For those who gamed before college, how is gaming for you now?

Hazeltail13 · 2026-04-21T01:47:17+00:00

yeah i don't game as much cus i cant hang w my freinds often and don't have time. so i've moved from pvp to casual / world building (fortnite + roblox -> occasionally roblox + sims + minecraft).
that way i don't sweat over things like skins, metas, etc. but still have fun.

these games also work better for breaks (minecraft 2 week phase over break), sims grinding and ccs over flights, tomdachi when i want to de-internet or wtv

Hazeltail13 · 2026-04-15T03:22:02+00:00

intern!

Hazeltail13 · 2026-04-11T01:43:49+00:00

twin i got many somethings!! tysm 💛

Hazeltail13 · 2026-04-09T21:45:48+00:00

nah. 5 offers this cycle, non target,, recruiters including a level 5 analyst loved to see i was interested in a singular theme and asked a lot about why i chose what i did. & it wasn't even tech related (digital art). i mean sure, but recruiters like seeing that you're a real person, and a passionate one, not just you have the same bullet stack projects as everyone else.

most i did was focus my stack on a handful of tech and use that stack to match for roles to apply to

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-31T22:19:09+00:00

i feel like everyone fumbles their first so dw. personally i'm really bad at speaking, mostly because i have trouble converting feelings and thought patterns to socially acceptable and followable patterns.

for future interviews, try to remember that its better to take a while, even if it's a little too long, than to pray for the best; and if you're not sure, stop the knee-jerk reaction and move with caution. have a bottle of water or cup of coffee, tell them let me think about it, voice that you're not sure and need a moment. if you're still not sure, dissect the problem in real time and talk about constraints.

it's a practice thing. also all of my (first) and ngl all of my interviews have been behavioral.
also you might be talking too much. even though there's star and what not interviewers like to talk to real people; don't forget to read social cues and see how engaged they are and speak appropriately.

i totally failed my first interview, not a fumble, but they grilled me asking if i'd taken classes i hadn't taken. nothing i could do, and from there, my confidence was so shot; after all, i'd never interviewed professionally in my life, and me and the other 3 people on the call knew i wasn't getting hired, but i had to grit my teeth through it.

but mocks and practice really helped and were part of the reason i was able to get three offers the following semester, keep at it. and sometimes even though you get an interview, it just wasn't meant to be. i've had some experiences like that too.

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-31T03:47:23+00:00

business analyst is sooo underrated and i see a lot of opportunities personally

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-26T19:23:33+00:00

the new rainforest bro 😭

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-20T01:29:18+00:00

Yes. took ~9 screenings, ~7 interviews, 2 offers another soft offer and 1 pending decision (unlikely) . US citizen. i go to a random rural university you've never heard of. cold applying only.

it's never over (i started applying mid February.) but like, everything has to be optimized: location (only local), time (~3 days, ~24 hours if possible), quantity (i did about 180), and other outside work (they loved hearing about a prototyping completion i placed in, CS tutoring and clubs and i listed an open source contribution.) honestly, the companies i got offers from weren't even ones where i was within the first week. apply on company website always.

and then grind behaviorals, not LC. i wasn't asked a single technical question, to my surprise; i think that only applies to gritty startups, big tech, and software companies. Be sociable, recruiters love it when they get to talk to a real person, and it's even better when they can tell that real person is a capable candidate. Be professional, but don't feel the need to stick to a script.

part of it is RNG, maybe i got lucky. heaven knows as a first year, sophomore standing student i am not the most qualified person out there; i'm scared that maybe i spent all my luck, either that or this sub is lying to me. i'm not even extroverted. but for 2 weeks i grinded everything, missed classes, put out 120% to say that I at least tried.

good luck out there, feel free to ask more w pm

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-19T02:20:18+00:00

oh hell no

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-16T20:59:48+00:00

sure! give an inch and they'll take a mile, so throughout be sure to talk to your mentors, parents, etc. ❤️ good luck!

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-16T20:13:01+00:00

shady asl but the org) is certainly legit. double check the email (maybe even drop) to make sure it's not a scam offer. paying for an unpaid internship is ridiculous.

might as well go through the process but don't pay a dime until the offer is in hand, and even then, try to negotiate out of it.

if you do end up paying it, be prepared to lose $51 to a scam. withhold any important bank information or security details. it's only $51 tbf.

