10 hard truths as a CS major

10 hard truths as a C.S. major. A high GPA doesn't matter as much, but a low GPA hurts you. Sure, getting a 4.0 versus a 3.8 versus a 3.6, there's not much difference, but your 2.5 is not doing you a service. If you're applying over 1,000 apps and you're not getting a single interview, your resume just sucks. Your personality matters more than your technical ability. Nepotism matters more, so network. Go to hackathons. The referral you get may not actually help you open that many doors, but if you already know a hiring manager who can vouch for you, that matters way more. Your friends matter a lot. Who knows, maybe one of your classmates ends up becoming a hiring manager and they can just vouch for you. If you don't know how to use AI, you're getting left behind. If you don't use AI, you're getting left behind. Raw coding ability does not matter as much anymore. Niche down instead of being a regular generalist. Use the T-shape. Your most important classes are your databases, networking, data structures and algorithms and object oriented programming. Big tech is not as impressive as you think it is. Hope this helps.