Coding culture in colleges :(

Hello, World!

Note: If your college has a good coding culture, then skip this article.

I want to share what I've learned during my Btech life. I am from SRKR Engineering College, which pretends to be one of the best engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh. However, it's not entirely true. Most of the students at our college are top rankers, and they often pressure us to focus solely on CGPA, inadvertently diminishing our intelligence. Now, let's talk about the coding culture; it's far from ideal. While the college partners with some organizations to conduct coding classes, the standards are inadequate. Not a single 4-star CodeChef coder exists in my batch; that's the situation. Unfortunately, this scenario isn't unique to our college; it's prevalent in many others.

One day, I approached our Placement Dean to convey the situation, but he didn't listen. At that time, I hadn't secured a single placement, and he believed the coding classes he organized were extraordinary. He challenged me to secure a campus placement, and I took up the challenge. I practiced coding extensively and eventually secured offers from several companies. However, I never meet my dean again, and I still continue to practice coding for better opportunities. I started coding in my 3-2 semister, which may seem late, but it's still better than many other students. We are a team of three idiots Me, Sriya Bonda , and Shiva kumar Reddy Akkalareddy . We spent countless hours in the library, by bunking classes to practise coding. We were quick learners and covered all the DSA topics by explaining them to each other. The result? We got selected by top product-based companies (except for me, but I'm confident I will get soon...)

Students often lack awareness, many are focused on Data Science, Machine Learning, and Cloud certifications. I'm not saying it's wrong, as I also pursued these paths. I spent two years on Machine Learning and realized that it's primarily about advanced Probability and Statistics. For freshers, the scope isn't as high as we think. If you are financially stable, consider higher studies to gain a deeper understanding of basic to advanced concepts, which will enable you to reach greater heights in this field. However, as a fresher, my suggestion is to concentrate on coding, OOPS concepts, low-level design, and full-stack projects.

These are my experiences, including both successes and failures. I hope college placement deans read this and encourage strong coding communities. Students should understand that having 5 stars on HackerRank is not enough; 5 stars on CodeChef are more valuable.

Enjoy coding, earn well, and buy your parents whatever they desire! :)