r/csMajors

the cheat code is to just do relevant projects you can go deep on and apply early . the CS/CE job market isn’t as bad as people make it seem

this job was posted last Wednesday , I applied the day after and an interview was scheduled by Friday for next (this) week

interviewed by a panel yesterday and got offer letter today .

2.9 gpa .zero internships .
nearly 6 figures in a MCOL city with 7% sign on bonus

it’s definitely possible guys , don’t listen to the doom posts

Guys, so.......i am sort of in a panic, long story short, i graduated wuth cs degree 2 yrs ago. Got a job in operations, did it for 6 months, was burnt out, and left it. And i seriously havent applied for any jobs since. I really dont have any technical knowledge. I can write a hellow world program in python tho.

I never take any help from any referrals or family that say that they will help me get a job, send me the resume blah blah, i dont really want them to, cause i know where i stand. And i didnt properly learn stuff. But you know based on yoour cpurseware for degree, as a fresher you add it to your resume. So the way, i have a bunch of things on mine.

Recently, an uncle, who is a good family friend, was asked to help me land a job by my family member cause they were frnds. And he agreed to help, i was sort of upfront with him, told him that i only knew basics. The thing is, i might have a good theory knowledge on them, and can brush them up, but i cannot do anything practically, that is, code. I mightve just pushed it under the rug. I mean what was i even supposed to say??? He said he would refer me in his company, which is one of the big companies in india, and he holds a good position there. Like a manager level position. So, he said to find a project that i will be able to exolain in the interview and i found one and now he wants me to add it in the resume and send it.

I feel bad. He might loose a refferal, or i feel like what if i embarass him. What if i embarass myself. What happenes....i dont know what to do....should i tell him that im currently confused and wouldnt want tp apply? But how can i even tell him that??? Im anxious and feeling pressure. What to do????

I’ve seen a few ppl get interviews so i’m just trying to figure out what scores ppl are getting on the OA to move onto the powerday

i think the range i’ve seen so far is 540-600 so im trying to figure out if the cutoff is lower than that?

So I entered 2026 team matching in March and got an offer in April. Turned it down and asked for NYC only. Nothing happened and recently got kicked out of team matching. They said my scores are very good and still valid but now I don't know what to do. I really regret it.

What can I do?

Is it just me whos cooked?

TLDR: Aman grossly overstates what this program does, it is completely worthless compared to literally anything else, and the success stories are overblown.

Warning: Aman very much has burner Reddit accounts to advertise his "course" (I literally saw one of the tabs on a call with him).

I "finished" the program recently so I feel like I can share my personal experience and give more context into the program for others.

I think I speak for the majority of people that joined or are considering of joining the program as "desperate." Either desperate for their visa status, for an internship, for new grad full time, you can name it. And we see this program as something that can genuinely help us. We are fed the "success" stories of the people who previously were in the program and told that the same can happen to us.

So what is this program actually like?

You first book a consulting call where they assess whether you are a good fit for the program (spoiler alert, everyone is a good fit because they want more people to pay them!). Afterwards you are put into a call with a sales rep that explains to you the program, sells the success stories. They explain the refund clause where if you fulfill all requirements, you get refunded in full (more on this later).

The program costs ~$6000 USD and spans across a year. Each month you are contracted to submit 40 job applications, 20 solved leetcodes, and 10 referral requests of which 5 are "in person" (either on a call, in person, etc). You are also supposed to finish Aman's bullshit course assignments which are majority AI GENERATED. These course assignments are completely worthless, one of them asks you to literally message clubs in your school for UNPAID roles.

In the first 2 months you get access to "coaches" (people working in the field or tech recruiters) who help you along your journey. In those 2 months you get 16 "office hours" which are zoom drop in calls where you ask a coach one question only. These office hours are PACKED with like 12-15 people and span only an hour so your question won't get an in depth answer. After you hit your 16 calls, you don't get ANY MORE.

