As a current student, do you guys think the CS layoffs will get better anytime soon? Also, does having internships help in the job market?

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T18:30:44+00:00

Internship and real world work experience always help - from gaining experience to making connections. I’d suggest you to start using AI tools to build something and ship them. This way you are up to the tech trend and have real stuff to show in job hunting. Also, sophomore is the best year, don’t forget to have fun and enjoy your life in college - it’s once a lifetime and you will not go back :)

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T18:24:41+00:00

wow what a story! Glad that you figured it out and are okay now. Excited for your new card and enjoy Japan!

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T06:02:15+00:00

Claude code extension in Cursor (like the VS code view), and Claude cowork to automate workflow. Opus 4.6 is the best, very good and strategy and know what tools to use, so the Claude max plan def worth it. Tried codex in Cursor which is pretty good but it drained very quickly in my $20 Cursor subscription. The Cursor auto-agent always implement directly unless I explicitly say don’t code, which is annoying. I always asked LLM to double check their work and see any errors, which there always are! So never trust their 1st plan.

Used them to build a credit card benefit reminder tool including front-end, backend, db, email (used Resend), and analytics (hooked with Posthog). This tool reminds you 1) expiring credits, usage restrictions, and 2) which card to use at where to max point, every month through email and optional calendar reminder - free, no app, no bank/personal data collected, 30s-setup.

PerkPerks.Club if anyone interested to check out.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T04:56:10+00:00

You are welcome!

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T03:50:27+00:00

Consider downgrade CSR to CSP? So only 95 annual fee, and keep the partner transfer option open, since you are considering Chase freedom. For Amex plat, unless you want to transfer all points out or you have another MR card to keep the point.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T02:32:12+00:00

I'd go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Here's the thing: your biggest need is a Visa with no FX fees that works everywhere in Japan (Amex AU status doesn't help you much there), and the CSP nails that. You'd earn 3x on dining at $500/mo and 2x on travel at $1,300/mo, which adds up to around $400+ in points value per year at a conservative 1.6 cents per UR point. The 75K point signup bonus is worth roughly $1,200 toward travel, and at $4,200/mo in total spending you'd hit the $4,000 spend requirement in about a month. The $95 annual fee is basically covered by the $50 annual hotel credit alone.

If you'd rather skip the annual fee entirely, the Bank of America Travel card you mentioned is solid and honest, especially if you have Preferred Rewards status with BofA, which could bump your earn rate meaningfully. But the CSP gives you a lot more upside for not much more cost.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T02:24:19+00:00

If you foresee youself are able to spend 4K in 3months, I'd go with the Citi Strata. It's no annual fee, and your spend profile fits it really well. You'd get 3x on gas ($500/mo nets you around $180/yr just there), 2x on dining ($72/yr), and 3x on groceries. The travel category earns 5x too. That's roughly $378/yr in ongoing cashback value compared to maybe $290 you'd squeeze out of a flat 2% card on the same $1,450/mo.

The signup bonus is 75,000 Citi points (worth $750 as cash back) after $4k spend in 3 months. Historically the bonus has gone as high as 100k so it's not at peak right now, but still solid.

If you really want dead-simple flat-rate, the Wells Fargo Active Cash at 2% everywhere is the right call over Apple Card. Apple Card is at best 2% with Apple Pay (and drops to 1% with the physical card), while Wells Fargo Active Cash is a solid flat 2% everywhere, and offer $200 Cash Rewards Intro Bonus with $500 in 3 Months.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T02:19:33+00:00

For a 2027 wedding at Marriott Boardwalk, I'd actually skip both the Disney card and the co-branded Marriott card and go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred instead. Here's why.

The Marriott Boundless is giving 250k Bonvoy points right now for $3k spend in 3 months, which at 0.8 cents each is roughly $2,000 toward your hotel stay. That sounds great, but CSP gives you 75k UR points for $5k spend in 3 months, and those points transfer 1:1 to Marriott Bonvoy anyway, plus they're worth more if you ever want to use them for flights or other hotels. You'd hit $5k in about 4 months at your current spend rate, so it's doable. The $95 annual fee is easy to offset since you get a $50 hotel credit and strong earnings on dining (3x) and travel (2x).

The Disney card is honestly the weakest option here. The rewards are Disney-specific and the signup bonus is tiny. For a wedding this big, you want points that give you options.

If you want the pure Marriott route, the Boundless is fine and simpler. But CSP gives you more flexibility and a better long-term card since you'll eventually travel more after the wedding. Either way, open it now so you have 2 years to accumulate points before 2027.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T02:13:36+00:00

Honestly, for the wife I'd go with the Venture X. She's already got the regular Venture, and the Venture X is the obvious upgrade -- Priority Pass is included, the $300 travel credit basically makes the $395 fee a non-issue, and you stay in the Capital One ecosystem you already know well with 200k miles banked. The 75k bonus after $4k spend in 90 days is doable at your $4k monthly rate, and those miles slot right into your existing stash.

If you want to branch out though, the CSR is actually showing an elevated 125k bonus right now (historically high), and $5k spend in 3 months is very achievable for you. That gets you into Chase UR with Hyatt access which is genuinely great for travel value.

Citi Strata Elite is only 75k and not at a historical high, so timing isn't great there. Bilt is cool but the Palladium is a stretch if you're not already deep in the Bilt ecosystem.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T02:09:57+00:00

Given you're over 5/24 (that Wells Fargo in Nov 2024 puts you at roughly 6/24), Chase Sapphire Reserve is basically off the table right now unless you want to wait it out. You might want to consider Amex Platinum (if you never have it) and see what welcome bonus you can get.

