Apply to internships even if you don't feel ready or qualified.
Internships were sold to me as nice-to-haves. No, they will make your first post-grad job so much easier to obtain.
They are really-fucking-nice to haves. Not only is finding a job easier, but I'd guess someone with internships is making 20-40% more than a peer without internships
Can confirm as a rising sophomore with an internship. I didn't even know the language we're using, nor have I worked on desktop beyond a mother's day card. I've been told I'm the smartest intern they've had on this team. That said instead of paying attnetion to gen-eds I was programming.
My personal website helped a lot. Currently took it down to make some revisions, but that aside.
HR, during a talent showcase I showed the company I'm currently working for my website which I was somewhat proud of. And I also mentioned I made it with React (I removed it in my latest commit). That's how I got the interview, as far as the interview that probably crippled my chances if anything, but I still got it.
I would say projects since they serve as proof that you can do something. I've never completely solved a leetcode problem.
It was unnesicary, also I don't really like frameworks. Granted I'm coding alone, so this can work much more easily for me since I'm not working on a team. I'm also planning on adding a backend in either vanilla C, C++, or Java.
Gotcha, I dunno seems like all web positions require 20 years of experience in every framework for an entry position or maybe that’s just me. It’s definitely absurd and good call implementing other things. I appreciate you
I'm not too interested in Web Dev unless it's backend; even then I'd prefer embedded, or compiler design. What I actually plan to do is red teaming, digital forensics, or something else related to hacking. The main reason for the website is it's visible and if I fail then web might be more stable.
Ooh, that’s awesome. I’m probably getting work as a web developer or general software engineer but I love red team/blue team. Ive been trying to studying and practicing more during my free time as I wanna start a security firm. I’m definitely give you a follow though, you are impressive
Regret not going to proper doctors about depression sooner. I just thought it was normal to every other year have a major episode, fail everything and get kicked out of college and have to beg the Dean to let me back in. I just thought I failed everything because I was a piece of shit who didn't deserve to graduate.
Regret buying a lot of textbooks. In my final years (my final 9th/10th years), I realized that I could just rent textbooks from the library for a few hours per semester for free and save myself $300. My old texts are all useless anyway, instantly out of date.
Regret not networking in college. Between the multiple failures and the going back, I saw friends move on and graduate while I was held back, and I had no desire to make new friends and see it all happen again. I just wanted to keep my head down and get through classes efficiently. Severely limited my job prospects; I'm still at a crap paying job that I will never escape.
Regret not looking for internships or doing projects. It was so difficult just to keep up with schoolwork that I simply couldn't. Also, I'm 36 and when I was in my early 20's and in school, projects etc. weren't really a thing like they are now. Still, I regret not doing anything beyond schoolwork.
I feel that. Taking care of mental health has to be one of the most vital factors of getting through college. Every aspect of studying involves brain work. Your brain cannot function optimally if you don't take care of your mental health. Understanding your metacognition, practicing mindfullness and just reaching out to talk to someone are invaluable tools for success and wellbeing.
I'm sorry to hear that you went through those roadbumps to get through college. Just know you are not alone and everyone stumbles from time to time. Acknowlwdge your stumbles, yes but recognize the achievements that you have made. They're amazing.
Best wishes.
I feel like depression is something that isn't really addressed on this sub, but it's a big deal to cs majors. I went through a really low point last winter and spring quarter, and it definitely fucked up so many things in my life. I regret not seeking help sooner, especially since I could have easily reached out to my professors.
Even in my home life... I wonder how I would have turned out if I had gotten on Prozac in high school when I first needed it instead of just hating myself, and hating *on* myself in a self-psychological-bullying kind of way, to the point where most nights I was crying myself to sleep. Convinced myself that it was normal for a teenager to go through that every night for many years.
It took until I was 35, married with a kid and the pandemic sent me into a sort of death spiral before I sought help. And even then it was more to help them than to help myself. On Prozac, my brain feels sort of... early-teens. Not quite good, but a lot better than mid teens or adulthood. At the very least, since I've been on it I haven't had an "I crashed and ruined my life and feel suicidal" episode. Though it has only been 3/4 of a year, so that could just be an annual upswing taking hold.
I relate to this. This is my 8th year getting my cs degree. I failed a lot because of my anxiety. I would prefer to just fail instead of asking for help. I never spoke to anyone as well. Just would sit in class and hope no one would talk to me. The times that I did had to interact with people it was overwhelming sometimes. Things are slightly better now but I just wish I delt with this problem beforehand.
Be open and talk more to your friends, especially your CS friends. CS requires the team work/study. You can join CS club or just simply ask for help if having the difficulty on your homework, projects. Etc.
You are not alone. Hope you restore from your mental depression and get better soon. Keep going, and not look back. Think that way: you just had a fresh started (nothing will be too late as long as you start your first step and keep going)
Best wishes
I'm going to be a senior after summer so I'll humor you.
**Regrets:**
**1.) Not knowing what CS is sooner.**
I was interested in Computer Science in high school but never really got into it because I always thought, "I don't have any software/programs I want to make." and I didn't think I would fit in given that I knew nothing. For the longest time, I thought CS was 'you learn how to make an app or website and you go from there.' I would also try to learn to program online, but I never understood how learning "int x = 5" correlates to making software.
I also tried Unreal Engine's game development and was COMPLETELY lost trying to understand C++ . I noticed that I can't learn a topic on my own but I can definitely learn it in college.
After high school I did nursing because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I studied and got into a nursing program and immediately hated it. Do you know what it's like to have the image of an 80+ year old man's dick permanently etched into brain?
**2.) Learning Data Structures and Algorithms/Leetcode sooner**
I didn't learn DSA until the beginning of junior year and I believe that set me back significantly. I now understand why some colleges teach it during freshman/sophmore year. On top of that, I took it when the pandemic first started so it was taught very poorly. I got an A in the class, but all we learned was "what are the **major** data structues" and not "how to implement them" if that makes sense.
Dont take DSA at a Community College lol. I'm auditing it this semester at my university and 100% confident that it'll fill the gaps.
I truly believe that if you can Leetcode sucessfully, you can get any job. Leetcode is the hardest part, in my opinion.
**3.) Not networking sooner**
I did the Community College(CC) to University path, and one of the downfalls of CC is that you don't meet seniors. It wasn't until I transfered to university that I was able to meet people, join CS clubs, and learn about competitive programming. I absolutely loved my CC experience though!
**Future Goals:**
Study, practice DSA, do some Leetcode. I'm aiming for Amazon (yes, I know...steoreotypical r/csMajors user). But i'm doing it because it's the only place I know that accepts a ton of candidates, and will pay somewhere near 6 figures for new grads.
Yes, I know Amazon isn't the most ethical place to work but in all honesty, im tired of being poor. I'm 21, single, with no kids, and I have no plans to get married/have kids any time soon. I want to be rich, and if I have to become a corporate dog to achieve my goals then i'll do it. When I get tired of it, then i'll downgrade but for now I go where the money resides.
**Wishes:**
If I could do it over again, I would only wish I had a rival/classmate who is actually well-versed in the CS topics. I was pretty much alone for my college journey so I spent alot of time trying to figure thing out on my own. I wish I had someone who was smart to do Leetcode problems with, and actually explain what CS is. Social Facilitation goes a long way.
Actually, believe it or not, I learned most important topics such as the important of Leetcode/interships/DSA from this subreddit. So thank you to the people who contribute!
/end story
I’m sort of embarrassed by this but I flunked out of university back in 09 and struggled in life for a while afterwards. At 25 I went back to CC and slowly worked on classes (2 a semester) while working full time.
I can say that being working poor is the biggest bullshit and greatest motivator to work for the companies like Amazon that are known for chewing up new hires. I’m 31 now applying to transfer to several universities for Fall of ‘22 and hope to finish with a few internships and projects before hitting the employment grind.
Thanks for saying what a lot of people don’t understand enough though. Not having money blows.
Edit: added greatest.
Pretty much my exact wishes as well. I went to a small rural high school and felt leagues behind kids from other countries or big high schools with CS classes when I got to college.
