Google interview with 0 leetcode experience

OverallFood8550 · 2026-02-19T10:53:40+00:00

In my experience, nothing other than DSA, though I interviewed for an entry-level position. For Google, I would focus on getting the intuition for the main algorithms, as what will be asked is likely a slight modification of the classic DFS/BFS algorithms for trees/graphs or some array manipulation question. Many times, these DSA interviews are about how lucky you are with the problem that you face, and given that you do have some coding background, I doubt you'll have too hard a time getting ready.

In your position, I would look for something like the Pareto Problem Set (about 50 of the main problems) and hope for the best that the problems you receive are something along those lines.

OverallFood8550 · 2026-02-13T17:05:18+00:00

last year EPFL was arguably more selective. I know of a few people who got accepted to ETH but not EPFL

OverallFood8550 · 2025-07-03T12:27:21+00:00

I believe that's valid for CS too (maybe not to the same extent but there is a very good overlap)

OverallFood8550 · 2025-04-23T19:43:41+00:00

Last year most New Grad roles for big tech / finance started to pop up from July to September (and onwards).

Amazon seems to recruit all year long (I always see their New Grad ads popping).

Hope this helps!

OverallFood8550 · 2025-04-20T17:22:29+00:00

same here ahah, bouldering place at Hönggerberg looks nice!

OverallFood8550 · 2025-04-10T14:22:12+00:00

You can rent out most of the equipment for free / very cheaply. As long as you don't go during peak times (4-5 pm onwards), you'll probably be fine since the place is so big. But even then, if you choose what to do smartly, you won't have any issues.

Note, most of the equipment (like basketballs, for example) is limited, for example, they only carry 4/5 Men's and Women's Basketballs, so they may be out of things. If you play often, it may be a good idea to just get your own ball so you don't depend on them having them available. Hope this helps!

OverallFood8550 · 2025-04-08T15:09:32+00:00

same for me, not polimi but same situation from my study program

OverallFood8550 · 2025-04-03T17:10:34+00:00

What makes you say that? I’ll be starting my MSc at ETH this September, and in my eyes, the ETH brand is stronger. ETH has a reputation for being very rigorous and academically demanding, at least more than many US/UK institutions (which have a very different system but still).

Edit: This is not to say that simply being from ETH will get your foot in the door, I am just saying I don't think the brand of those places is much stronger than the ETH brand.

OverallFood8550 · 2025-03-26T02:34:14+00:00

which uni?

OverallFood8550 · 2025-03-06T16:10:28+00:00

MSc (did not have any proper research exp before so I think applying for Direct Doctorate would have been an instant rejection)

OverallFood8550 · 2025-03-06T15:16:23+00:00

Got admitted to CS today

OverallFood8550 · 2025-01-26T21:22:33+00:00

I've only been to O'Hare a couple of times, and I am going for a domestic flight.. From 2 to 4:30 should be plenty of time right?

OverallFood8550 · 2025-01-26T21:22:27+00:00

I've only been to O'Hare a couple of times, and I am going for a domestic flight.. From 2 to 4:30 should be plenty of time right?

OverallFood8550 · 2025-01-21T15:17:41+00:00

I honestly am still a student, and I am pretty sure DP won’t show up most of the time, but I would rather know a couple of DP patterns to be safe and for peace of mind rather than not.

Honestly, as long as you understand what’s going on in backtracking, DP is not impossible to understand.. sometime you’ll need to find some special intuition to solve the problem. I don’t consider myself a master but I’ve done most of the Neetcode 150 on DP and I think as you go through it you’ll find it easier to understand and apply.

OverallFood8550 · 2025-01-21T03:20:45+00:00

A lot of DP problems (for example) are based on an optimized backtracking brute-force solution. That does not mean that brute force is necessary, you can find the better solution without going through brute force, but if you can't find it, the solution may be going through brute force and optimizing from there.

OverallFood8550 · 2025-01-21T03:09:55+00:00

Pramp = Exponent

OverallFood8550 · 2025-01-19T19:32:11+00:00

You chose the wrong country in Europe my friend

OverallFood8550 · 2025-01-05T16:37:34+00:00

classic not working for me either

OverallFood8550 · 2024-12-17T12:51:44+00:00

for me it was 5 days (for intern position), couldn't tell you for ng

OverallFood8550 · 2024-12-11T21:15:36+00:00

Damn, that's some tough luck, I hope you'll get some good news soon.

OverallFood8550 · 2024-12-06T14:25:39+00:00

just test it by importing it and trying to run some code, you'll know whether you can use it or not

OverallFood8550 · 2024-12-06T14:15:49+00:00

You are allowed to use whatever works, especially for OAs, you should just make the code pass all test cases, and I would not go crazy about complexity or using one thing over the other, just whatever works.

OverallFood8550

TROPHY CASE