Introductions
A lot of uses for CS later in college/career!
Even if not in CS major, there are STILL uses for CS
A lot of good internship opportunities (Northrop, Viasat, Codeninjas)
CSP/CSA translates very well to college
College app process
UCSD CS major is very lottery based, so Collin applied to other majors (so did Mabel)
- Look for opportunities like Data Science/Cognitive Science/ML/AI
- connect with professors and get involved in research before applying
More you do in CS higher chance of getting in
Explain why your projects matter
Cold email professors, ask for research opportunities
Show that your passion really matters
Building interest in CS
Do projects that you’re interested in OUTSIDE of school
Show these college professors/companies how you are better than others
Start off building something small, then move up to bigger projects based off of smaller projects
Deploy your projects publicly, shows people what you’ve done and what you are capable of
One thing to say that you can do it, another thing to SHOW how you can do it
Lost?
Build off of your interest companies/colleges projects
Write up in a DETAILED way what you did, shows that you really care about the company/college
Do something you enjoy
leetcode lmfao - less of a time commitment than whole projects, also trains and gets you ready for CS interviews
Tristan’s secret sauce
Vercel
Sveltekit
Create personal website, put this EVERYWHERE
tailwind CSS
CS moves EXTREMELY FAST!!!!!! STAY ON TOP OF IT!!
Reflection
Throughout the panel, the biggest takeaway I had was that CS opportunities and jobs are hard. However, there are many things that we can do in order to greater our chances of getting into a good college or getting a good job. One of the biggest things that I learned was that we should do projects that we are interested in, especially projects that modify existing projects from companies or colleges that you are interested in. This not only improves or knowledge of coding and CS, but also shows these colleges and companies that you are truly invested. When you do get into the internship or college that you are interested however, things get much more straightforward. You should do as much as you can to contribute to your project and show your employers that you care. This way, not only will you get a good recommendation in the future, but also helps you to get return offers that you can leverage to get future opportunities. Overall, I learned a lot about how to get into college and how to get a job in CS, and I hope to use this knowledge in the future.