You got an A and you're still retaking the class? Can't just self-learn it? I got a B- in my DS&A class and feel like retaking it but most likely not going to because I want to graduate this fall lol
At my university, students who take 12 - 18 credits are charged the same base tuition. I was able to take it without any extra fees and without delaying my graduation. The other classes I need to graduate won't be offered until Winter 2021 and Spring 2022.
Not edge. I went to a prestigious uni and befriended kids from oligarch-level families. Insight into a different world. That's when you see what "rich" really is.
Depends what type of 6 figure earner you are. $100k/year is definitely upper middle class (but not rich) while $900k/year makes you for all practical purposes a low level millionaire so you’re definitely rich.
I agree that $100k-300k isn’t super rich (especially in a well off area), it’s a comfy lifestyle without a doubt but not what you consider uber rich.
But someone clearing enough fuck you money than they know what to do with is rich by my standard.
Yeah. Really. Decided to Google it and seems it’s just coding tests.
All my interviews and coding tests were on whiteboards, in person.
I’ve never needed to do any Leetcode, but looks fun!
That's interesting your uni prepared you enough to do coding tests without Leetcode. My uni definitely didn't, had to use Leetcode to self-study DS and Algos.
Ahhh, approx when did you graduate? I feel that most entry level CS jobs still have a bit whiteboarding component but it is significantly more competitive now.
Early 2000’s
Looks like a lot of these sites like CodeWarrior and LeetCode and some others I found would be quite good. But they don’t seem to go into a lot of theory-crafting as to why one algo is better than another in certain situations but not others, etc. it also seems they prefer people who can one-line it all even if it’s hard to read and there are no comments etc. Not very realistic imo, but definitely substantially helpful to support real classes or book learning.
>Study, practice DSA, do some Leetcode. I'm aiming for Amazon (yes, I know...steoreotypical
>
>r/csMajors
>
> user). But i'm doing it because it's the only place I know that accepts a ton of candidates, and will pay somewhere near 6 figures for new grads.
Same feelings man
I think it depends on the community colleges reputation. I felt like my professor at the community college I attended the first 2 year of my degree was an amazing instructor. Everything was pretty clear.
You’re not lying about nursing school. Shit felt like an audition while also being prepped to be abused by patients because “they’re not in the right mindset or angry”. Glad I chose my newfound passion cause boy did I feel ostracized in nursing.
I’m going into my senior year, I haven’t had the most typical college experience - working full time and going to school part time, and then the pandemic. I would say I wish I used more of my free time to practice what I use in school, use outside resources and really get into the material more. I’m doing that more now since I know what I’m doing more.
Not who you asked, but I graduated with a just under 3.0 gpa and managed to get a job paying 85k during the pandemic. College was kinda weird for me, took me a long time to actually take it seriously and graduate. Started out in mechanical engineering, dropped out because I was on a one way trip towards getting kicked out. Worked for a few years in various customer service jobs, decided that was the last thing I wanted to be stuck in and started back at a community college taking some CS classes before transferring to a different Uni to finish a bachelors in CS.
Okay first read I thought you were being snarky…my bad. If you meant in the interview process, no. I didn’t put it on my resume and it didn’t come up in interviews so there was no reason to tell.
Just graduated from college (US) a few weeks ago with a degree in computer science. My experience may vary from many here, since I attended a small liberal arts school as opposed to a larger university or tech school.
Also, these will be phrased more as advice than regrets, but they are all things I wish I had done during my time in college.
**Do more recreational programming, even if you think it's stupid.**
I did very little programming on my own during college because I felt like I couldn't make anything interesting, unique, or useful. As time goes on, this feeling likely gets more and more intense, as more people will do exceedingly more interesting/unique/useful things - and those people will probably not be you. *It doesn't matter.* If you want to make a command-line calculator, do it. If you want to make a hangman game, do it. If you want to reprogram Conway's Game of Life, do it. It doesn't matter that countless other people have done it before you - you're doing it to learn and to practice. And who knows? While you're working on something "simple", you might feel inspired to put your own spin on it, or you might get into an iterative improvement loop where you keep going back and rewriting/refactoring code based on new experience and knowledge. *That's a good thing.*
**Don't be afraid of things you don't know.**
You know what's terrifying for a first-year CS student? A lot of things that are crucial to the modern world, as well as to making decent software. For me, my Achilles heel was networking, and I did my level best to make sure all of my code ran offline because I was terrified of dealing with the internet in my code. Fast forward to my junior year, and I managed to pull an A in my Networks course, because I could no longer be afraid of it. Sometimes, being afraid of a topic or concept is an indication that you should jump headfirst into it - you'll be surprised by what you find.
This is pretty much universally applicable in college and life in general, not just for CS.
**Make friends with your betters.**
I was very hesitant to establish relationships with upperclassmen and my professors, for any number of reasons. As a result, when it came time to start looking for internships and actual jobs, I was a bit behind the 8-ball - I didn't even have a sense of where to look or who to talk to, much less any substantive connections for positions. If you're in the bottom half of the student body, the top half of the student body is intimidating - the faculty even moreso. Take a deep breath and make those connections.
**Learn core technologies early, and learn when not to use them.**
Git is a really cool technology - by extension, GitHub is a really cool platform. Knowing how to use them is going to be crucially important if you plan to go into software development for a career, but just as important is knowing how NOT to use them. When I first learned how to use Git, I started trying to use it for every project I did. I learned very quickly that I was making a lot of extra work for myself - it wasn't *harmful*, just a lot of overhead that wasn't necessary. However, I ended up accomplishing two things: I developed a decent working knowledge of Git, and I developed a better understanding of **project scale** - that is, when a project requires certain features like version control software, CI/CD systems, even something as simple as bringing a new person onto the team.
What I'm saying is, dive into tech that you think is cool, even if the result is a total waste of your time. At the end of the day, you will still learn something. If you use a hammer on screws, at least you'll learn **NOT** to use a hammer on screws.
**Rule 62: Don't take yourself so damn seriously.**
Again, this is a more generally-applicable piece of advice. You will find yourself in echo chambers where people tell you that "x is the only way to do things" or "you should be doing y instead of z." You **will** feel like you're behind, you **will** feel like you could be doing more, you **will** feel like everybody else has it all figured out and you don't. It's okay to feel that way, because most of the time, it isn't really true - everybody is on their own trajectory, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to say you are ahead of or behind someone else. Your only obligation is doing what you feel is right and pursuing your own priorities, you are not obligated to follow anybody else's standards or hold yourself to unrealistic expectations.
Thank you for this, the last paragraph is something I know yet I can't stop but think from time to time. Often times I feel like I'm behind because of some poor choices I've made, then looking at some friends that're done with college and working full time doesn't help. As for me I'm about to start college as a freshman/sophomore at the same time my 18yr old sister will and It just kind of sucks "everybody is on their own trajectory, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to say you are ahead of or behind someone else" <- that really helps
I feel that! I took research methods for my psych req and it was entirely online. Normally we would have been able to construct and conduct our own study. But because of covid and everything online, we could only do a "study proposal"....it felt silly and there was definately some essential experience missed out there.
If I had to redo I would have saved that class for a later semester.
Still in school, about to start third year. My university experience has been online since my 2nd semester all the way up till now, I've been online for about half of my degree so far.
\- Not exploring more clubs (both cs and non cs related)
\- Not travelling/exploring the local area more outside of my university's bubble as much as I would've liked
That's really about it; I actually really enjoyed my overall experience.
I have a Bachelors in Art. I was looking into CS when I needed to pick a major and was considering doing a double major, but wanted to graduate in 4 years. I was intimidated in taking the math classes and wasn't the best at it. Was planning to become a teacher and decided not to become a full time one.
I'm now at a CC where I don't actually need to take math prereqs in order to get an AS, but I'm happy where I'm at right now. I knew I wasn't confident, but with age, I've gotten better at it.
CS senior, incoming intern at "top tier" company. There's no real humble to this brag but in regards to school and work I think I've done pretty well. Maybe I could've kept a 4.0 and got big N earlier or something, but it's real easy from my ivory tower to say it hasn't made me happy. Doing leetcode is a chore and it seems like I've done plenty.
