Note to teacher

At the beginning of this blog, I have lots of summarization. If you do not want to read this please scroll down to the part where I start talking about my application and how want to do this.

Leveraging Insights from College Interviews for CSP Projects and Life

College interviews taught me a lot of practical strategies that I can use in my projects, education, and future career. These are some of the key takeaways from those interviews and how I think they can help me in CSP (Computer Science Principles) and in life. I’ll also explain how I plan to use these ideas in my CS journey.

Key Insights from College Interviews

Mr. Mortenson

  • Career fairs are a great way to network and meet professionals.
  • Flowcharts are super helpful for planning projects, and tools like draw.io make it easy to organize ideas.
  • You should know your code inside and out, so you can explain every line if someone asks.

David Vasilev (Purdue)

  • Learning how to use hacking tools and the command prompt makes solving problems faster.
  • Doing live reviews is like practicing for real design reviews and helps you explain your ideas better.
  • Flowcharts and structured design reviews are must-haves when working in teams.
  • Build a portfolio using tools like GitBooks to show off your projects when applying for internships or jobs.
  • Joining clubs and using dual-enrollment credits can give you a head start in college.
  • Always comment on every single line of code to make it easier for others (and yourself) to understand.

Images from David’s Talk

David's Flowchart 1 David's Flowchart 2

Michael Hayes (San Diego State)

  • Working on projects keeps you interested and focused.
  • Learning to explain things clearly and tell a story makes your ideas easier to understand.
  • Startups and internships on campus are great for gaining experience.

Vivian Ni (Colombia)

  • GitHub and repositories are crucial for teamwork and sharing projects.
  • Learning hardware tools like Arduino and laser cutters can make your projects stand out.
  • Portfolios, websites, and showcasing your work make a big difference in interviews.

Edwin Abraham (Purdue)

  • Coding is a must-have skill for engineers, no matter what field.
  • Getting involved in clubs and using agile methods can improve teamwork and results.
  • Researching schools and programs based on your major helps you make better choices for your future.

Applying These Lessons to CSP Projects and Life

1. Structured Planning for Success

For every CSP project, I’ll use flowcharts and design reviews to plan things out. Tools like draw.io will help me organize my ideas visually. For example, before starting a big coding project, I’ll map out how the program will work step by step. I can also use this method to plan my goals, like choosing a college or preparing for an internship.

2. Mastering Fundamentals

I’ll make sure I understand every line of my CSP code and comment on every single line, as David suggested. This will not only help me but also make it easier for others to follow my work. Practicing live reviews will help me explain my ideas clearly and confidently, which is a great skill for interviews and teamwork. I did this on my CPT backend code for Prism!

3. Building and Showcasing Portfolios

I plan to create a GitHub portfolio to show off my CSP projects, with clear descriptions and lessons learned. I’ll also use tools like GitHub Pages to make a personal website where I can share my journey and achievements.

4. Embracing Interdisciplinary Skills

I’ll experiment with tools like Arduino and laser cutters to combine hardware and software in my projects. For example, I could build a sensor-based project that collects data and displays it using a Python program. This will help me develop a mix of skills and stand out in the future.

5. Networking and Communication

I’ll start attending career fairs and joining clubs related to my interests. Practicing clear communication during design reviews and presentations will help me stand out. For example, when presenting a project plan, I’ll use simple and clear slides to explain my goals and solutions. I am currently in Team Optix 3749 and I have been working on this skill for quite a long time. I intend to advance my skills and become a great communicator.

6. Passion-Driven Growth

I’ll focus on projects and clubs that align with what I love, like robotics or coding challenges. This will help me stay motivated and learn skills that I actually enjoy using. In CSP, I want to work on creative coding projects, like building interactive games or apps.

7. Preparing for the Future of CS

Coding isn’t just for CSP—it’s a skill I want to keep improving for life. I’ll dedicate time to learning advanced coding techniques and stay updated on tools and frameworks to remain competitive in the tech world.

8. Researching and Choosing Opportunities Wisely

I’ll take Edwin’s advice and research colleges, internships, and projects that match my strengths and interests. For example, I’ll look for programs that focus on both software development and hands-on hardware experience, so I can explore both fields.

Proof of Me Being There

Proof of Me Being There

By applying these lessons to CSP projects and beyond, I believe I can become a better problem-solver, build meaningful connections, and prepare myself for success in the tech world. These insights are like a guide for making the most of my education and career opportunities.

My Raw Notes (If you want to See them)

College Interview for CS or Engineering Majors

Mr mort: stop by in office hours to learn more about career fairs

David Vasilev - Purdue take things apart scioly hacking - steal information navigate command prompt and coding every assignment goes around and they have to explain how your code works - must know how your code works back and front line by line is really good basically same as live review exact 1 on 1 less project based purde has a big event where big recuirters from companies talk to you went to guy at Honeywell and used the live review communication form numbers that he has achevied projects he has done live reviews are good recruiter things clear and concise otherwise person wont get you or see you as serious before every assignment they will do flowchart (mr mort reference) he has flowcharts for stem draw.io programs were large and many different files design reviews whole club presentation when they come together and breakdown what they want to do they judge them and take sugestions like optix we can apply this using the want wish need thing takes parts and put them together just like robotics 3749 optix comments every single line college credits from all the aps cheif enginner make friends and they can get you into companies take a dual enrollments from community colleges emailing professers from UCSD for questions has multiple world records for SCIOLY to manage flow he talkts to leads that manage other micro branches of his clubs he is the guy that goes in between those subsystems and works in CAD he does top down modeling, and he will go into more detailed designs when he works like he uses an app that creates stuff off a reference base he will give them CG and other dimensions he uses gitbooks which is a large notebook of information that everyone each subteam has their own section each group that works on their own subsystem David has friends that are applying to jobs which are theoretical physics question best way to find interships are there websites and there jobs there are many different websites that will allow you to get interships linkden is like good they all have to submit a portfolio of the projects they have done first intership does not need to be connected to your major can be litrly anything go to every single career clubs and stuff find connections to engineers and he met a guy that he needed to interview for a class

Michael Hayes - San Diego State project based no exposure learned alot take multiple different pieces of an idea and complete a project kept him drawn to software outline the story and focusing on your communication and summarizing what you understand use case diagrams see whats out there practice piece by piece startup ideas on campus for internships

Vivian Ni - Colombia project based learning having a project at the end that works and fulfilling most enjoyable class tell what achevivements person you are qualities you have interview questions are really good for live review internships prerequisite tell them use GitHub and repositories git is used a lot in groups had to teach people who to do everything skills from extra curriculars really useful Learns hwo to use Arduino, laser cutter creates a portfolio about CSP and CSA memorizes - create a website to talk about what you have done in CSP and CSA projects this CPT project included works on GitHub pages

Edwin Abraham - Purdue big tech city stem is a huge widley avalible opportunity every u go is stem so he decided to do stem bc creativity is boundless not used agile methodology or things from mr Mortenson states that mr morts methods are good as it helped him produce a better communication to other executives look at your major and look at the top thing they specialize in make sure to not ignore that so you can get the best colleges for your major use mr Mortenson strategies to get into better clubs what ever you are passionate about join those clubs and put more effort into that and you will have a good output the future is CS - everyone is Purdue that is a engineer main HAS TO code