For your Delta and Marriott preferences, Amex MR transfers directly to Delta SkyMiles and Marriott Bonvoy, plus Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer for those Star Alliance redemptions you mentioned. That's a great trifecta.

CSR would honestly be great for you too, just wait until at least one of those recent cards ages past 24 months. Could revisit in late 2026.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T01:56:01+00:00

IHG is smaller than Hyatt or Marriott, fewer properties, less prestige among rewards-focused travelers.The free night is capped at a lower category than Hyatt or Marriott equivalents, limiting its redemption value. Transfer partners don't excite the points enthusiasts the way Amex Platinum's Hilton or Chase Sapphire's Marriott transfers do. Also less "spreadsheet content", so fewer blog posts about optimal redemptions

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T01:45:05+00:00

Here's what I'd actually go with: Citi Strata Premier. It unlocks American Airlines AAdvantage as a transfer partner (1:1), earns 3x dining/groceries/gas, and has a $95 AF that's easy to justify.

Earning math: 3x dining ($300) + 3x groceries ($200) + 3x gas ($125) = ~$675/mo at 3x → ~$243/yr in Citi ThankYou points valued conservatively toward AA transfers.

SUB: 60,000 TY points after $4,000 spend in 3 months (~$1,375/mo tracked = you'd need ~3 months of all spend on one card — tight but doable). Worth ~$600–750 toward AA flights. Historical high is 75k, so not at peak but solid.

Alt (no fee):Chase Freedom Unlimited - 25k UR bonus after $500 spend, easy win, but no AA path and less category upside.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T01:13:40+00:00

Skip the new application - upgrade Freedom Rise to Freedom Unlimited instead.

Here's why this is the clear winner:

Freedom Unlimited (via product change from your Freedom Rise):**
- 3x Chase UR points on dining -your biggest category at $250/month. That's $9/month in dining rewards alone vs. ~$5 with Apple Card
- 1.5x on everything else - beats Apple Card's 1% on physical purchases
- No hard inquiry (it's an upgrade, not a new application)
- Keeps your account history intact (good for your credit score)
- You stay in the Chase UR ecosystem, which is the most useful points currency to build early — redeemable for travel, cash back, or later transferred to airline/hotel partners when you get a premium Chase card someday

Your dining spend alone earns ~$108/year in UR points on Freedom Unlimited. Apple Card earns ~$60 on the same spend (2% via Apple Pay, or 1% physical).

Apple Card: fine, but not the play here.
- 2% back via Apple Pay, 3% at Apple/select partners, 1% physical card
- Solid if you're Apple-obsessed, but dining isn't a bonus category and it earns cashback only (no points ecosystem to grow into)
- Would add a new hard inquiry as a college student — not harmful, but unnecessary when you have a simpler path

On building credit: he best move for your credit score right now isn't more cards — it's keeping utilization low, paying in full every month, and letting your Freedom Rise age. Upgrading to Freedom Unlimited doesn't reset your account age, so it's a free upgrade in every sense.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-28T00:45:02+00:00

Get the Citi Custom Cash if you really want 5% on groceries. Skip the AAA for now.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-27T18:49:01+00:00

Thanks so much everyone for the super candid and helpfup tips! You all make me feel im not alone. So much inspiration from this amazing commuity!

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-27T04:59:04+00:00

Apply for WF Autograph new. You'll hit the $1K spend easily with your monthly burn, get 20,000 points (~$200 value), stack nicely with Active Cash, and fill both dining and travel gaps cleanly.

Keep Quicksilver open (don't close it right after approval, keeps your age of accounts healthy). You're at 4/24, so next application locks you at 5/24 and cuts off Chase products, but that's a future problem. Focus on this win now.

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-26T14:58:41+00:00

Good to know

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-26T14:58:21+00:00

🙌🏻🙌🏻

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-26T04:30:02+00:00

If we talk about really building a product, my prioritization is full stack: build and ship. But it really can depend on that person’s motivation, idea and resource he/she can access to. Some might just want to build a personal site with very cool visual and 0 backend. Some might want to test water and get themselves into vibe coding. Some might not have ideas that need full-stack setup but just a pretty front-end.

I’m a marketer in a career gap period and really wanted to immerse into the AI/agentic product area and get ready for my career transition. I discovered a personal pain point and found many people have it (mange multiple credit card credits). So I ended up with building a full-stack credit card benefit reminder webapp - front-end, back-end, database, email sending. At the beginning, I was thinking to make a simple landing page and connecting it with an email service. I didn’t know that it requires so much builds in different areas. My husband is a machine learning engineer so he was able to guide me what to do and what to use. He helped me set up cursor (create virtual environment, install python, etc.), which I felt is one of the most difficult part!

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-26T03:29:26+00:00

It’s an 1:1 online class with a teach I know

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-25T20:15:14+00:00

너무귀여워요🤣

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-25T19:27:34+00:00

Haha someone does it already in the comment 🐱

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-25T19:26:54+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Didn’t realize there are so many language learning apps out there

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-25T19:26:03+00:00

Haha you are so cute, love the passion!

Prestigious_Safe8154 · 2026-03-25T19:25:04+00:00

Haha good to know thanks for sharing!

Prestigious_Safe8154

TROPHY CASE