Also included in the first 2 months are behavioral and technical mock interviews with the coaches. I personally found these to actually be pretty useful as they gave good pointers on how to approach these interviews. BUT, are they worth the $6000 price tag? Nope, there are significantly cheaper alternatives or even free ones like bobatalks. You get only 2 behaviorals and 4 technical mock interviews. That is not nearly enough to justify the $6000 price tag.

The worst part is that the coaches and Aman give CONFLICTING advice. I can remember multiple examples such as one coach advising a student to not search for unpaid roles and Aman chiming in saying that they should because "you need to". And the largest one I can remember was Aman saying to dm recruiters for referrals and every coach that was a technical recruiter basically said "DONT DO THAT, I HATE PEOPLE THAT DO THAT" and Aman DOUBLED DOWN.

After those first 2 months you are left on your own where you still need to do the 40 job applications a month, and 20 leetcodes (medium or higher), and those 10 referrals of which 5 must be either in a call or in person.

Throughout the program Aman would routinely blame students for their lack of traction, was often incredibly unhelpful, and straight up wrong, giving advice that would be the polar opposite of what people in the industry (his OWN COACHES) would say.

More on the refund clause:

I have very rarely heard of anyone receiving a refund either because they got an offer (literally any offer btw) or they got picked up for some really nitpick stuff. One guy that I met through the program said that they denied his refund because he forgot to upload an image of his job application despite showing them proof in the job portal that he applied in. And that is 1 application out of 280 btw.

I received an internship offer at an ok place and that counts as a "win" which locks me out of my refund. Did the program help me in any way? Somewhat, with the coaches help. Is it worth the $6000 price tag? Absolutely not.

My offer would be considered a "success story" btw and that is what I really can't stomach about his program. Aman did not help these success stories materially, they paid for wildly overpriced coaching calls to help them freshen up. These people on his site landing wild offers at Google, Amazon, etc were by and large already capable of doing so and just needed a slight push. That push was NOT worth $6000.

DO NOT spend your money on this program, it is NOT worth it, you will feel that you lost $6000, and Aman will routinely blame YOU for everything.

I was fed up after 6 companies ignored me, so I decided to stop playing it overly safe. Near the end of the interview, when they asked me the usual question: "Do you have any questions for us?", I simply asked: "What made you leave your previous job?"

The hiring manager went quiet for a moment, as if he really hadn't expected that question at all... And then he spent almost twenty minutes talking about the leadership nightmare at his old place. 3 days later, I found the offer in my inbox. Has anyone else asked a direct question like that? I'm wondering whether I accidentally discovered a good tactic, or if I just got lucky.

https://preview.redd.it/5pw1ej7i3ekh1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=b54507381585039b80375d3b9e59192594143317

Been a wild ride of rejections for over a year, but I finally made it I guess.

I only had 3-4 referrals, and everything else was a blind application (including the job I got finally).

CMU beats every Ivy, and the range within elite schools is wider than you'd expect.

National Universities:

