Current UCSD student willing to try and answer people's questions

UCSDcompEng
Mon, 07 Apr 2014 18:01:22 +0000

Sorry Ive been so absent, but let me fill in the blanks
@DrGoogle‌
GPA is far from everything on a resume. Some companies require a 3.0, but usually experience is more important. If you have no experiance, a 3.0 is required for larger companies, but there are always a ton of people looking for webdevs and lower paid programmers (still way more $ than most college grads). Essentially the only thing a GPA does is get you an interview, and getting one is pretty easy. After that, your knowledge, experience, and personality will be the only criteria in getting the job.
Side Note: You have 3 GPAs. Overall, Upper division, and Major. Pick the highest of the three and put that on your resume.

@RedCrayon‌
Heart arrow did an amazing job answer your questions.
There are a few things I could add to #1. For internships they don’t’ expect prior experiences, but rather what you have been doing in school. Most of getting a position is doing well in the technical part, which is basically a quiz. Information on that can be looked up online.

For #2 here is what I did. First year summer, random job. Second year, worked at a tech summer camp teaching kids to program. Third year real internship which turned into my job after this quarter. Basically you don’t need an internship until a year before you graduate but getting one before hand is nice. First and second year summers, students should get a fun job, or an IT/webdev position.

Lastly, I want to confirm that this is your DAUGHTER’s decision, not the combination of both of you. I’m being very presumptuous right now, but based on “…we are trying to make…” and that your asking a question for her, I get the feeling you’re influencing her way to much. Even if she is asking for it, I really recommend taking a step back and let her do the decision making. At the very most, help her on how to make decisions, but not on the decision itself. I have seem too many students come to college and be miserable because their parents dictated their major and/or school. Or worse, they take the freedom a little too far and party too much. Eventually you will pay for the resentment. I’m guessing your paying for her school and therefor you believe your input is justified. However, she is going to be the one stuck in college for the next four years, and the major for the rest of her life (assuming she doesn’t switch). If she got into UCSD for CS, she’s must be a pretty smart cookie and can make decisions on her own. If she makes a bad one, she’ll recover; that is part of growing up. Again, I am being very presumptuous, and this might not be you… but it happens far too often for me stay quite.