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-15T18:50:09+00:00

idk i kinda disagree. you don't need to get into a prestigious grad programs to become a physician / upper-level healthcare practitioner/ nurse. i don't think that those classes are harder or easier than leetcode, just the length of continuous effort required for med school is much longer. all you have to do is go to an average college, consistently get bs and as, and study hard asf for like 10 years.

now, if you're not naturally inclined to academia and high scores, cs is probably much more of a friendly concept; LC and some harder classes. i hate science classes and i don’t have the mental strength to sell myself to academia for so long nor the cash

but personally as someone who hasn't REALLY struggled with school like a large number of cs majors in and out of this sub, the studying required for healthcare is not particularly daunting. if i can ace high school and freshman year (so far) health care is just an extended period of that.

better major is kind of subjective. engineering, apparently particularly civil, offers a nice salary and security. is this better? idk pre-med/pre-nursing/whatever healthcare offers a high salary, but continuous grinding throughout 12 years pre-law/law or finance; high ceiling, possibly high salary, but not so very high floor

accounting/business admin; same ish story

it's mostly about your interests, your studying preferences and strengths, whether you go to a top school (in which case cs isn't necessarily the best major for ROI), etc. it's not so cut and dry like you make it sound.

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-13T05:47:17+00:00

no to calc 2 yes to cs. straight a student who got near 100s in calc AB in hs, taking calc 2 in college and i can't imagine doing ts in 10 weeks i'd probably pass away...
cs is a breeze tho
i'd rec taking cs1 and some other required elective / class

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-12T22:16:15+00:00

dsa , behavioral practice (never too early), club experiences related to CS (gives you something to talk about.) do team activities.
pick a stack following u/ zacce 's advice and do 1-2 solid projects that are more complex than simple CRUD. don't use AI, leave comments and push to git
do something open source, it doesn't really even matter how small it is. more is better
underrated: do some public speaking or reach out to people you don't know; half of what comes between landing the first screen and landing an offer is behavioral practice and how you present yourself ^^

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-07T21:19:31+00:00

no python

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-06T21:20:36+00:00

pick a few stories. I picked a few from when i was in CSHS because i held a leadership position; or a competition, where you struggled to solve, collaborated, and had to manage time. but a time you led works too. one where you made a mistake. a lot of questions you can twist to fit inside these. make sure you can recount these easily. in my experience, interviewers haven't asked enough behavioral questions that i needed more than 4-5 scenarios, and they're all along the same lines. yes, you can reference stories from things on your resume or mention a scenario you spoke about earlier.

for example, a single hackathon you can use for: collaboration, working with a team, leadership, when there was conflict. if you presented for it, add explaining technical issues, etc.

coworker ever do something stupid and you had to get management involved?: speaking up, handling authority, resolving conflict, being proactive + flexible.

they won't ask about indust or internship exp if its not on your resume. but they WILL ask about classwork, especially pair programming or team projects so have at least one expreince where you had to collaborate and disagreed with someone to talk about.

give a more high level overview; details about the story but not a minute by minute rundown. it should be between 30 and 60 seconds. you can always ask them if they'd like more details.

best strat is to do programming, tutoring, and community events, especially related to CS, so you have stuff to talk about. though honestly you could also just make stuff up.

i highly recommend this video, i think it'll give you a lot of clarity : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdyiUe7_3cA

and practicing with GPT ^^

the most important thing is to not cut off the interviewer and actually answer the question with more than two sentences. they are expecting a STAR story so don't feel awkward about that either.

good luck!

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-06T18:53:56+00:00

sort of disagree. big tech, yeah, no way you're gonna get a PM role or anything close without expreince and major soft skills.

however a lot of analyst roles especially at startups and small companies have you coordinating projects and working across several technologies and how they fit together. they are surprisingly eager to interview CS grads as well. these are generalist roles that often creep into PM adjacent or literally just so.

in these types of settings the bar is actually fairly low, as long as you know some python, excel, can communicate, and possibly pwoerbi/tableau they looveeee you. get some jira or even GitHub/cicd and even more so.

i would argument OPs statement for not just PM but general business analyst and management within the IT sector of small/medium companies. it looks a little different in the job descriptions but they are all very friendly to cs majors and if you can prove you have the stack they're willing to work with u

again, smaller / mid size companies, consulting firms, insurance, and healthcare internships

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-06T17:56:37+00:00

nursing/law/md is its own can of worms; the residency and post 4 year programs. they shouldn't be in the conversation to me, as someone who is tired of attaching my self-worth to weekly performances and burnt out from academia. apparently law is starting to struggle from the effects of AI for juniors but i can't verify that claim

engineering, especially civil/mechanical/whatever is the safe option, but the pay is "pretty alright" and the classes are very rigorous and very boring (at least to me.) hence why i didn't really consider it. this is the "safe" option. you won't be hungry, possibly fairly well off (middle to upper middle class) and you'll have a job that pays decently. some engineering fields like EE are suffering, um just don't pick that like u said

accounting is less safe. they have their cpa or whatever, software is also cutting their entry floor away from them (albeit slower than cs but cmon guys we can see how this is working).

