u/AmazingDiscussion285

Did my interviews for the Google SWE intern (summer 2027, US). I wanted to share how they went and get some opinions.

The first round went really well. The interviewer was also super friendly and receptive to conversation. the initial problem took about 25 min for clarifying questions, talking through my approach and complexity, coding, and a dry run. The interviewer confirmed I had the optimal solution. With time left, I got two follow-ups: the complexity of a brute-force approach and an extension of the original problem, which I talked through with edge cases without coding it. For both, the interviewer accepted my explanations and said they were good.

The second round was weaker. The interviewer was more reserved and serious. My first approach had a flaw they caught with a counterexample, but I was able to quickly switch to a different linear-time approach that they approved before I coded it. During the dry run they expected a different result and I agreed in the moment, but I realized afterward we'd interpreted one of the rules differently, likely a misunderstanding on my part from clarifications. The follow-up (about 35 minutes in) was a harder generalization. I identified the right overall technique, which they agreed with, and wrote out my full algorithm and complexity before time ran out. They raised a concern I couldn't fully address in time, since my solution was correct under my interpretation of the rules but not theirs.

Do I still have a chance for team matching or a third round or am I cooked? And how much does a misunderstanding like that hurt if the reasoning itself was sound?

Thought this would be informative for people who are new to Seattle. qualifications: I have been training for 1.5 years almost every day. Moved to Seattle in May. Of course, this is my opinion and subjective to your own experience.

1. Muok Boxing

• Location: Georgetown
• Pros: Great classes, friendly people, informative, has classes every day of the week and basically open all day, has a sauna + gym + physical therapy included in membership
• Cons: can be far if you dont live on the southside of Seattle and/or dont have a car

Really regret not joining this gym when I first arrived. Classes are intense, Coach Andy will actually go around and give you pointers + advice + check your form, and you can easily go every day of the week. People are friendly and inclusive. Sparring is good. A lot of clinch work. If you want to actually grow quickly and get in shape quickly, go here.

2. Iyarin

• Location: Fremont
• Pros: Credit where credit is due, this gym has some advanced members. Great for sparring. Also probably the most well known gym out of all on this list, and they have a lot of connections.
• Cons: While sparring is great, 90% of the time padwork is terrible. Their pads are also very old and suck to use. Their bags suck. Not very friendly or inclusive outside of their clique of advanced members. Not as much clinching as youd expect from a traditional muay thai gym.

Trained there for a month and a half. Feel like I learned nothing while I was there. Genuinely made me lose passion in Muay Thai. Unless you are very advanced, this is not a good gym to grow at. I think it says a lot that the majority of their members are either beginners or very advanced - very little in between. The classes and instruction are very tailored towards these advanced members, with less focus or help given to beginner and intermediate members. Like I said, they form a close knit group and you will feel like an outsider. The advanced members all pair up, so most of the time you will end up paired with a (different) beginner each time who cannot hold pads properly, and have a terrible workout. Consequently, rarely are the workouts intense. Rarely do they check your form or correct you. The coaches and advanced fighters are very hard to vibe with. Their fighting style / teaching style that we practiced was also really weird imo. The only saving grace was that sparring was decent, since that forced advanced fighters to switch partners each round; however still feel like i didnt improve much as sparring rounds were only a minute long.

3. Mat Chess

• Location: U district
• Pros: probably for you if you are focused on MMA. or if you are a university student.
• Cons: not really traditional muay thai. classes are ok, not that intense, not a lot of advanced fighters

Cant say much because I only went to one class. probably good enough if you are a beginner. lot of university students. very large class, very small gym. but they also have jiu jitsu. the padwork drills are also ok

4. Red Panda Muay Thai

• Location: Capitol Hill
• Pros: I guess if you want something low pressure, low intensity, or are LGBTQ+ (they tailor to this group), this may be a good gym for you? Clinch is supposedly good
• Cons: Class kinda sucked ngl. Very very basic.

id say all but 2 members are beginners. Have very little equipment, small gym. I was bored and the the class was not intense at all. Went because I met Coach Abby at Iyarin, and her clinch was great, and she said that people usually come to her gym for clinch-spar. However, she was out the day I came. If you are LGBTQ+ and looking for a third space, could come here, thats about all its good for imo, as you really will not improve at muay thai as much as at another gym.