#	University	Median Earnings
1	Carnegie Mellon University	$268,121
2	University of Pennsylvania	$241,380
3	University of California--Los Angeles	$228,705
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$225,141
5	Cornell University	$223,309
6	Princeton University	$217,973
7	Stanford University	$214,907
8	Brown University	$214,479
9	University of California--Berkeley	$204,379
10	Harvard University	$203,169
11	Dartmouth College	$201,702
12	California Institute of Technology	$200,511
13	Johns Hopkins University	$196,467
14	Duke University	$195,809
15	Columbia University	$194,365
16	University of Southern California	$192,897
17	Yale University	$188,157
18	Rice University	$182,443
19	University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign	$181,981
20	University of Chicago	$178,068
21	Washington University in St. Louis	$177,066
22	University of Washington	$175,616
23	University of Michigan--Ann Arbor	$172,904
24	Santa Clara University	$163,765
25	Northwestern University	$163,740
26	Northeastern University	$163,708
27	Vanderbilt University	$160,021
28	Emory University	$159,541
29	University of California--San Diego	$159,487
30	Tufts University	$156,343
31	University of Rochester	$155,464
32	University of Texas--Austin	$155,168
33	University of Maryland--College Park	$152,422
34	George Washington University	$150,716
35	Georgia Institute of Technology	$150,628
36	University of California--Santa Barbara	$149,190
37	University of Virginia	$148,175
38	Stony Brook University	$147,064
39	Purdue University--West Lafayette	$146,685
40	University of California--Davis	$145,422
41	Virginia Tech	$144,103
42	Georgetown University	$143,900
43	Case Western Reserve University	$143,580
44	Boston College	$143,204
45	University of Notre Dame	$142,970
46	New York University	$142,495
47	Lehigh University	$141,691
48	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	$141,528
49	Rochester Institute of Technology	$138,679
50	Stevens Institute of Technology	$138,468
51	University of Utah	$137,329
52	University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill	$137,047
53	Boston University	$136,667
54	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	$134,208
55	University of California--Irvine	$132,357
56	Villanova University	$130,585
57	Texas A&M University--College Station	$129,401
58	University of Florida	$128,140
59	William & Mary	$127,851
60	Rutgers University--New Brunswick	$125,303
61	University of California--Santa Cruz	$124,641
62	Ohio State University	$123,731
63	University of Massachusetts--Amherst	$123,519
64	Brandeis University	$123,460
65	University of Colorado--Boulder	$121,952
66	University of Miami	$121,589
67	Oregon State University	$121,405
68	Syracuse University	$120,773
69	Pennsylvania State University--University Park	$120,729
70	University of Illinois Chicago	$120,470
71	University of Wisconsin--Madison	$120,068
72	University of Minnesota--Twin Cities	$119,781
73	George Mason University	$117,942
74	University of California--Riverside	$117,705
75	University of Arizona	$117,451
76	Michigan State University	$116,905
77	University of Nebraska--Lincoln	$116,221
78	Wake Forest University	$115,493
79	Arizona State University	$114,868
80	Indiana University--Bloomington	$114,199
81	North Carolina State University	$113,478
82	University of Delaware	$111,520
83	University of Pittsburgh	$110,417
84	University at Buffalo--SUNY	$109,221
85	University of Texas at Dallas	$109,015
86	University of Georgia	$107,397
87	University of Central Florida	$106,680
88	University of Tennessee--Knoxville	$106,312
89	Iowa State University	$105,753
90	UC Merced	$102,575
91	University of Iowa	$88,264

Liberal Arts Colleges (wherever data is available)

#	LAC	Median Earnings
1	Pomona College	$217,051
2	Williams College	$209,574
3	Harvey Mudd College	$198,257
4	Wellesley College	$177,213
5	Colgate University	$161,980
6	Bucknell University	$156,885
7	Swarthmore College	$150,942
8	Amherst College	$142,680
9	Bowdoin College	$137,611
10	Oberlin College	$129,395
11	Middlebury College	$128,471
12	Vassar College	$124,469
13	St. Olaf College	$122,912
14	Carleton College	$121,569
15	Mount Holyoke College	$120,021
16	University of Richmond	$112,621
17	Grinnell College	$109,892
18	Macalester College	$109,457
19	Skidmore College	$104,708
20	Lake Forest College	$77,554

Caveats

• College Scorecard only includes graduates who received Federal Title IV aid (Pell grants and/or federal subsidized/unsubsidized loans). International students, full-pay domestic students, and anyone else who didn't take Title IV aid are excluded.
• The earnings figures come from IRS tax records — W-2 Box 1 (wages/tips/comp) and Box 12 (deferred comp), plus Schedule SE of Form 1040 for self-employment — not self-reported surveys. This tends to run more accurate than survey-based rankings, since self-reported income skews high (bigger earners are more likely to respond).
• The location of each graduate's job isn't known, so none of this is adjusted for cost of living.