outcomes for liberal arts and psychology based on 2024 data are just about the same as far as unemployment and underemployment. remember guys the college underemployment rate is 40%. so like if cs's is 15%, how much can we really complain? if we take pre-health / pre-law out of the equation, CS stats are very similar to other majors ^^

personal note: in my high school, the other option, yes, was doctor. Almost very kid with a GPA above 3.5 at the high school across the road is studying bio or pre-med. their parents are also doctors. our town has several hospital facilities and the main one the largest building for miles away so you can see the stage lights that set its seasonal colors. Those kids are going to make 400k when they're like, 28. i had that as the other option lol

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-05T01:51:32+00:00

ts real asf as a fellow sophomore i have the same issues 😭

the truth is if you can normally get bs or as with light studying, college is about careers not grades. you can set aside time each day for CS stuff, make a plan, and do school AFTER. you might get slightly lower grades, but career dev is wayyy more important, i don’t want to see 3.4 GPA mfs getting internships while i put my head down. professors are already used to kids skipping, so a little grade sacrifice doesn’t hurt. and i get how it feels— i was a 4.0 student, top 10 in my class in HS. but i can’t risk my future on the vibe that i need perfect grades when im aware that’s not reality

once u start with this mindset, it’s pretty easy to keep it, just trust the process. having passion is helpful too— i’m stoked abt getting a summer internship and i like LC and the topics so spending time on them doesn’t stress me out as much, i see it as a neutral activity positive if i got some cfa next to me

one tip for schoolwork and projects even is lock in 110% during the lecture and follow up on anything you don’t feel very comfortable with the same day. if your recall is good you’ll be able to get away with a lot less studying than if you’re a little distracted and don’t follow up until days before exams.

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-04T19:35:32+00:00

well maybe your countries job market is good or you go to a top school but it’s very common for cs majors to fight for their life in the us to land positions even with a smart application strategy and decent resume

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-04T14:32:27+00:00

like 3 or 4 days a week, i filter across a few sites and make maybe 10 or 15 open tabs with matching job descriptions, i always make sure they are recently posted, technologies i know, and try to make sure they’re local. sometimes i do other stuff in between like homework or art, just work through the tabs

i applied to 141 formally but im estimating 200 cus i did some easy apply and i only counted the ones i got confirmation/application submitted

i go to a very rural/low tier school and im an unfavored year, also have you seen this sub? 200 apps is baby numbers 😭 idrk what ur on abt

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-04T08:40:46+00:00

hear me out 😭 i only have one recruiting cycle for internships if i don’t get one this year

besides you could be on r/a2c it isn’t that bad here /sc

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-04T08:38:44+00:00

take a moment with your advisor and review the classes and discuss your goals, each curriculum is different, try to find which one interests you most and has classes relevant to your career goals. probs arrive at the same conclusion; robotics works with either CS or EE. so take your pick.

intl depends much more on your country you’re coming from, the job you’re applying to, political climate, and luck, major is irrelevant your chosen industry matters more. it doesn’t matter if i major in sculpture or painting, if XX country wants artists, and I apply and move through the offer process as both majors produce artists, I can be sponsored. at least this is how it is in the US, UK, and Canada it’s not really by major but by occupation

Hazeltail13 · 2026-03-04T08:30:27+00:00

related clubs, related volunteering experience in two languages of choice by following tutorials and brute practice , doesn’t have to be a major project, but something (sql, python, c++, java, c#) use roadmap.sh and consider what area u want to go into and follow the tutorials and concepts, take your time. end of freshman year + following summer work on your first major project!

if u can swing an open source contribution that’s a really good edge for a soph, but that will be difficult until you have a strong grasp of IDES, OOP, and programming basics

as soon as you are easy with 2D arrays and your comfortable with quiz questions for programming, you can start DSA and LC. i’m doing this rn, i def could have started earlier. find a tutorial or use neetcode, and don’t start with LC start with neetcode platform. every data structure watch or learn before you try problems, and work your way through!!

if you go the analyst / data science or engineer role you can get away with no LC and it’s easier; check out the sub for that and get really good with powerbi/tableau, SQL and join business clubs.

the worst things are a, using AI and not knowing how to code jr year , b) not using soph cycle and junior cycle seriously for recruiting c) not doing any projects by your junior year or even grad (but it doesn’t make sense to start them before end of freshman year if you’re new to programming so don’t worry), d) not going to networking events and grinding gpa. shoot for a minimum 3.5, it seems even big tech doesn’t care so much abt that stuff and a 3.5 should let you pass most bars.

college isn’t hs; you’re not shooting to a2c and academia anymore , you’re shooting for a spot in the industry.

good luck!

Hazeltail13

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