you should do student activities. That you should join or start clubs that have nothing to do with science.

Going to parties and having parties is good for you. It’s okay to get in trouble but not serious trouble.

Taking electives that are interesting and not obvious ones for cs students will make the education more memorable.

It is good to go on dates and have fun.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#159

Post by zuhayeer »

Build things for fun throughout college. Great way to meet people, solve your own problems, and a perfect excuse to reach out to almost anyone in the world with an edu email address (wish I took more advantage of this). But at the same time, wouldn't try plan everything out. Enjoy it! Wasn't expecting anything, but my project from college (Levels.fyi) has become my full time job now.

"There are few sources of energy so powerful as a procrastinating college student." - Paul Graham

Re: Ask HN: I'm an incoming freshman to college for a CS major, what should I know?

#160

Post by alexbanks »

foxtr0t wrote: post #120
_t0du wrote: post #100

CS is less about coding and more about thinking analytically about coding. I started coding at 11, but some of my college classes were still pretty difficult. I wouldn't assume your classes will be a cakewalk - definitely put the time into studying your material even if you think it's easy. With respect to getting a job - I would think about programming as a tool. What industry do you want to use that tool on? I woul…

> Worst case, you'll be good at whiteboard interviews and can get a job at a FAANG company. Since when is this the worst case scenario for a CS grad? Last I checked, FAANGs value and compensate their engineers more than basically every other industry. I double majored in economics and comp sci, then got a masters in cs/ml. I didn't plan on going to a FAANG until I realized a few things: 1. Staying in academia was cle…

I said worst case to mean "You paid attention to these things and then later found them to be not very valuable to you"
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