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

This is about test case generation. When it gets hairy, a *check library helps (quickcheck, rapidcheck, etc).

My university was very accomodating when it came to code that didn't produce correct results, especially after first year. If your code looked close (e.g. the algorithm was fundamentally correct but you had an off-by-one error or your output formatting wasn't correct) they were generous with handing out part marks.

I never had to learn LaTeX for my degree either, and I don't think I ever had to write more than 2 pages of anything that wasn't code.

I feel like my university had a much more vocational feel to its CS degree than a others, they didn't have much focus on academia and preparing people for doing postgrad at all. I think it was almost discouraged.

In my experience, social skills tend to be far more important than ability of knowledge when it comes to getting a job. Personal connections are also very useful when it comes to finding internships and graduate jobs, I had a B- grade point average and still managed to get an internship that led on to full time work when I graduated, purely by knowing the right people (completely by luck in my case)

I'm not a bad programmer by any means (my poor academic performance was due to undiagnosed ADHD), but time and time again it's brought up by management that I'm a valuable asset because I'm a software developer with social skills. Apparently we're a rare breed.

Don't take only CS papers, thinking that non-CS papers are a waste of time, I did that and I regret it. Intro to computer graphics was just as much a waste of time as philosophy or any other arts paper would've been. It's had literally zero use in my career. Taking arts papers will help you avoid getting stuck in a CS bubble.

Remember that college/university isn't just a place where you learn things so that you can get a job (most of what you learn you won't use in practice). It sounds cheesy but it's also a place where you grow a lot as a person. College is the time where you'll have more freedom and spare time than any other point in your life, make the most of it. Make mistakes, fall in love, get your heart broken, learn from your mistakes, it becomes a lot harder to do these things when you've graduated and settled down.

> I'm more interested in knowing what I should do now

Spend some quality time reflecting on high school over the next few weeks. What advice would you give an underclassman? How should they think about their four years of high school? What are the principles underlying your advice to them and the wisdom that applies beyond just surviving high school?

Folks here have had a lot to say about university, but it's equally important to understand how you succeed and what you wish you'd done better. Advice you give someone could be a good reflection of what you want from yourself.

> Also, pro tip: nobody gives a shit about your GPA.

Well, no one except for grad programs.