MLH Fellowship — My Journey from Application to Selection
Unlocking Success with Strategic Preparation — Insights, Tips, and a Personal Guide for Aspiring Fellows
Relocation to a new country (the United States of America, in my case) is always full of excitement and challenges. Moving abroad for my Master’s studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, in January 2023 brought me closer to looking forward to different cultures and widening my horizons. Several initial days were overwhelming — from understanding new academic systems to interpreting cultural nuances. But each challenge added new lessons and helped me become wiser, more resilient, and more adaptive.
During my first semester, when I was studying late at night for one of my courses even before the semester started to get a glance at the course, ENPM809X — Data Structures and Algorithms, I decided to take a small break and browse the web to look for opportunities that could enhance my skills and career prospects. That’s when I started searching for fellowships or technical boot camps and then I stumbled upon the Major League Hacking(MLH) Prep Fellowship. It caught my attention immediately. The program promised not just technical skill development but also a strong community of like-minded peers and mentors. Intrigued, I delved deeper into the details.
Then, I started learning more about the program by visiting the website https://fellowship.mlh.io/ to learn more about the program.
So, What did I learn about the program?? See below:
The MLH Fellowship is a fully remote, 12-week internship alternative for aspiring software engineers. Instead of interning at a single company, MLH Fellows contribute to the type of real open-source software(OSS) projects on which every company and community depends like Solana, GResearch, Meta, etc.
MLH Fellowship also started with the Prep Program. MLH Fellowship Prep Program is a 3-week preparation program for aspiring technologists interested in experiencing the fellowship before committing to the full 12 weeks. You’ll build out your portfolio of personal projects & experiment with new technologies by collaborating in small groups of fellows through a short hackathon sprint.
Fact about MLH Fellowship: A 2021 survey says that The MLH Fellowship is like 2.5% acceptance rate, while Google Summer of Code stands at about 20% acceptance rate, making the MLH fellowship way more competitive than GSoC.
My Journey from Application to Selection:
Step 1: With newfound determination, I decided to apply for the MLH Prep Fellowship, I Arranged my application materials such as my Resume and code sample(Check my code sample) and then, I applied for the fellowship program on January 21, 2023.
Step 2: After I submitted my Fellowship application, I cleared the Application Review round and moved on to the next Personal Interview Round. I got the email to schedule my first interview on February 3, 2023(Which took approximately 2 weeks).
Step 3: I have scheduled my personal interview on February 6, 2023. This round is basically to assess whether you are a right fit for the program and to get to know more about the applicant. I have successfully finished this round and the interviewer(Stephen Cropper) was very friendly and supportive.
Step 4: To my surprise, I got the feedback of the personal interview round in just less than 24 hours and was prompted to schedule my second interview which is a Technical Round.
Step 5: I have scheduled my technical interview on February 7, 2023. This round is to go over the code sample that I submitted and questions such as below were asked:
- How did I develop the code and Which programming language/ Framework?
- How different/What changes would like to make if I have to develop the program/Application again from scratch?
- Provide a quick code walkthrough of how the submitted application/program works.
The Interviewer(Damir Temir) was a technically sound guy who was an MLH Top 50 candidate and Python Expert. We had a healthy conversation on the tech side and wrapped up the interview.
Step 6: After the technical interview, I was super confident that I would be moving on to the next stage which is the project matching phase. After a short wait time(Approximately about 2 weeks) on February 22, 2023. Hurray! I got an email mentioning that I got a spot in the MLH Prep Fellowship March 2023 Cohort.
Step 7: Later the next day, I received an email as below from the Major League Hacking Team to sign the agreement confirming my enrollment into the 2023 March Prep Fellowship Cohort.
The above step-by-step process is how I went through from Application to the selection stage. Hope the above steps give you an idea of what the whole selection process at MLH Fellowship is like.
Tips & Advice for Future Aspiring Fellows:
Let us quickly jump onto some tips and advice on how you can apply and get into the MLH fellowship:
- MLH Team selects candidates on a rolling basis( i.e., First come First Serve basis). So Make Sure to apply at least 2 months before the program. (e.g. I applied to the March 2023 Cohort in January 2023)
- Apply with your best well-documented project. which has good comments throughout the code and a well-described
README.md
file. which has steps/Instructions on how to run/install the program or application. - This is important! Get your essay answers reviewed by any of the past MLH fellows to get some insights on how to answer the application questions.
- Every stage in the fellowship process is a knockout round. You may be rejected at any point so treat every stage(Application Review, Personal Interview, Technical Interview, Project Matching Phase) as an important phase of the selection process
- Most Underrated but Most Important: You should have a stable internet connection(preferably > 20Mbps). Arrange Seating in a calm environment without background noise. Test your Audio, Video and Microphone beforehand.
- Always be on time, Punctuality is highly desired and appreciated. It hardly takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete the interview.
- Don’t be nervous. The interviewer will likely be a past MLH fellow, so do not worry as he/she understands your nervousness and anxiety.
- Try to be confident about the project walkthrough and practice a couple of times to get a good starting pitch so that you can explain your project with confidence.
Conclusion:
The application process for both the MLH Prep and Main Fellowships is quite similar, making this blog relevant for those interested in either program. Notably, there is no stipend for the Prep fellowship program.
Pro Tip: If you are a MLH Prep Fellow Alumni trying to applying for the Main Fellowship, your application gets priority/Fast-Tracked, and you only need to go through a technical interview.
This streamlined process reflects the value of the Prep experience. My journey through this application process has been insightful, and I hope sharing my experience provides clarity and encouragement to prospective applicants.
Best of luck! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me through the social links below through Linktree. Hope this blog helps you in the application process.
Thanks for your patience and for reading all the way to the end.
Update: MLH Fellowship has currently paused the Prep program. Stay tuned to https://fellowship.mlh.io/ for future updates!
Stay tuned for my upcoming blog posts where I’ll be providing a detailed walkthrough on my journey navigating from selection to graduation at the MLH Fellowship.
Connect with me through linktr.ee to know more!