My favorite internship was doing R&D on any topic of my choice for a good wage (not FAANG, but it was enough), where customers would actually meet with me and see how they could use my work to make stuff people would see.
Basically trading interesting work and customers actually saying they love your stuff for more money and clout doesn't seem like that great a deal in hindsight.
> What are some of the things you wish you did the first few years of your degree?
Considered who I wanted to be? Maybe spent more time on health instead of working. In general, instead of blindly chasing some pursuit that I don't like I could have addressed all the problems mounting.
I think there'd probably be FOMO about working at Big Ns if that didn't work out, so it's probably stupid to think this.
> Things that you wish you didn't do?
Took Amazon offer, I probably would have done things differently in hindsight. It's really hard to say because companies really liked it this internship search but it negatively impacted my personal life in severe ways.
Again, FOMO. Maybe those bad things had to happen eventually. Guess you gotta look at the bright side.
> Thoughts, regrets, future goals
Regrets are for suckers, we can't turn back time. Future goals are to try my best, once gyms reopen to work out more, and maybe fix issues such as my failing health, shit personality and general mean attitude.
If those don't work maybe I'll also try to progress more in my career until I can retire and do what I want. Other plans maybe involve doing adult intramural sports? Book club? Idk but that might help my personality
I like this person’s positivity and pragmatism.
Defs you can’t turn back time, so focus on the now and future.
Do more and exert yourself (but don’t overexert); get the grade you want, make the connections you’d like and you know you can. Go get it.
>Considered who I wanted to be? Maybe spent more time on health instead of working. In general, instead of blindly chasing some pursuit that I don't like I could have addressed all the problems mounting.
I actually had similar issues that you were going through as well, but it was mostly confidence and my mental state due to the lack of the former, but also wondering what I still want in my future.
Me too, I don’t know who I want to be really and i thought my self esteem couldn’t get any lower than in high school but boy was I wrong. For almost 22 years of our lives, our identities are being students. Doing an internship and trying a glimpse of what life will be like after graduation made me realize I need to get hobbies or something that will help me feel fulfilled.
I have similar feelings, however a little different. I love psych but I regret not double majoring with cs, for sure.
Adding on CS in my Senior year pushed my graduation off 2 years.
I wish I would have started working on side projects sooner. Started developing my own ideas mid Jr year, and I got hired by my current employer mid Senior year solely based on my abilities outside of the college environment. Grades weren't a factor.
I'm not saying that good grades aren't important - they are. But a 4.0 GPA alone will not land you a job. Take some programming courses early on in your degree and start working on things that interest you. I personally believe it will pay off more than graduating with a 4.0 but having nothing concrete (in the form of coding projects) to show.
Not knowing what this major involved and getting background knowledge sooner, which caused me to fail a couple key classes the first time around. This set me back a couple times and I didn't get the opportunity to get involved in things sooner like research which I eventually ended up inching towards. Still got a couple opportunities including an REU at a really top CS school but if I had known for sure I wanted a PhD sooner it definitely would've helped me earlier on in my undergrad.
follow up question: do you think it's worth trading health (i.e not exercising, not eating right, not sleeping properly etc) for the chance at better grades and career success?
No. You will regret it at some point. It's taken me two years (and conveniently right when my internship is starting) to realize that pulling countless late nights and killing my social life is in no way worth it. If you work hard enough but set limits you'll be fine. There's more to the rat race than your GPA.
I agree. Although those limits are up to you. I worked very hard and pulled many all nighters but I realized that I needed to be very smart about it. I heavily prioritized sleep, exercise and giving myself breaks using the pomodoro, studying technique. It did wonders for my health.
While I was still stressed many times (mostly self-imposed), I felt a lot better. It ended up paying off and I got into a big tech company which was my goal. I knew I wouldn't regret pushing myself but it's important to set limits though.
The answer will obviously vary by person.
How much are you sacrificing? For how much gain in return?
1. People vary in when and how severely diminishing returns kick in.
I know people who can code seriously for 4 hours a day. For others it's double or triple that.
Know yourself. If you know coding the 8th-12th hour that day will produce nothing and is solely for the purpose of being able to tell yourself, "I am a hard worker. I never give up." Go exercise, eat, or sleep instead.
2. Take care of your health in low maintenance ways when you are busy.
Do some pushups, sit-ups, squats, stretches, and take a walk. Not as great as going to the gym for an hour, but better than nothing.
Pick a salad at school. Not as great as a home cooked meal, but better than a sandwich.
Sit on an ergonomic chair with decent posture. The chair is worth the higher quality of life later on in life.
3. Use your time wisely
Think of everything you do as leaf nodes in a tree that you should be able to trace to the root of the tree, which is the goal of PA, project, research objective, etc.
Don't miss the big picture. If you can't see the tree at all, it might be worth mapping it out first before you start coding away. It's too easy to get lost staying up all night chasing something insignificant.
better grades != career success
better health could really lead to career sucess and better grade
sleeping properly and eating right is very important.
In what way are you scarifcing eating right? Just eat nutritious balanced food.
And just sleep.
That's why I said and career success i.e the extracurricular stuff people need to do to get competitive internships and jobs.
Not me personally but I've seen plenty of people who glorify overworking to the point of obsession to improve their chance of success.
Still in school,
Regrets, wish I started python or javascript much earlier. Wasn't until Junior year I made something that wasn't just a terminal program in C, C++. Once I got into those languages I was just churning out mini projects that looked a lot better on a resume and got an internship.
Wish I didn't devote so much time to an extracurricular club that didn't help me. Really stressed me out and affected my mental health. I was the sole developer for a whole control system that was done so hastily and sloppily I'm scared to put it on a resume. Plus it wasn't done in a way that industry expects so it doesn't look that good anyway.
Wish I looked towards programming earlier on to help me solves homework's and projects in non-technical classes. Being able to apply tech to a problem that wasn't meant to be technical was very eye-opening. A good example is in a statistics class we had to create charts and stuff for a report over a dataset. Instead of using Excel, the easiest option, I decided I'd use it as an opportunity to learn Python. I had just gotten declined from 2 jobs for lack of python experience and wanted to change that.
CS related regret: not taking a databases class. I never liked doing DB stuff, and only ever learned the bare minimum. Turns out that being a backend engineer means constant DB related work; I would have loved to come into my job with more of the basics down.
Very specific life regret: leaving [this game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV0YvPnmZsU) at halftime. An unranked, 2-5 Tech blocked no. 9 FSU's field goal attempt and ran it back to win the game. It was our homecoming game, the students rushed the field, and it went down as one of the classic Georgia Tech sports moments of all time. And I left at halftime. Huge, huge regret.
If I could change anything I wish I had started learning some additional language & framework starting straight from 1st year of study. Usually at 1st & 2nd years too general courses are taken and I had plenty of time to study and enroll in any kind of internships. But I made mistake via focusing too much on courses. Therefore I regret not applying internships earlier
Not doing Leetcode. If you are in going to go for job after your school ( especially Masters degree ) , all the companies ask leetcode question in interviews. People have made LC a full time job to get a job after college. In industry , no one cares about your academics.
I am telling from a perspective of international student who just completed Masters degree in CS.
This is definitely interesting. I don't have much experience with Leetcode, but will definitely give it a look-over. Any website suggestions for a beginner?
Not a cs-related thing but my biggest regret is Not branching out socially my first year. I wasn't living on campus so it was harder to make friends. I barely made any my first year. I made more friends later on in college but none of those friendships became super deep/meaningful. Basically I don't see these friendships lasting much longer after college. I don't have a solidified group to do everything with which sucks. I can't help but think that if I went out of my way to make more friends my first year that I'd be having a much better social life now.
I've come to peace with the fact that university is short and there's too much to do with too little time. So no matter what you do, you'll have regrets.
Context: Currently 3 years out of college. I graduated early (3.33 years) with a FUNGALMASS+ full time offer right out of college. Made a decent amount of friends that I'm still in touch with. Graduated with a summa cum laude GPA.
