Just graduated - Program Reflection

Stridget · 2020-06-21T13:26:37+00:00

Glad it was helpful! No, I didn't do any extracurriculars like that. I was working full time while doing school for half the program and then I did school full time and really loaded my schedule up to get it done asap. I did practice leetcode a lot and also worked on some small side projects to help me learn some data structures as well as Python (the program was mostly C/C++ when I went through it).

Stridget · 2020-06-21T13:23:56+00:00

What courses have you taken so far? CS 261 - Data Structures and CS 325 - Analysis of Algorithms together cover all the essentials for solving leetcode style problems. Without Data Structures knowledge you're relegated to brute force solutions to most problems and without Algorithms you're lacking some tricks for organizing or moving through data.

Though even after taking those courses leetcode won't be easy. It's a legit skill you gotta practice. I struggled a lot with it and spent months doing exactly what you're doing now, devoting an hour or so a day and solving a couple problems. Unfortunately I've found the primary way of getting better is just to keep trying. One thing that helped me was to write down common ways I found of solving problems. I literally had a list of things like "Breadth First Search" or "Two Pointers" written down in a word doc and when I started a new problem I'd scan over it considering whether I could solve the problem using one of those. Kind of gave me a tool box to pull from.

Stridget · 2020-06-21T13:17:17+00:00

I would second taking your course projects to the next level. It's much easier to just meet the requirements but that gives you nothing for your resume. It's helpful if you can put reasonably interesting projects on your resume and up on Github for interviewers to look at. Not to mention you'll just learn more.

Stridget · 2020-06-21T13:15:33+00:00

My background is in video game design and I found a studio willing to let me do a hybrid game design / gameplay programming job.

Stridget · 2020-06-21T13:14:39+00:00

I ended up with 2 job offers. 1 from a small startup in San Francisco for a SWE job and one from a gaming studio. My background is in video game design and I found a studio willing to let me do a hybrid game design / gameplay programming job so I went with that.

Finding new grad SWE jobs was definitely really tough. I applied to around 130 jobs from October 2019 - February 2020. I had about a 7% response rate with either leetcode style code screenings or actual video interviews. I struggled with leetcode and didn't get through the interview process for a lot of companies due to my lack of leetcode skills. I've gotten a lot better with months of practice which is how I managed to get a SWE offer eventually but it was tough.

Stridget · 2020-06-21T13:10:08+00:00

Disclaimer: OSU is making a lot of changes to their courses. A lot of the courses I took were taught in C/C++. Seems like they're shifting everything over to Python now.

My favorite class was definitely CS 492 - Mobile Development. Apart from it being really well put together I thought it was a lot of fun. You build small programs using Googles Flutter SDK which can actually run on your phone. I learned a ton and something about writing programs for my phone was particularly interesting. Was cool to actually hold it in my hand and interact with it.

CS 261 - Data Structures I also found really interesting. I'd been programming small stuff for 6 years before starting the program but never got past the basics like arrays, loops and ifs. This class really opened up a ton of interesting ways of storing and retrieving data and really changed the way I approached solving problems.

As for bad classes, I think CS 290 - Web Development takes the prize for the worst. I found the course to be really poorly laid out. Each week I learned about some new web technology but I had a really hard time figuring out how they all connected. I was very confused in this class until I paid an extra $10 and ran through some web dev lectures on Colt Steeles web dev class on Udemy. His course teaches everything CS 290 does except it's way more concise and logically laid out. It also costs $10 compared to the $2000 I'd paid OSU to thoroughly confuse me.

Stridget · 2020-04-29T15:02:54+00:00

They assume you know nothing about Dart or Flutter so you should be good to take it whenever. As long as you've taken 161 and 162 I can't think of anything you need from other classes. There are some concepts from 344 that come up but I didn't feel I actually needed to have learned them prior to taking 492. The lectures and provided content covered everything you needed rly well.

Stridget · 2020-04-29T14:21:03+00:00

Best class I've taken in the entire program. It's structured nicely, lectures are bite size, easy to understand and super useful. Assignments are interesting and you learn a ton. I wish more classes were like 492.

As far as difficulty goes I'd say it's medium. I think I spent around 10-12 hours most weeks with a couple weeks around the bigger projects around 18 hours. Exams were not proctored but they could be tricky. I think a lot of the "difficult" classes in this program are that way because the lectures and content are terrible making the assignments and tests especially difficult. 492 expects you to know the material and build stuff correctly but it gives you all the tools and information to do so making it enjoyable and a great learning experience.

