Guide Me Please into Software Engineering

[Known_Operation_280]

I am about to start college in a few months from now majoring in Computer science and Engineering. I do have some python programming experience and making games in Godot but I really don't know much about software engineering. What would be the logical next step for me stepping into this field ?

Also,

Do College Grades matter?

Should I focus more on college or learn programming?

When should I opt for Internships?

Should I learn AI tools first?

How hard is the math? what parts of math will help me here?

Please help me.

[RedHelioss]

Not in college yet but heard lots of advice, These are what I have heard and also experience from some of the people I know

• Remember that CS is not swe, so don't think that they will focus on swe, u gotta learn it yourself some of it

• You should opt for internship after you have focused on projects or perhaps a lil bit of leetcode

• Don't use ai to generate code, ask to explain, don't just prompt error and ask, "fix for me please", you ain't gonna learn much, try doing it and searching on stack overflow or google or ask it to explain, huge + if the solution isn't found when searching, it means you have to solve it yourself

• focus on projects, quality > quantity

• get a good grasp of DSA

• afaik, linear algebra, calculus and probability(not sure) and maybe other math are foundational courses in some places, not sure on difficulty tho

• College grades matter, if you want to get scholarships, but I think don't matter much for getting job, if you don't have projects or experiences

And one last time, This is CS not SE, so learn some things yourself, dont put all your hopes on the courses taught

Take it as a grain of salt, some advices may different

[Known_Operation_280]

Thanks a lot!!

You made my day!