u/Designer-Walrus2068

2nd-year CS student, placement offer needed by early December — where should I focus?

I'm a 2nd-year BSc Computing Science student on a London campus, March intake, so my placement year starts March 2027 (But I’m allowed to start anytime from 1st November 2026) and my university needs it approved by late January 2027. Realistically I need a signed offer by early December, which gives me about 5 months.

I'm averaging around 73% (first-class band), with 93 in my strongest module. I'm targeting software placements, ideally fintech or finance-adjacent, and I'm fluent in French as well as English.

What I have: a live, deployed compliance web app in a regulated industry — Next.js front end, Python/FastAPI back end, Postgres. Real domain, real users, built and shipped end to end.

The honest gap: DSA and unassisted coding under time pressure. I write Python directly, but the full-stack build was heavily AI-assisted. I can defend every architectural decision in it, but I'd struggle with a timed medium-difficulty problem today. I'm early in a NeetCode-style pattern plan (arrays and hashing), doing about 1 to 1.5 focused hours a day.

My questions:
For smaller firms and fintechs, do shipped products genuinely count for more than polished DSA, or is that wishful thinking?

How do I talk about AI-assisted projects honestly without undermining myself? Where's the line between "uses modern tools well" and "can't actually code"?

If you've sat on the other side of placement interviews, what separated the offers from the near-misses?

What in this plan looks most likely to fail?
Blunt answers welcome. Happy to share the CV if it helps.

Shipped two real production projects but weak at LeetCode how screwed am I for placement interviews?

Situation
2nd year BSc Computing Science, London campus, March intake — so my placement year starts March 2027 and uni needs it approved by 25th Jan 2027. Realistically I need a signed offer by **early December**. That's \~5 months.

73% average so far (first-class band), 93 in my highest module.

Targeting software placements, ideally fintech/finance-adjacent. Fluent French alongside English.

What I have
A live production compliance app in a regulated industry: Next.js front end, Python/FastAPI back end, Postgres. Deployed end to end, real domain, real users.

The honest gap
DSA and unassisted coding under pressure. I write Python directly, but the full-stack work above was heavily AI-assisted. I can defend every architectural decision in those apps, but I'd struggle with a timed LeetCode medium today. I'm early in a NeetCode-style pattern plan (arrays & hashing), \~1–1.5 focused hours daily.

Questions

1. For smaller firms and fintechs, do shipped products genuinely outweigh LeetCode polish, or is that wishful thinking?
2. How do I talk about AI-assisted projects honestly without sinking myself? Where's the line between "uses modern tools" and "can't code"?
3. If you've run or passed placement interviews: what separated offers from near-misses?
4. What in this plan looks most likely to fail?

Blunt answers welcome. Can post the CV separately if useful.