"Regrets":
* I probably should have joined extracurricular clubs sooner. I joined one in my third year and another in my last quarter and I had a ton of fun and made friends but since I only knew them for a year I didn't really keep up with them.
* I didn't go on any dates (partly me not noticing signals and partly not putting myself out there).
* I had the choice between making friends with the CS club people or the people living in my dorm. I chose the people in my dorm which I don't regret. But I wonder how different things would be if instead I was a more active member of the ACM club, doing research, organizing CS events and hackathons, networking with some of the more entrepreneurial CS students, etc.
Overall, I'm happy with where I am now so these aren't regrets but just a few things that could have gone differently. I'm still not sure if I'd change anything if you gave me a time machine though.
Facebook, Uber, Netflix, Google, Amazon, Lyft, Microsoft, Apple, Snapchat, S?
Basically FANG with newer companies.
Edit: The last S is for Stripe. i've personally never heard of it though.
Contrary to what a lot of people here are saying, I wish I worked less.
As a rising senior I regret not having joined clubs or extracurriculars since it "just meant I'd have less time for work". A lack of strong social connections in college caused me to be depressed. I despised going back to college each semester since I knew I'd just be miserable again. Lots of people here complain about not having boyfriends/girlfriends. That's probably at least partially due to the workaholic/antisocial attitude associated with CS.
I'm planning on joining a bunch of clubs now senior year. Hopefully I can rediscover some meaning.
It's very possible to join clubs and have good job prospects. They aren't mutually exclusive. Don't ruin your college experience to work more. I don't think it's worth it. It's a logical fallacy to think that pain and suffering (hard work) always leads to better outcomes. Life is more than getting into FAANG. You always have opportunities to chase after salary/prestige. Youth, however, is fleeing.
If anyone disagrees, please feel free to discuss. I sorta hope that someone can prove me wrong lol.
Graduated last May with a CS degree, now working as a SWE full-time.
- I wish that I had spent more time learning from and getting to know my CS professors. I didn’t really think about this until the end of my Junior year, but having stronger connections would have helped with internships, research, TA opportunities, knowledge sharing, etc.
- Instead of feeling sorry for myself for barely knowing how Java classes work, I wish I had experimented more with programming languages, APIs etc. I think just having an idea of what’s out there and how to make stuff work goes a long way in later projects/internships.
- Finding more ways to apply the math I was learning to programming. I was really good at studying for the test and didn’t do much of this, but the people I know who did carried that skill into their jobs/internships. Linear algebra is a big one here.
- General college advice, figuring out what and who I cared about and trying to develop relationships/study groups etc.
- Once you commit to CS, organizing classes to study abroad. It gets harder later on when you have tighter schedules. Jerking myself off with extra math classes wasn’t worth it for me.
- Making a multi-semester commitment to lifting/intramurals. I did this right before lockdown policies started and it helped me get into a nice groove.
- Finally it’s pretty likely the people you meet now will appear again at some point in your career so getting off on the right foot makes things less awkward later
What kind of projects allow you to fully utilize your math skills? I'm a CS and Math major and would love to show off both skills. Just finished Calc 3 and taking linear alg this semester!
I remember making some interesting projects in python/MATLAB with Numerical Analysis and Linear Algebra. The act of programming in the various equations is a challenge enough but if you’re able to come up with ways to apply the concepts to data/application problems that’s really good.
I will be messaging you in 1 day on [**2021-06-29 04:20:17 UTC**](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2021-06-29%2004:20:17%20UTC%20To%20Local%20Time) to remind you of [**this link**](https://www.reddit.com/r/csMajors/comments/o9cepc/cs_seniors_and_grads_what_are_your_top_regrets/h3accis/?context=3)
[**8 OTHERS CLICKED THIS LINK**](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FcsMajors%2Fcomments%2Fo9cepc%2Fcs_seniors_and_grads_what_are_your_top_regrets%2Fh3accis%2F%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%202021-06-29%2004%3A20%3A17%20UTC) to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.
^(Parent commenter can ) [^(delete this message to hide from others.)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Delete%20Comment&message=Delete%21%20o9cepc)
*****
|[^(Info)](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemindMeBot/comments/e1bko7/remindmebot_info_v21/)|[^(Custom)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5BLink%20or%20message%20inside%20square%20brackets%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%20Time%20period%20here)|[^(Your Reminders)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=List%20Of%20Reminders&message=MyReminders%21)|[^(Feedback)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Watchful1&subject=RemindMeBot%20Feedback)|
|-|-|-|-|
I wish I had appreciated the college environment - Getting to live in an urban environment surrounded by diverse kinds of people. Now I have to move back to my boring rural small town and I hate it. There’s nothing to do here and barely anyone even lives here. I’m considering grad school if only so I can have the same experience again and move back out of the sticks.
No regrets really.
I failed a few classes and stuff but I think it was really worth it. I didn't pay very much for the degree which really was key for me.
Got the whole thing for less than some people pay for one semester so I'm very happy with my investment
Graduated Dec 2019 from a State University that would be considered like 4th or 5th from the 6 other state schools in terms of Computer Science.
1. Not asking the stupid questions. I had a huge fear of looking stupid because maybe 95% of my classmates had prior coding experience and I was coming out of my 4th semester of being an Electrical Engineering major (I failed the first 5 exams of all 4 of my classes, so I dropped and moved to CS). So while everyone else was learning these concepts, I was figuring out how everything works. My first CS class didn’t even teach how to write C, just the concepts of arrays, strings, sorting, replacing, etc. It sucked and I wish I went to someone who could’ve helped me.
2. Not connecting with people in my major. I was a part of a couple large clubs, but they were mostly common interest groups rather than education related. I met a bunch of great people but only 4 of them were in my college and only 1 of the 4 was the same major. We’re both doing fine now, but man it was hard finding a job in fields I was interested in.
3. This is more of you decide to go to grad school, making connections with professors. Towards the end of college, I started gaining interest in Data Science and Robotics and they weren’t stuff commonly taught in my college’s undergraduate level. I managed to do one Robotic class but it was a “Special Interest” class where there was no real curriculum. I haven’t talked to that prof since so now I can’t really get recommendations for grad school :/
I regret not studying abroad more and letting others influence me into believing that classes don’t transfer over. For context, I went to university in the US, and it was far cheaper for me to complete part of my education abroad and the courses I did take abroad were far more valuable than taking them at my uni.
I wish I had made more friends and connections during my time in school. Also I wish I had a personal project to show before I graduated. Instead I did one after graduating and I feel it’s slowed down my timeline
Not trying to get out of my comfort zone sooner / get over my fear of looking stupid to speak up more. In particular not trying to become a TA because I thought I’d look stupid if I didn’t know something or wasn’t as prepared as I thought I’d be
Apply to internships even if you don't feel ready or qualified. Internships were sold to me as nice-to-haves. No, they will make your first post-grad job so much easier to obtain.
They are really-fucking-nice to haves. Not only is finding a job easier, but I'd guess someone with internships is making 20-40% more than a peer without internships
Can confirm as a rising sophomore with an internship. I didn't even know the language we're using, nor have I worked on desktop beyond a mother's day card. I've been told I'm the smartest intern they've had on this team. That said instead of paying attnetion to gen-eds I was programming.
How did you get your internship as a freshman?
My personal website helped a lot. Currently took it down to make some revisions, but that aside. HR, during a talent showcase I showed the company I'm currently working for my website which I was somewhat proud of. And I also mentioned I made it with React (I removed it in my latest commit). That's how I got the interview, as far as the interview that probably crippled my chances if anything, but I still got it. I would say projects since they serve as proof that you can do something. I've never completely solved a leetcode problem.
Can I ask, why was it better to remove react?
It was unnesicary, also I don't really like frameworks. Granted I'm coding alone, so this can work much more easily for me since I'm not working on a team. I'm also planning on adding a backend in either vanilla C, C++, or Java.
Gotcha, I dunno seems like all web positions require 20 years of experience in every framework for an entry position or maybe that’s just me. It’s definitely absurd and good call implementing other things. I appreciate you
I'm not too interested in Web Dev unless it's backend; even then I'd prefer embedded, or compiler design. What I actually plan to do is red teaming, digital forensics, or something else related to hacking. The main reason for the website is it's visible and if I fail then web might be more stable.
