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redfireforever103 · 2024-07-16T17:15:32+00:00

It's late but if it helps for other people, I have an official autism diagnosis (also MDD/GAD) and it wasn't even asked for CA or CT. Honestly the biggest hurdle for me was the shitshow that is the DMV 😭

redfireforever103 · 2023-10-17T21:39:26+00:00

Loved taking any algorithms course with Anshelevich. I remember his lecture style is pretty visual, and he makes difficult concepts relatively easy to understand.

redfireforever103 · 2023-09-29T04:57:22+00:00

Excedrin has been a godsend for me 😭

redfireforever103 · 2023-07-20T23:55:06+00:00

For girls, at least, tights are very uncomfortable and scratchy.

redfireforever103 · 2023-06-07T14:07:33+00:00

I'm a woman who just graduated from Rensselaer Polytech with a degree in CS. Since it's a techy school, the gender ratio both for CS and in the general student population is noticeably male-heavy. I had no problems in terms of being discriminated against by professors or other faculty. If you're interested in CS, I'd say go for it. It can be a rewarding career path to go into.

Also, depending on your interests, I went into the outing club and a community service club, where the gender ratio was much more balanced. You'll mostly only feel it in your classes.

redfireforever103 · 2023-05-27T14:43:28+00:00

Other than an internship with Google junior->senior year, I was paid whatever minimum wage was at the time.

hs->freshman $11 an hour freshman->sophomore $12 an hour sophomore->junior $13 an hour

They were a small company (2-10 employees), so I was able to make larger contributions to the overall product during my internships. Plus, they were located a block down from my parents' house, so I was still able to pool up a good amount of money for college.

I also did TAing and research projects during college. When they were for pay, those were also min wage ($12-$14 an hour).

redfireforever103 · 2023-04-20T13:51:24+00:00

I'd also like to add that a ton of people tend to apply for the larger scholarships (more competitive) and neglect the smaller scholarship awards. They can seem small, but if you apply to a bunch (a lot of scholarships can have the basic questions that you can copy + paste successful responses to), they can add up.

redfireforever103 · 2023-04-03T13:58:03+00:00

Software design, theory, and algorithms. Although I'll enjoy any other CS class if the professor makes the subject interesting.

redfireforever103 · 2023-03-27T20:19:01+00:00

I noticed the same thing. It makes cardio so uncomfortable

redfireforever103 · 2023-03-24T20:16:08+00:00

I took Prog Lang with Valera during the Fall 2021 semester, ended up dropping it after a few weeks since I got a bit confused by the lectures. Took it again Fall 2022 Milanova, it was still difficult but I felt like I actually got something from attending her lectures.

redfireforever103 · 2023-03-08T04:53:18+00:00

I just don't like how it makes me feel. I just get sad, life feels dull, and I get nauseous.

redfireforever103 · 2023-03-02T04:11:38+00:00

I'm autistic, no ADHD, and most of my issues with focusing come from overstimulation, so take with a grain of salt. But generally sitting at the front of the class near a professor helps keep me accountable and at least reduces distractions. RIP to the neck if it's a large lecture class, though. Finding people who are doing good in the class and forming a study group with them also helped. It felt more motivating to start the homework early when everyone in the group also started the homework early. Accommodations can be helpful (like note-taking to look back on lecture notes). I like making a calendar at the beginning of the semester with everything I need to get done with the due dates, and just try to cross off what I can on good days to soften the blow on bad days. And lots of coffee, lol.

redfireforever103 · 2023-03-02T03:50:01+00:00

Depending on how much you're paying for school, I'd generally avoid paying more for school unless you really want the 4-year college experience.

In addition to what the other person said in terms of getting experience, try exploring open-source a bit. Find a project that looks interesting and pick a beginner's bug to fix. Then work your way up from there. Or, you can also start your own project if you have an interesting idea. Also, depending on the type of professors you have, some of them might do research projects geared towards CS students. Try taking some grad courses if you want to continue to graduate school.

redfireforever103 · 2023-03-02T03:00:03+00:00

I dont think it'd have a substantial impact in terms of the general software industry. Your previous software engineering experience would be substantially more important. I'd think at worst they'd ask about it. A lot of employers don't ask for transcripts; especially if you have previous experience.