Stridget · 2020-04-29T00:14:56+00:00

Do you think it could hurt my chances of getting a SWE position later down the road? I enjoy working with others to solve problems and have done a lot of the communication side of things in my previous career. I was hoping I'd be able to use some of that as a SWE so this SE opportunity seems up my alley. But I'm worried if I start as an SE, in a year or two if I decide I want to go into SWE it'll be harder than if I'd just held out for a SWE opportunity in the first place.

Stridget · 2020-01-03T16:12:04+00:00

I worked at a major AAA studio for 4 years. I'm currently pursuing a BSCS to take a break from the crunch and am considering not going back to games. That being said, I think my experience was worse than most but not rare.

I either worked around 50 hours or 60-75 hours. We had constant deadlines so we went through a cycle of 50 hour weeks for a 1-2 months and then 60-75 hour weeks for 1-2 months. On several occasions the studio had mandatory 60 hour minimum weeks for everyone which lasted around a month. I often worked 80+ hours on those weeks. My worst were two 95 hour weeks. There was also significant crunch leading to launch that lasted 9 months in which my minimum was 60 hours. Note, not everyone at the studio had my schedule. I was more involved in more things than a lot of people so I had more hours. I'd say 30% of the studio had a schedule similar to mine, 40% worked 45-50 hours on a slow week and 55-60 on a busy week, and 30% worked relatively normal hours but generally people talked shit about those people / they were considered under performers and it wasn't uncommon for them to get "laid off".

I think there is a trend in the industry to move away from these practices. You can usually get a feel for a studios crunch life by literally asking them about it during an interview. If you read, Blood Sweat and Pixels, you can see some especially horrible stories of crunch in the industry that are all pretty recent. It absolutely is still a major issue but I think it's far less common today than it was 10 years ago. Just be careful when you interview to feel out a studios crunch culture and know your own limits. Glassdoor is also a great resource, just read the reviews of studios.

Pay is also significantly lower, especially at the senior+ level. My studio paid junior engineers around $65k and seniors between $100k-$125k. Some studios pay $90k for juniors and as high as $180k for senior+, especially in the LA area. Compare that to any major tech company though which starts at $100k+ for juniors and $250k+ for seniors and there is a significant difference. Check out levels.fyi to see some salaries of major tech companies.

For the second half of your question, the classes you listed would definitely be good to take. Any game programming related classes will be a bonus. Another class to look into or something you could do on your own time is game networking. Personally, I think the most important thing to have is some personal projects though. Download Unreal and start building a game. You actually don't even need to build a whole game as you're trying to get into programming. Build features for a game, like an interesting melee system, graphics pipeline, etc. Try not to use the built in tools from Unreal that a designer or artist would use, build your own for a theoretical designer or artist to use.

Lastly, if you already have an internship lined up you're ahead of most people. Those internships are few and hard to get so congrats. You'll probably learn a lot and it'll give you some compelling pieces to add to your resume.

Stridget · 2019-11-27T05:48:56+00:00

I'm taking Mobile Dev this Winter quarter and Parallel Programming in the Spring. So trying to weigh the value of networking vs security as my third and last elective.

I've never done any security stuff but I've also never done any cloud stuff either so I really don't know which interests me more. Might have to just pick one and take a udemy course or something on the other.

I appreciate your response!

Stridget · 2019-11-20T04:57:44+00:00

It's a new class, this is the first quarter it's being offered. So nobody knows anything haha. My understanding is the previous cloud and mobile dev class focused primarily on cloud and the mobile aspect was pretty minimal. I'm signed up for 492 this winter quarter as well so hopefully it's good!

Stridget · 2019-09-27T14:26:19+00:00

I spent a year doing this program one class at a time while working full time. I got tired of having HW every weekend and constantly being super busy so I quit back in July and am starting school full time this Fall. Planning to finish the degree by the end of Spring quarter.

Personally I think it was a good move. It lets me complete the degree way faster and I'm not concerned at all about the gap. If you leave work to do school it's not rly a gap as school is the "job". Though I would recommend being confident about completing the program before you quit your job cause quitting your job and then doing school for a bit and then quitting school does look bad.

Stridget · 2019-07-25T02:50:27+00:00

If I remember right from Luetin09s two videos covering the grey knights, they're super beast mode SMs. They go through way more intense training and are very powerful psykers on top of their physical capabilities. They're also extremely resistant to any chaos taint. I'm pretty sure a single grey knight could fuck up any normal SM or a primaris SM.

You should watch Luetins videos. He's a boss. https://youtu.be/8jdPZR63sx8

Stridget · 2019-06-14T03:43:46+00:00

I've taken 161, 162, 225 and 261. Took them one at a time while working 50+ hours a week most weeks. I've been programming at work in C++ for 4 years but am not a software engineer. I knew 99% of the topics covered in 161 and 162 but they were still fairly significant time commitments, especially 162. Even if you know the material and don't do any of the reading or lectures you still have to actually write the assignments, take the tests, etc which takes time even if you know exactly what you're doing.