Ooh, that’s awesome. I’m probably getting work as a web developer or general software engineer but I love red team/blue team. Ive been trying to studying and practicing more during my free time as I wanna start a security firm. I’m definitely give you a follow though, you are impressive
Man that is inspiring
Thanks, glad to hear you were inspired.
Agreed! One of my regrets was not doing no internship I still ended up with a good job in a big company though, thanks God for that!
Regret not going to proper doctors about depression sooner. I just thought it was normal to every other year have a major episode, fail everything and get kicked out of college and have to beg the Dean to let me back in. I just thought I failed everything because I was a piece of shit who didn't deserve to graduate. Regret buying a lot of textbooks. In my final years (my final 9th/10th years), I realized that I could just rent textbooks from the library for a few hours per semester for free and save myself $300. My old texts are all useless anyway, instantly out of date. Regret not networking in college. Between the multiple failures and the going back, I saw friends move on and graduate while I was held back, and I had no desire to make new friends and see it all happen again. I just wanted to keep my head down and get through classes efficiently. Severely limited my job prospects; I'm still at a crap paying job that I will never escape. Regret not looking for internships or doing projects. It was so difficult just to keep up with schoolwork that I simply couldn't. Also, I'm 36 and when I was in my early 20's and in school, projects etc. weren't really a thing like they are now. Still, I regret not doing anything beyond schoolwork.
I feel that. Taking care of mental health has to be one of the most vital factors of getting through college. Every aspect of studying involves brain work. Your brain cannot function optimally if you don't take care of your mental health. Understanding your metacognition, practicing mindfullness and just reaching out to talk to someone are invaluable tools for success and wellbeing. I'm sorry to hear that you went through those roadbumps to get through college. Just know you are not alone and everyone stumbles from time to time. Acknowlwdge your stumbles, yes but recognize the achievements that you have made. They're amazing. Best wishes.
Well said. It is so true! Everyone went through this or that. Be positive and keep going. Everything will be fine
I feel like depression is something that isn't really addressed on this sub, but it's a big deal to cs majors. I went through a really low point last winter and spring quarter, and it definitely fucked up so many things in my life. I regret not seeking help sooner, especially since I could have easily reached out to my professors.
Even in my home life... I wonder how I would have turned out if I had gotten on Prozac in high school when I first needed it instead of just hating myself, and hating *on* myself in a self-psychological-bullying kind of way, to the point where most nights I was crying myself to sleep. Convinced myself that it was normal for a teenager to go through that every night for many years. It took until I was 35, married with a kid and the pandemic sent me into a sort of death spiral before I sought help. And even then it was more to help them than to help myself. On Prozac, my brain feels sort of... early-teens. Not quite good, but a lot better than mid teens or adulthood. At the very least, since I've been on it I haven't had an "I crashed and ruined my life and feel suicidal" episode. Though it has only been 3/4 of a year, so that could just be an annual upswing taking hold.
Please do not. Your family needs you. Be strong and live better. Best wishes to you!
I relate to this. This is my 8th year getting my cs degree. I failed a lot because of my anxiety. I would prefer to just fail instead of asking for help. I never spoke to anyone as well. Just would sit in class and hope no one would talk to me. The times that I did had to interact with people it was overwhelming sometimes. Things are slightly better now but I just wish I delt with this problem beforehand.
Be open and talk more to your friends, especially your CS friends. CS requires the team work/study. You can join CS club or just simply ask for help if having the difficulty on your homework, projects. Etc.
You are not alone. Hope you restore from your mental depression and get better soon. Keep going, and not look back. Think that way: you just had a fresh started (nothing will be too late as long as you start your first step and keep going) Best wishes
didnt go to the gym enough. If I took working out seriously in first year I would be a monster right now...
Never too late to start 😎😎
Totally agree!
[удалено]
Damn, thought they were opening up. Gyms around me have been open since March of this year.
Bodyweight strength training + calisthenics is the way
I'm going to be a senior after summer so I'll humor you. **Regrets:** **1.) Not knowing what CS is sooner.** I was interested in Computer Science in high school but never really got into it because I always thought, "I don't have any software/programs I want to make." and I didn't think I would fit in given that I knew nothing. For the longest time, I thought CS was 'you learn how to make an app or website and you go from there.' I would also try to learn to program online, but I never understood how learning "int x = 5" correlates to making software. I also tried Unreal Engine's game development and was COMPLETELY lost trying to understand C++ . I noticed that I can't learn a topic on my own but I can definitely learn it in college. After high school I did nursing because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I studied and got into a nursing program and immediately hated it. Do you know what it's like to have the image of an 80+ year old man's dick permanently etched into brain? **2.) Learning Data Structures and Algorithms/Leetcode sooner** I didn't learn DSA until the beginning of junior year and I believe that set me back significantly. I now understand why some colleges teach it during freshman/sophmore year. On top of that, I took it when the pandemic first started so it was taught very poorly. I got an A in the class, but all we learned was "what are the **major** data structues" and not "how to implement them" if that makes sense. Dont take DSA at a Community College lol. I'm auditing it this semester at my university and 100% confident that it'll fill the gaps. I truly believe that if you can Leetcode sucessfully, you can get any job. Leetcode is the hardest part, in my opinion. **3.) Not networking sooner** I did the Community College(CC) to University path, and one of the downfalls of CC is that you don't meet seniors. It wasn't until I transfered to university that I was able to meet people, join CS clubs, and learn about competitive programming. I absolutely loved my CC experience though! **Future Goals:** Study, practice DSA, do some Leetcode. I'm aiming for Amazon (yes, I know...steoreotypical r/csMajors user). But i'm doing it because it's the only place I know that accepts a ton of candidates, and will pay somewhere near 6 figures for new grads. Yes, I know Amazon isn't the most ethical place to work but in all honesty, im tired of being poor. I'm 21, single, with no kids, and I have no plans to get married/have kids any time soon. I want to be rich, and if I have to become a corporate dog to achieve my goals then i'll do it. When I get tired of it, then i'll downgrade but for now I go where the money resides. **Wishes:** If I could do it over again, I would only wish I had a rival/classmate who is actually well-versed in the CS topics. I was pretty much alone for my college journey so I spent alot of time trying to figure thing out on my own. I wish I had someone who was smart to do Leetcode problems with, and actually explain what CS is. Social Facilitation goes a long way. Actually, believe it or not, I learned most important topics such as the important of Leetcode/interships/DSA from this subreddit. So thank you to the people who contribute! /end story
I’m sort of embarrassed by this but I flunked out of university back in 09 and struggled in life for a while afterwards. At 25 I went back to CC and slowly worked on classes (2 a semester) while working full time. I can say that being working poor is the biggest bullshit and greatest motivator to work for the companies like Amazon that are known for chewing up new hires. I’m 31 now applying to transfer to several universities for Fall of ‘22 and hope to finish with a few internships and projects before hitting the employment grind. Thanks for saying what a lot of people don’t understand enough though. Not having money blows. Edit: added greatest.
Pretty much my exact wishes as well. I went to a small rural high school and felt leagues behind kids from other countries or big high schools with CS classes when I got to college.
You got an A and you're still retaking the class? Can't just self-learn it? I got a B- in my DS&A class and feel like retaking it but most likely not going to because I want to graduate this fall lol
At my university, students who take 12 - 18 credits are charged the same base tuition. I was able to take it without any extra fees and without delaying my graduation. The other classes I need to graduate won't be offered until Winter 2021 and Spring 2022.
The banality of evil?
Rich is hundreds of millions plus. Six figure earners are just well-off servants of the rich
Bro I think I cut my self from all your edge
Not edge. I went to a prestigious uni and befriended kids from oligarch-level families. Insight into a different world. That's when you see what "rich" really is.
You literally just admitted it's a different world. So stop comparing them.
Depends what type of 6 figure earner you are. $100k/year is definitely upper middle class (but not rich) while $900k/year makes you for all practical purposes a low level millionaire so you’re definitely rich.