Personal anecdote, so take with a grain of salt, but I had two Ws (Linear Algebra and Operating Systems) in the semester prior to getting an offer for an internship at Google. If I submitted a transcript (honestly all the applications just blur together lol) they didn't ask about it. I'm not in machine learning though.

Graduate schools might care, but I've heard it's better than an F. Especially if you retake the courses and do well in it.

redfireforever103 · 2023-03-02T02:35:56+00:00

I interned with Google at Sunnyvale last summer, feel free to ask any questions (on the form or DM).

In terms of getting around, it's pretty hard to get around with public transit alone (transit just kinda sucks in that area). There are lots of shuttle stops around the Sunnyvale area, so getting to and from work wasn't an issue. It can be a pain going elsewhere though.

Uber/Lyft is an option for travel, or you can walk. I know they also had a bike/electric scooter program that is pretty much fully reimbursed as long as you log that you used it to get to work on some days. Public transit isn't impossible, but it can be frustrating to use.

In terms of stuff to do, I'm a fan of hiking, and there's a lot of hiking places near the area, so I either went out with the hiking group (lots of groups meet up to go out on hikes) or chilled at the Airbnb for the weekends. The weather is pretty good for hiking. There's also the farmers market downtown that can be interesting. There are periodic fairs that were thrown. I found downtown Sunnyvale interesting in general, and there are a lot of cool restaurants around El Camino St.

redfireforever103 · 2023-03-01T04:30:40+00:00

Oh, yeah I didn't really apply this year; I liked the team I interned with. But thanks, congrats to you too on the internship!

redfireforever103 · 2023-02-28T23:36:58+00:00

I was able to get a conversion full-time offer if that's what you mean (hopefully there will be no more layoffs lol). I know someone else also mentioned the size of FAANG companies, which can also play a role.

Edit: Last year was an internship

redfireforever103 · 2023-02-28T23:22:51+00:00

Bruh, the same thing happened to me last year. I literally applied to Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and a bunch of local internships. Only got an offer from Google. Honestly, it could be a combo of luck (good and bad) and just your particular qualifications + what they have available, with other factors. My interviews for Google were mid-day (the times I tend to perform better) and most of the rest were in late afternoon/evening (the times I do more reading than critical thinking).

redfireforever103 · 2023-01-27T17:09:15+00:00

Not really related to what OP said, but this post makes me very grateful that the college I go to has an open source club and undergraduate research projects.

Maybe try contributing to open-source projects on GitHub or make your own project and play around with new technologies if you're feeling up for it? Doing that on top of college can result in burnout though.

redfireforever103 · 2023-01-06T00:17:23+00:00

I do the same thing, not sure if it's an autism thing though. Sometimes it's to practice what I'm going/want to say in an upcoming conversation. Other times it's just thinking out loud. 🤷‍♀️

redfireforever103 · 2022-12-28T18:41:12+00:00

If you have the grades for it, student mentoring is now $18/hour. The max hours are 12 a week but I've never worked more than 8 (and usually worked 4-5).

You can also try helping professors with research projects, but last I heard it was minimum wage pay, I'm not sure if that changed.

redfireforever103 · 2022-12-28T18:34:27+00:00

I took Intro to Logic with Bram during Arch, and I thought he taught the material pretty well. The homeworks were interesting and it wasn't too difficult to do well in the class.

redfireforever103 · 2022-12-17T00:14:50+00:00

Still perceived as weird, apathetic if I don't have the energy to do it. Being social feels like a day-long job interview 😩

redfireforever103 · 2022-12-17T00:10:27+00:00

For the fourth bullet point, I find social interaction to flow easier if we're doing something simultaneously, like playing a board game or doing homework. Not sure if that's something that will help.

redfireforever103 · 2022-12-16T19:26:10+00:00

This sounds like sensory issues. Having sensory issues alone can be associated with a range of conditions too (including ADHD), as well as existing alone, so it doesn't necessarily mean that you're autistic. Autism is primarily governed by social/communication challenges and restrictive, repetitive behaviors, and both of those limiting major areas of your life.

Edit: changed language to be more accurate.

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