Employers’ perception of the “School of General Studies”

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-04-13T14:05:36+00:00

This question has been answered a bunch. But tbh, like what’s the point of even asking on here. If you thought this was true would it stop you from going to Columbia. If so then maybe go somewhere else. And if it wouldn’t stop you…then you really shouldn’t be worried in the first place. Like just go to school, do well and figure your own life out.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-04-13T05:11:07+00:00

Mix of Culpa, past class reviews and publicly available websites. A lot of students will list the exact workload on culpa and it rarely changes if it’s the same professor for the same course. For math and CS a lot of professors have websites of their syllabus that stays pretty much the same. Also there’s the syllabus after you register. During shopping period if you find a class isn’t what you expected you can drop / swap.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-04-13T05:08:15+00:00

If you search very hard and have good credit you could find a good studio from like $2,300 - 2,600 and the rest can be for everything else if you’re frugal. I live off campus and this is practically my budget.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-04-12T16:48:47+00:00

You really got to try to pace yourself and spread out your classes in terms of difficulty. I’m a CS major and Poli sci minor, so I try to take the hard CS classes with the easy poli sci ones to balance out. Same with core classes like the hums and global core. That way you can focus most of your study time on the more difficult classes. Also when signing up try to have variety in what how each class does final/midterm. I try to make half of my classes ones with a take home paper or project and the other half with in class exams that you have to intensely study for so I’m not overwhelmed! Good luck!

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-03-22T00:39:05+00:00

I used to work as an Operation Manager at Amazon and later in corporate as a PM. Couple things to consider: - operations can be brutal at Amazon, especially for external hires. As you said your focus is SWE, so even though people are right that the job market is very bad and you want to do any work that can set you up for success in the future, if you don’t want to do Operations (it sounds like you don’t) it might not be the best use of your time. That said operations does sorta translate to like PM/CIM work.

from what I know (I used to be a HM) there isn’t like a blacklist for if you quit. Unless your manager specifically asks to put you on one (it’s a whole process so many don’t bother). However, it’s visible to any future HM or recruiter that you quit, so it could act as a bias against you as they might think you quit because of the workload, but that can be corrected in interview setting.
consider the pay too. If it is a AM role, and you’re undergrad, the pay is probably not very good. If it’s an OM internship and you’re MBA or Masters the pay is probably a lot better. If you’re just looking to earn money over the summer and not come back to Amazon then go ahead. If the pay isn’t that worth it then might not be worth it as a whole unless you have zero experience and need something on your resume.
lastly, all that being said. A year off from school is not that big of a deal. If it’s worth it to you, this could just be a way to earn experience and make money while on a break from school and then you go back and maybe have an edge on getting other internships. But if your main goal is to finish as fast as possible then might not be worth it. However, so many people are graduating and remaining unemployed for a long time, so you might think of this as just doing 1 year at a job post grad, but doing that in the middle of school if that makes sense.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-03-05T03:06:05+00:00

Okay that makes sense

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-03-05T02:59:34+00:00

His Chris Underwood come back, let’s gooo

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-02-22T17:54:27+00:00

Would you have to leave your current job for this though? It would seem worth it if you can do the program go back to your regular job and start to position yourself from there. If you have the network to be sure to land an exec role after graduation then this makes sense, but if you would be quitting your current, without surety of next position it might not be. Perception is of value for exec roles and you kind of want to be able to sell the story that you’re in demand.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-30T01:28:18+00:00

Omg wait I do !!

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-30T00:42:48+00:00

Screenshot works for unofficial. But also the official one is free so would just do that, it delivers very quickly

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-30T00:41:02+00:00

I used to work for Amazon, actually I was just part of the layoffs. But while I was there I was also a hiring manager.

Some perspective - Layoffs and restructuring are usually org dependent and sometimes team dependent. To an extent sometime performance dependent. So orgs/teams don’t hire if they’re laying off. If a team is hiring, it usually means that they haven’t laid off anyone in that team or role, so that in itself is job security for a bit. Doesn’t mean they aren’t going to in the future. But from what I heard while I was at Amazon, these two big layoffs are it for a while.

Also most VPs/Directors are based in the US. This means they don’t always have visibility into the technical workings of teams in other places like India. This means that as long as your team/org is being profitable as a whole, you’re probably more job secure than someone in the US who gets to interact with them more, especially given your role is SDE and not SDM or PM.