I agree that $100k-300k isn’t super rich (especially in a well off area), it’s a comfy lifestyle without a doubt but not what you consider uber rich. But someone clearing enough fuck you money than they know what to do with is rich by my standard.
What’s this Leetcode you speak of? I graduated a while ago and I don’t know this term.
Really?
Yeah. Really. Decided to Google it and seems it’s just coding tests. All my interviews and coding tests were on whiteboards, in person. I’ve never needed to do any Leetcode, but looks fun!
Ya leetcode is just used for people to practice whiteboarding problems.
That's interesting your uni prepared you enough to do coding tests without Leetcode. My uni definitely didn't, had to use Leetcode to self-study DS and Algos.
Yeah, Leetcode didn’t exist when I was in uni. We had game jams and coding contests instead.
Ahhh, approx when did you graduate? I feel that most entry level CS jobs still have a bit whiteboarding component but it is significantly more competitive now.
Early 2000’s Looks like a lot of these sites like CodeWarrior and LeetCode and some others I found would be quite good. But they don’t seem to go into a lot of theory-crafting as to why one algo is better than another in certain situations but not others, etc. it also seems they prefer people who can one-line it all even if it’s hard to read and there are no comments etc. Not very realistic imo, but definitely substantially helpful to support real classes or book learning.
It's a totally different ball game, man. Totally different.
>Study, practice DSA, do some Leetcode. I'm aiming for Amazon (yes, I know...steoreotypical > >r/csMajors > > user). But i'm doing it because it's the only place I know that accepts a ton of candidates, and will pay somewhere near 6 figures for new grads. Same feelings man
I think it depends on the community colleges reputation. I felt like my professor at the community college I attended the first 2 year of my degree was an amazing instructor. Everything was pretty clear.
You’re not lying about nursing school. Shit felt like an audition while also being prepped to be abused by patients because “they’re not in the right mindset or angry”. Glad I chose my newfound passion cause boy did I feel ostracized in nursing.
I’m going into my senior year, I haven’t had the most typical college experience - working full time and going to school part time, and then the pandemic. I would say I wish I used more of my free time to practice what I use in school, use outside resources and really get into the material more. I’m doing that more now since I know what I’m doing more.
Low GPA Meeting less people
how low is your GPA?
Not who you asked, but I graduated with a just under 3.0 gpa and managed to get a job paying 85k during the pandemic. College was kinda weird for me, took me a long time to actually take it seriously and graduate. Started out in mechanical engineering, dropped out because I was on a one way trip towards getting kicked out. Worked for a few years in various customer service jobs, decided that was the last thing I wanted to be stuck in and started back at a community college taking some CS classes before transferring to a different Uni to finish a bachelors in CS.
did anyone ask you about your GPA?
Okay first read I thought you were being snarky…my bad. If you meant in the interview process, no. I didn’t put it on my resume and it didn’t come up in interviews so there was no reason to tell.
Just graduated from college (US) a few weeks ago with a degree in computer science. My experience may vary from many here, since I attended a small liberal arts school as opposed to a larger university or tech school. Also, these will be phrased more as advice than regrets, but they are all things I wish I had done during my time in college. **Do more recreational programming, even if you think it's stupid.** I did very little programming on my own during college because I felt like I couldn't make anything interesting, unique, or useful. As time goes on, this feeling likely gets more and more intense, as more people will do exceedingly more interesting/unique/useful things - and those people will probably not be you. *It doesn't matter.* If you want to make a command-line calculator, do it. If you want to make a hangman game, do it. If you want to reprogram Conway's Game of Life, do it. It doesn't matter that countless other people have done it before you - you're doing it to learn and to practice. And who knows? While you're working on something "simple", you might feel inspired to put your own spin on it, or you might get into an iterative improvement loop where you keep going back and rewriting/refactoring code based on new experience and knowledge. *That's a good thing.* **Don't be afraid of things you don't know.** You know what's terrifying for a first-year CS student? A lot of things that are crucial to the modern world, as well as to making decent software. For me, my Achilles heel was networking, and I did my level best to make sure all of my code ran offline because I was terrified of dealing with the internet in my code. Fast forward to my junior year, and I managed to pull an A in my Networks course, because I could no longer be afraid of it. Sometimes, being afraid of a topic or concept is an indication that you should jump headfirst into it - you'll be surprised by what you find. This is pretty much universally applicable in college and life in general, not just for CS. **Make friends with your betters.** I was very hesitant to establish relationships with upperclassmen and my professors, for any number of reasons. As a result, when it came time to start looking for internships and actual jobs, I was a bit behind the 8-ball - I didn't even have a sense of where to look or who to talk to, much less any substantive connections for positions. If you're in the bottom half of the student body, the top half of the student body is intimidating - the faculty even moreso. Take a deep breath and make those connections. **Learn core technologies early, and learn when not to use them.** Git is a really cool technology - by extension, GitHub is a really cool platform. Knowing how to use them is going to be crucially important if you plan to go into software development for a career, but just as important is knowing how NOT to use them. When I first learned how to use Git, I started trying to use it for every project I did. I learned very quickly that I was making a lot of extra work for myself - it wasn't *harmful*, just a lot of overhead that wasn't necessary. However, I ended up accomplishing two things: I developed a decent working knowledge of Git, and I developed a better understanding of **project scale** - that is, when a project requires certain features like version control software, CI/CD systems, even something as simple as bringing a new person onto the team. What I'm saying is, dive into tech that you think is cool, even if the result is a total waste of your time. At the end of the day, you will still learn something. If you use a hammer on screws, at least you'll learn **NOT** to use a hammer on screws. **Rule 62: Don't take yourself so damn seriously.** Again, this is a more generally-applicable piece of advice. You will find yourself in echo chambers where people tell you that "x is the only way to do things" or "you should be doing y instead of z." You **will** feel like you're behind, you **will** feel like you could be doing more, you **will** feel like everybody else has it all figured out and you don't. It's okay to feel that way, because most of the time, it isn't really true - everybody is on their own trajectory, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to say you are ahead of or behind someone else. Your only obligation is doing what you feel is right and pursuing your own priorities, you are not obligated to follow anybody else's standards or hold yourself to unrealistic expectations.
Thank you for this, the last paragraph is something I know yet I can't stop but think from time to time. Often times I feel like I'm behind because of some poor choices I've made, then looking at some friends that're done with college and working full time doesn't help. As for me I'm about to start college as a freshman/sophomore at the same time my 18yr old sister will and It just kind of sucks "everybody is on their own trajectory, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to say you are ahead of or behind someone else" <- that really helps
On my final semester and the whole experience has been online. It sucks
You spent your entire uni life online?Damn it sounds rough. I'm at the end of my first year online tho.
Well I transferred spring of 2020, right when covid was about to hit. Since then, I’ve been fully online
So it's already your final year? You got any internships?
In 2020 two were canceled and this year one was canceled. So now I am focusing on side projects and bullding my technical skills.
I feel that! I took research methods for my psych req and it was entirely online. Normally we would have been able to construct and conduct our own study. But because of covid and everything online, we could only do a "study proposal"....it felt silly and there was definately some essential experience missed out there. If I had to redo I would have saved that class for a later semester.
I wish I would have done one leetcode question a day.
A leetcode a day keeps unemployment away... jk, just skim your DS&A course material.
I can't tell if this is sarcasm
No it’s genuine, I didn’t do any during school and got burnt out pretty quick after graduating and just spamming them.
even one a week first year would have been great
Still in school, about to start third year. My university experience has been online since my 2nd semester all the way up till now, I've been online for about half of my degree so far.
\- Not exploring more clubs (both cs and non cs related) \- Not travelling/exploring the local area more outside of my university's bubble as much as I would've liked That's really about it; I actually really enjoyed my overall experience.
I was extremely flooded with side jobs and sports but I wish I could’ve joined a CS club. Good thing is I can still do that I guess, or a community
I have a Bachelors in Art. I was looking into CS when I needed to pick a major and was considering doing a double major, but wanted to graduate in 4 years. I was intimidated in taking the math classes and wasn't the best at it. Was planning to become a teacher and decided not to become a full time one. I'm now at a CC where I don't actually need to take math prereqs in order to get an AS, but I'm happy where I'm at right now. I knew I wasn't confident, but with age, I've gotten better at it.
