4 Pieces of Advice to Computer Science Freshman
Author: Wen-Hsing Huang, a Computer Science student
If you didn’t have any CS-related experience before undergraduate, then I think this article can make some help.
When looking back, you will realize what to do to make yourself better.
After freshman, I had already known what I can do to make me better. If I were a freshman now, the following will be the thing I like to do.
I will sum up my personal experience, and tell you what CS freshmen can do in your first year in college.
1. Maintain GPA
In my opinion, getting a high GPA is the easiest thing in college and can get the most rewards. Both applying for the master and seeking an internship, GPA is a strong weapon you can use. And there is a problem that GPA is immutable after you finish the degree. Therefore, even you do not clearly know what you want in the future, GPA is still the thing that you should treat it carefully.
2. Improve English proficiency
This advice suits the ones whose mother tongues aren’t English. And the reason why I give you advice is lots of the countries that have developed the CS industry are using English, i.e. Singapore, the U.S., etc. Besides, there is a special reason for my personal insight: I think CS students have great advantages that can help you to work around the world. Even you are not fluent in Japanese, you can still find a programming job in Japan. After all, in any country, Java, Python or Javascript is the same thing. So, a CS student just requires to pick up one foreign language, English, and then you can work around the world easily. How cool it is!
But, why should we do this in freshman time? Improving proficiency in one language is a long-term job. However, once you finish the job, it would never betray you.
3. Contribute to Open-Source Community
I strongly recommend a CS student to apply the Google Summer of Code(GSoC). Summer vacation is a good period of time to find an internship or do some projects. But it is a bit difficult to find an intern in freshman time. So, a greater choice is to do some projects. And GSoC provides an opportunity to make yourself motivated for contributing to open-source projects. (Also, this program would provide a mentor advising you.)
So, I think GSoC is very suitable for the ones who want to get experience but are unable to find an internship. However, you must be equipped with some ability to some degree, so that you can really contribute to GSoC.
4. Participate in Programming Competition
There are a lot of platforms you can improve algorithm by participating in programming competitions, i.e. CodeForce, CodeChef, TopCoder, Google kickstart, LeetCode.
In my opinion, knowledge in college we learned may be seen to be useless while it is actually important for opening your future. For example, the interview of the large companies often tests Data Structure or Algorithm foundation of new grads. And the result of the interview may influence your salary. On the other side, these foundations, like OS can be seen as a large scale application. When we develop own application, we may use lots of classic techniques from this subject.
The End
The thing above-mentioned is my advice, and I hope who reads this article can get some expiration, and starting to plan for your own freshman life.
Make your own choice.