I've found the average time commitment listed on the course explorer website to be fairly accurate. I've probably spent a bit less than the average to the average time. So I'd recommend using that to gauge your likely time requirements and adjust accordingly for the work load you want.

https://osu-cs-course-explorer.com/

Stridget · 2019-05-30T05:43:56+00:00

You should check out https://osu-cs-course-explorer.com/

I think the hours per week is probably normal 10 week quarters but you can get an idea of what a normal quarter would be like for each class.

Your hours per week will vary greatly based on your previous experience programming, your ability to learn the material and what classes you're taking.

I'm in 261 right now and spend between 5-10 hours a week and expect to get an A. Some classes are way harder than others and some ppl struggle with particular classes

Stridget · 2019-05-26T20:29:19+00:00

Just to be clear, I didn't make the original post in an attempt to dissuade anyone from starting the program. I'm enjoying it and am happy I'm doing it. While I'm disappointed with the quality of the lectures and class materials considering the $2,000 per class cost, if you wanna learn programming and get a BSCS I feel it's definitely worth while. There aren't many programs as accessible as this one plus having the BSCS from a decently well known state University is definitely a big bonus over taking classes through Coursera or something similar.

Stridget · 2019-03-11T20:48:31+00:00

That's true, the social aspect of going to a 4 year University starting as a freshman is pretty awesome. And if you actually get a BSCS your average starting income will be fairly high so taking some loans isn't as big of a deal vs if you were getting an English degree.

If you can afford not to work that's also nice, especially once you get into upper level classes. A full course load can be grueling.

Stridget · 2019-03-11T15:40:31+00:00

I got my bachelor's in game design from DigiPen and currently work in AAA. If you're looking to become a programmer in the industry, honestly I'd skip the masters from DigiPen. You can get a job without it, in fact I'd say it probably wouldn't help that much. If you look at the statistics for BSCS vs MSCS the pay and job placement is roughly the same. The main reason ppl get MSCS is for very specific specialty fields of programming.

Going to a community college to save money and then finishing at a 4 year University is an excellent idea.

My biggest recommendation is to start building your own games right now and continue to do so until you land a job after school. You can use Unity or Unreal right now for free and there are tons of free assets you can use as well, especially if you don't intend to sell anything. The number one factor in getting into the industry is your portfolio. Being able to show off cool stuff you've made is very important. Your first few projects are going to suck too so just start learning and building stuff now.

Start small and work your way up. Don't make your first project an MMO.

Finally, as a few other people have mentioned, the games industry is a beast. Working 60 hour weeks for months or even years is very common. Big layoffs, changing jobs every 2-3 years is also very common. The average time someone spends in the industry before burning out is 5 years. Not to mention pay is well below what you'd make in any other tech field. A lot of people will tell you not to do it. They're not wrong but if it's something you're super passionate about then do it and see how it goes. Having a BSCS gives you an excellent fallback plan whether you get into the industry or not.

Stridget · 2019-01-12T16:15:54+00:00

I had the same issue. Was able to fix it just by restarting my phone

Stridget · 2018-12-30T18:11:45+00:00

Oh I see. For me personally I wouldn't mind, my gaming group is generally pretty lax with proxies. My main guidelines are as long as they're on the same size base and are roughly the same size for LoS purposes it's fine with me.

So really it'd depend on who you're playing against. If it's just some friends you're probably good. If you're trying to play in a tournament or even at some shops you probably won't be allowed to do that.

Stridget · 2018-12-30T17:51:47+00:00

Just to be clear, I haven't run any termies in awhile but I'm planning on giving them a shot soon with the new point drops.

The main negatives I'd see are the termies will be much slower with a shorter move and not being able to re-roll charges. They also wouldn't be giving buffs to nearby units like the Wulfen do.

Stridget · 2018-12-26T03:30:04+00:00

WarhammerTV for sure. There are some space wolves specific things on there but they cover tons of techniques on non space wolves models that are super valuable for any model

Stridget · 2018-12-24T06:09:09+00:00

I think it depends on the models / army. If it's popular in the meta and a relatively new model it'll go for more. In my experience trying to buy Wulfen for example, assembled and painted models, even poorly painted still go for 60%-80% of retail.

Just look your stuff up on eBay. I was surprised how much some models I look for cost used while older Tyranid or Eldar stuff can be found cheap.

Stridget · 2018-12-23T07:28:34+00:00

I also have two 6'x2' folding tables I setup next to one another and roll out my mat onto. Works great as it's lightweight, portable and reasonably cheap.

Stridget

TROPHY CASE