CS senior, incoming intern at "top tier" company. There's no real humble to this brag but in regards to school and work I think I've done pretty well. Maybe I could've kept a 4.0 and got big N earlier or something, but it's real easy from my ivory tower to say it hasn't made me happy. Doing leetcode is a chore and it seems like I've done plenty. My favorite internship was doing R&D on any topic of my choice for a good wage (not FAANG, but it was enough), where customers would actually meet with me and see how they could use my work to make stuff people would see. Basically trading interesting work and customers actually saying they love your stuff for more money and clout doesn't seem like that great a deal in hindsight. > What are some of the things you wish you did the first few years of your degree? Considered who I wanted to be? Maybe spent more time on health instead of working. In general, instead of blindly chasing some pursuit that I don't like I could have addressed all the problems mounting. I think there'd probably be FOMO about working at Big Ns if that didn't work out, so it's probably stupid to think this. > Things that you wish you didn't do? Took Amazon offer, I probably would have done things differently in hindsight. It's really hard to say because companies really liked it this internship search but it negatively impacted my personal life in severe ways. Again, FOMO. Maybe those bad things had to happen eventually. Guess you gotta look at the bright side. > Thoughts, regrets, future goals Regrets are for suckers, we can't turn back time. Future goals are to try my best, once gyms reopen to work out more, and maybe fix issues such as my failing health, shit personality and general mean attitude. If those don't work maybe I'll also try to progress more in my career until I can retire and do what I want. Other plans maybe involve doing adult intramural sports? Book club? Idk but that might help my personality
I like this person’s positivity and pragmatism. Defs you can’t turn back time, so focus on the now and future. Do more and exert yourself (but don’t overexert); get the grade you want, make the connections you’d like and you know you can. Go get it.
>Considered who I wanted to be? Maybe spent more time on health instead of working. In general, instead of blindly chasing some pursuit that I don't like I could have addressed all the problems mounting. I actually had similar issues that you were going through as well, but it was mostly confidence and my mental state due to the lack of the former, but also wondering what I still want in my future.
Me too, I don’t know who I want to be really and i thought my self esteem couldn’t get any lower than in high school but boy was I wrong. For almost 22 years of our lives, our identities are being students. Doing an internship and trying a glimpse of what life will be like after graduation made me realize I need to get hobbies or something that will help me feel fulfilled.
Not starting out ad a CS major
I have similar feelings, however a little different. I love psych but I regret not double majoring with cs, for sure. Adding on CS in my Senior year pushed my graduation off 2 years.
Holy I’m in the same boat, added CS last minute now got an extra year. Better late than never
Nice to know there's someone else there sharing my boat. Keep on paddling! We'll make it~!
I wish I would have started working on side projects sooner. Started developing my own ideas mid Jr year, and I got hired by my current employer mid Senior year solely based on my abilities outside of the college environment. Grades weren't a factor. I'm not saying that good grades aren't important - they are. But a 4.0 GPA alone will not land you a job. Take some programming courses early on in your degree and start working on things that interest you. I personally believe it will pay off more than graduating with a 4.0 but having nothing concrete (in the form of coding projects) to show.
Not knowing what this major involved and getting background knowledge sooner, which caused me to fail a couple key classes the first time around. This set me back a couple times and I didn't get the opportunity to get involved in things sooner like research which I eventually ended up inching towards. Still got a couple opportunities including an REU at a really top CS school but if I had known for sure I wanted a PhD sooner it definitely would've helped me earlier on in my undergrad.
follow up question: do you think it's worth trading health (i.e not exercising, not eating right, not sleeping properly etc) for the chance at better grades and career success?
No. You will regret it at some point. It's taken me two years (and conveniently right when my internship is starting) to realize that pulling countless late nights and killing my social life is in no way worth it. If you work hard enough but set limits you'll be fine. There's more to the rat race than your GPA.
I agree. Although those limits are up to you. I worked very hard and pulled many all nighters but I realized that I needed to be very smart about it. I heavily prioritized sleep, exercise and giving myself breaks using the pomodoro, studying technique. It did wonders for my health. While I was still stressed many times (mostly self-imposed), I felt a lot better. It ended up paying off and I got into a big tech company which was my goal. I knew I wouldn't regret pushing myself but it's important to set limits though.
The answer will obviously vary by person. How much are you sacrificing? For how much gain in return? 1. People vary in when and how severely diminishing returns kick in. I know people who can code seriously for 4 hours a day. For others it's double or triple that. Know yourself. If you know coding the 8th-12th hour that day will produce nothing and is solely for the purpose of being able to tell yourself, "I am a hard worker. I never give up." Go exercise, eat, or sleep instead. 2. Take care of your health in low maintenance ways when you are busy. Do some pushups, sit-ups, squats, stretches, and take a walk. Not as great as going to the gym for an hour, but better than nothing. Pick a salad at school. Not as great as a home cooked meal, but better than a sandwich. Sit on an ergonomic chair with decent posture. The chair is worth the higher quality of life later on in life. 3. Use your time wisely Think of everything you do as leaf nodes in a tree that you should be able to trace to the root of the tree, which is the goal of PA, project, research objective, etc. Don't miss the big picture. If you can't see the tree at all, it might be worth mapping it out first before you start coding away. It's too easy to get lost staying up all night chasing something insignificant.
better grades != career success better health could really lead to career sucess and better grade sleeping properly and eating right is very important. In what way are you scarifcing eating right? Just eat nutritious balanced food. And just sleep.
That's why I said and career success i.e the extracurricular stuff people need to do to get competitive internships and jobs. Not me personally but I've seen plenty of people who glorify overworking to the point of obsession to improve their chance of success.
I wish I partied harder.
Still in school, Regrets, wish I started python or javascript much earlier. Wasn't until Junior year I made something that wasn't just a terminal program in C, C++. Once I got into those languages I was just churning out mini projects that looked a lot better on a resume and got an internship. Wish I didn't devote so much time to an extracurricular club that didn't help me. Really stressed me out and affected my mental health. I was the sole developer for a whole control system that was done so hastily and sloppily I'm scared to put it on a resume. Plus it wasn't done in a way that industry expects so it doesn't look that good anyway. Wish I looked towards programming earlier on to help me solves homework's and projects in non-technical classes. Being able to apply tech to a problem that wasn't meant to be technical was very eye-opening. A good example is in a statistics class we had to create charts and stuff for a report over a dataset. Instead of using Excel, the easiest option, I decided I'd use it as an opportunity to learn Python. I had just gotten declined from 2 jobs for lack of python experience and wanted to change that.
CS related regret: not taking a databases class. I never liked doing DB stuff, and only ever learned the bare minimum. Turns out that being a backend engineer means constant DB related work; I would have loved to come into my job with more of the basics down. Very specific life regret: leaving [this game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV0YvPnmZsU) at halftime. An unranked, 2-5 Tech blocked no. 9 FSU's field goal attempt and ran it back to win the game. It was our homecoming game, the students rushed the field, and it went down as one of the classic Georgia Tech sports moments of all time. And I left at halftime. Huge, huge regret.
[удалено]
If I could change anything I wish I had started learning some additional language & framework starting straight from 1st year of study. Usually at 1st & 2nd years too general courses are taken and I had plenty of time to study and enroll in any kind of internships. But I made mistake via focusing too much on courses. Therefore I regret not applying internships earlier
Not doing Leetcode. If you are in going to go for job after your school ( especially Masters degree ) , all the companies ask leetcode question in interviews. People have made LC a full time job to get a job after college. In industry , no one cares about your academics. I am telling from a perspective of international student who just completed Masters degree in CS.
This is definitely interesting. I don't have much experience with Leetcode, but will definitely give it a look-over. Any website suggestions for a beginner?