Saw three, maybe more, linkedin posts yesterday about citadel summer 2027 😢 what is going on, my school hasn’t even started

I am not here to flex AT ALL. I actually want to help anyone I can out. I received 2 job offers out of college, and was actually rejected from other roles at the same company. They came back for round two. I was able to help my friend get a job as well with literally no internships under her belt and an average gpa and limited CS knowledge.

The thing is, this job market is actually garbage, we all know this. It’s not what you know anymore, it’s who you know. So instead of leveling up my application knowledge, I put it all into personality.

I joined the CS professional club at my school and attended every networking event they hosted. Also joined mentorship programs for tech students. I took every offer to meet more people and spoke to EVERYONE even if they didn’t have anything for me.

I also when to job fairs. I know, I know. It’s literally impossible to get one, however I got 2 jobs from them. One of them turned into a full time offer. The other role I got from the same professional club I joined.

Another thing I did was stop going for Coding based roles like SWE and applied to tech adjacent roles like Tech PMs, BA, DA, DM, etc. Why? Because the tech questions are easy to answer so majority of my interviews would be based on personality.

That goes into my second point. Fake that shit until you make it. You smile, dress nice, smell good, make jokes, nod your head to everything they said, ask questions revolving what they said and their personal opinion. Match the interviewer’s behavior. Tired but intelligent interviewers = ask intelligent and profound questions revolving their work. Let them know you understand their role and make they feel special. People love to talk about themselves. People who rush through the content because they are so high level and don’t know how to explain well = slow them down and ask about their personal feelings and experiences in the role. What do they think you should do. You get my point.

I learned very early I would never be as good as others to get a heavy coding job, so I picked roles that I could actually get with my strengths.

TLDR: Job Market is garbage. It’s who you know not what you know. Understand your strengths and weaknesses and pick roles that complement that, if you hate the role, you can always pivot. It is way easier to get a job while having one than when you are unemployed.

Hi, I am a college student currently in my 3rd semester. I have the basics of Backend covered, and now I also want to start learning Cloud Computing. Since I am not from a Computer Science background, my course won't be offering this. I searched for it on Coursera, and the courses are just too expensive, and I can't afford them. It would mean so much if you guys have some resources to learn Cloud Computing or any other topic; it would be a cherry on top if the course also provides a certificate.

SWE is great don't get me wrong BUT there are a lot of positions in the business side that favor cs majors such as:

1. data analyst

2. risk analyst

3. business analyst/business intelligence

4. product development/management

5. tech consulting

6. a bunch more that I can't remember. just grind SQL. I learned it in 3 weeks.

edit: I'm talking about internship positions.

Hi, has anyone heard back from the Anthropic Fellowship Program for this cycle? I completed my first two assessments about two weeks ago. I think I did well, but I haven’t heard anything back so far. Has anyone else received an update?

So I've been working at my company for a few years now and once in a while someone from my uni will reach out over linkedin or find my work email and ask for a referral.

I know the job market is tough and the university grads are getting desperate but they are literally asking me to refer them to senior roles.

If I see an alum from my school ask for internship or new grad roles I will submit a referral but its getting out of hand as they are asking me to refer for like ML engineer because they've done a few project.

Do you just ghost or write a polite response that you are not suited for this role.

Would it be weird to give a handwritten note and/or small gift card to my mentor/immediate boss? First summer interning in big tech, and not sure if that’s seen as too childish in this area.

I applied 20-ish days ago to 8 projects, really put some effort (and research) into my answers and only applied to those I had the prerequisites for. I don't think my chances are high at all:

- AI bachelor's student (Europe) , good GPA

- Junior AI engineering internship

- a few data science consultancy projects with a team of students

- No research experience

- No AI-safety specific experience (except a few lab sessions in uni + doing the first chapter of ARENA)

0 interviews so far.

Still, I'm kind of hopeful that maybe one professor who hasn't gotten enough applications might accept me...did anyone else here apply?

i though they were auto, unless they’re not?? i guess i did apply a few days after the roles went out but they were still open. anyone else having this problem??