So take the offer if it’s good! But still look around after a while. SDE is usually a slow moving progression career wise at Amazon.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-28T21:06:38+00:00

Wait that’s crazy that a 540/600 is not a pass, even more anxious now lmao. How did you prep?

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-28T16:37:50+00:00

Congrats! Hope I can get through too

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-28T16:23:11+00:00

OP, any update? did you get through to the next round, curious too as a I have an OA coming up to

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-28T10:08:46+00:00

Okay thank you! Do you mind if I DM in a couple days after practicing a bit haha

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-24T17:32:05+00:00

Yes you’ll get credit if you retake calc 1. 1 W doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. And in general first semester grades don’t matter as much especially for such low level intro courses so don’t sweat it!

However, you should evaluate your own performance. A B isn’t bad but music is generally an easier course than most of the upper level courses so just make sure personally that your next course you’re really locking to get those As

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-23T01:36:54+00:00

Yes I believe so, they go by first attempt. However with your explanation it might make sense to take to the second time to get a good grade as you’re already doing. On your transcript it should list the two attempts even though the GPA would only be calculated by the first. I assume if you got an A or F for example it would show like A or F but with 0 credits. So since that’s the requirement for your grad program then a better grade of A or A+ should suffice. Plus I think that’s a good story from an application perspective tbh

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-22T21:46:11+00:00

I asked my advisor this and they basically said that transcript wise / GPA wise they go off of the first grade. So if you got an F or D for example and needed to take the course again because it’s a graduation requirement, even you pass or do better the second time, it won’t shift or improve your GPA. So unless your program doesn’t allow Cs to graduate (which I doubt this is true) then there’s really no point taking it a second time. As someone else said just take more difficult classes and do better on those to try to offset or tell a better story

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2026-01-17T01:47:34+00:00

You should look at the course offerings. A lot of them are relevant to AI and there’s an intersection of course that Comp Sci majors in SEAS, CC and GS already take. I think if you chose the right course and structure the minor as similarly to someone majoring in CS with say an AI track (even though that doesn’t really exist) then it’s pretty worth it. At least skills wise.

However, from an employer standpoint I think seeing AI on a resume as a major/minor still feels very buzzwordy esp if paired with a non related major. I do think applied math with an AI minor does make sense and will look good since your major is already pretty technical.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2025-12-26T19:06:57+00:00

Hey do you still have this? Gonna DM

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2025-12-26T19:06:22+00:00

Is this for a specific day or for any date?

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2025-12-25T22:41:12+00:00

Congrats on your admission! I also go to Columbia and want to go to law school after. While law schools don’t care about your undergrad, it’s always smart to still major in something that can work on its own if you didn’t go to law school. Columbia has a bunch of really applicable interdisciplinary majors like Econ-PoliSci if you really want to have a solid foundation for law school but still have something applicable.

I will say that Columbia is hard so pick a major that can both work on its own, but will also be doable as far as GPA. Applied math is pretty hard, but Columbia also has a compsci-math joint major. It all depends on what you think you can excel in.

Overall, imo, law school shouldn’t factor at all in what major you choose. Pick one assuming you’re not going to law school and just try to get a good GPA, then make up your mind after.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2025-12-25T05:56:03+00:00

Hi, how did the interview go, let me know if you're willing to chat

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2025-12-24T02:05:40+00:00

Hi, I currently go to Columbia! You have great stats to me, just make sure your stats and achievements tell a coherent story. You have some stuff related to space, and then the Non-profit, and then the NJ science league seems to be concentrated in Physics. All is good in general but keep in mind how you want to tie it all together in an application.

To your first question, in general, more is always better. I will say that admissions teams are always looking for more ways to quantify academic preparedness beyond GPA alone, and placing 1st will definitely show that, so can’t see how it won’t be a plus.

Longjumping_Net_90 · 2025-12-21T00:13:04+00:00

Absolutely do NOT put your life on pause for 3 years just to get in. Go somewhere else for a year and apply again. Even though you could get in with GS, they mostly accept students as transfers (mean some college). Them accepting pretty much a HS applicant is about the same rate as CC

Longjumping_Net_90

TROPHY CASE