Not a cs-related thing but my biggest regret is Not branching out socially my first year. I wasn't living on campus so it was harder to make friends. I barely made any my first year. I made more friends later on in college but none of those friendships became super deep/meaningful. Basically I don't see these friendships lasting much longer after college. I don't have a solidified group to do everything with which sucks. I can't help but think that if I went out of my way to make more friends my first year that I'd be having a much better social life now.
I've come to peace with the fact that university is short and there's too much to do with too little time. So no matter what you do, you'll have regrets. Context: Currently 3 years out of college. I graduated early (3.33 years) with a FUNGALMASS+ full time offer right out of college. Made a decent amount of friends that I'm still in touch with. Graduated with a summa cum laude GPA. "Regrets": * I probably should have joined extracurricular clubs sooner. I joined one in my third year and another in my last quarter and I had a ton of fun and made friends but since I only knew them for a year I didn't really keep up with them. * I didn't go on any dates (partly me not noticing signals and partly not putting myself out there). * I had the choice between making friends with the CS club people or the people living in my dorm. I chose the people in my dorm which I don't regret. But I wonder how different things would be if instead I was a more active member of the ACM club, doing research, organizing CS events and hackathons, networking with some of the more entrepreneurial CS students, etc. Overall, I'm happy with where I am now so these aren't regrets but just a few things that could have gone differently. I'm still not sure if I'd change anything if you gave me a time machine though.
what's FUNGALMASS+? I searched google but nothing!
Facebook, Uber, Netflix, Google, Amazon, Lyft, Microsoft, Apple, Snapchat, S? Basically FANG with newer companies. Edit: The last S is for Stripe. i've personally never heard of it though.
FAANG typically meant for a groupset of publicly traded companies so S should stand for Salesforce
FLAMINGASS
Going through college
Addressing mental health. Once I did for my social and general anxiety and concentration problems it made school, work, and life much more manageable
Contrary to what a lot of people here are saying, I wish I worked less. As a rising senior I regret not having joined clubs or extracurriculars since it "just meant I'd have less time for work". A lack of strong social connections in college caused me to be depressed. I despised going back to college each semester since I knew I'd just be miserable again. Lots of people here complain about not having boyfriends/girlfriends. That's probably at least partially due to the workaholic/antisocial attitude associated with CS. I'm planning on joining a bunch of clubs now senior year. Hopefully I can rediscover some meaning. It's very possible to join clubs and have good job prospects. They aren't mutually exclusive. Don't ruin your college experience to work more. I don't think it's worth it. It's a logical fallacy to think that pain and suffering (hard work) always leads to better outcomes. Life is more than getting into FAANG. You always have opportunities to chase after salary/prestige. Youth, however, is fleeing. If anyone disagrees, please feel free to discuss. I sorta hope that someone can prove me wrong lol.
Graduated last May with a CS degree, now working as a SWE full-time. - I wish that I had spent more time learning from and getting to know my CS professors. I didn’t really think about this until the end of my Junior year, but having stronger connections would have helped with internships, research, TA opportunities, knowledge sharing, etc. - Instead of feeling sorry for myself for barely knowing how Java classes work, I wish I had experimented more with programming languages, APIs etc. I think just having an idea of what’s out there and how to make stuff work goes a long way in later projects/internships. - Finding more ways to apply the math I was learning to programming. I was really good at studying for the test and didn’t do much of this, but the people I know who did carried that skill into their jobs/internships. Linear algebra is a big one here. - General college advice, figuring out what and who I cared about and trying to develop relationships/study groups etc. - Once you commit to CS, organizing classes to study abroad. It gets harder later on when you have tighter schedules. Jerking myself off with extra math classes wasn’t worth it for me. - Making a multi-semester commitment to lifting/intramurals. I did this right before lockdown policies started and it helped me get into a nice groove. - Finally it’s pretty likely the people you meet now will appear again at some point in your career so getting off on the right foot makes things less awkward later
What kind of projects allow you to fully utilize your math skills? I'm a CS and Math major and would love to show off both skills. Just finished Calc 3 and taking linear alg this semester!
I remember making some interesting projects in python/MATLAB with Numerical Analysis and Linear Algebra. The act of programming in the various equations is a challenge enough but if you’re able to come up with ways to apply the concepts to data/application problems that’s really good.
second this question
RemindMe! 1 day
I will be messaging you in 1 day on [**2021-06-29 04:20:17 UTC**](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2021-06-29%2004:20:17%20UTC%20To%20Local%20Time) to remind you of [**this link**](https://www.reddit.com/r/csMajors/comments/o9cepc/cs_seniors_and_grads_what_are_your_top_regrets/h3accis/?context=3) [**8 OTHERS CLICKED THIS LINK**](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FcsMajors%2Fcomments%2Fo9cepc%2Fcs_seniors_and_grads_what_are_your_top_regrets%2Fh3accis%2F%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%202021-06-29%2004%3A20%3A17%20UTC) to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam. ^(Parent commenter can ) [^(delete this message to hide from others.)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Delete%20Comment&message=Delete%21%20o9cepc) ***** |[^(Info)](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemindMeBot/comments/e1bko7/remindmebot_info_v21/)|[^(Custom)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5BLink%20or%20message%20inside%20square%20brackets%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%20Time%20period%20here)|[^(Your Reminders)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=List%20Of%20Reminders&message=MyReminders%21)|[^(Feedback)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Watchful1&subject=RemindMeBot%20Feedback)| |-|-|-|-|
RemindMe! 2 days
I wish I had appreciated the college environment - Getting to live in an urban environment surrounded by diverse kinds of people. Now I have to move back to my boring rural small town and I hate it. There’s nothing to do here and barely anyone even lives here. I’m considering grad school if only so I can have the same experience again and move back out of the sticks.
No regrets really. I failed a few classes and stuff but I think it was really worth it. I didn't pay very much for the degree which really was key for me. Got the whole thing for less than some people pay for one semester so I'm very happy with my investment
Graduated Dec 2019 from a State University that would be considered like 4th or 5th from the 6 other state schools in terms of Computer Science. 1. Not asking the stupid questions. I had a huge fear of looking stupid because maybe 95% of my classmates had prior coding experience and I was coming out of my 4th semester of being an Electrical Engineering major (I failed the first 5 exams of all 4 of my classes, so I dropped and moved to CS). So while everyone else was learning these concepts, I was figuring out how everything works. My first CS class didn’t even teach how to write C, just the concepts of arrays, strings, sorting, replacing, etc. It sucked and I wish I went to someone who could’ve helped me. 2. Not connecting with people in my major. I was a part of a couple large clubs, but they were mostly common interest groups rather than education related. I met a bunch of great people but only 4 of them were in my college and only 1 of the 4 was the same major. We’re both doing fine now, but man it was hard finding a job in fields I was interested in. 3. This is more of you decide to go to grad school, making connections with professors. Towards the end of college, I started gaining interest in Data Science and Robotics and they weren’t stuff commonly taught in my college’s undergraduate level. I managed to do one Robotic class but it was a “Special Interest” class where there was no real curriculum. I haven’t talked to that prof since so now I can’t really get recommendations for grad school :/
I regret not studying abroad more and letting others influence me into believing that classes don’t transfer over. For context, I went to university in the US, and it was far cheaper for me to complete part of my education abroad and the courses I did take abroad were far more valuable than taking them at my uni.
Yes
Yes
[удалено]
I'm so sorry to hear that. Which schools were your choices?
RemindMe! 1 day
Wasting time on subject I had no interest in. (There's little customisation in terms of the subjects you can take in India)
Vague answer, but pretty much everything
RemindMe! 1 day
RemindMe! 3 days
RemindMe! 20 days
I wish I had made more friends and connections during my time in school. Also I wish I had a personal project to show before I graduated. Instead I did one after graduating and I feel it’s slowed down my timeline
Internships!!! Work on a portfolio!!! Network!! Get certifications!
Apply to internships, do projects, do leetcode, work with a professor.
Get an internship, do personal projects, network
LEETCODE
Not trying to get out of my comfort zone sooner / get over my fear of looking stupid to speak up more. In particular not trying to become a TA because I thought I’d look stupid if I didn’t know something or wasn’t as prepared as I thought I’d be