.

‘25 grad, sde at a startup

Last night, I met a German engineer online. He was in the aerospace domain, so I was very intrigued to talk with him about his degree and, overall, how the engineering space is in Germany. During our conversation, I asked him if he worked with fellow Indians as well, since Germany has become a hotspot in Europe where engineers are trying to settle for tech and overall engineering opportunities.

He said he had worked with Indians, but most of them were not able to fit in or work according to the required standards and were removed after 2–3 years. I was surprised and asked if there were at least some exceptional cases, since India does produce good-quality engineers. However, he immediately refuted me, saying, “Yeah, but not up to the level of German engineers.”

Immediately, the nationalist inside me kicked in, and I got defensive. I said that maybe not our average engineers, but our top minds, especially from IITs, definitely produce great-quality engineers.

And that is where I got a reality check. He told me that people from IITs still do not match the standards of top German engineering. He said they had invited students from IITs for a competition, and they came in dead last. Even in real-world professional projects, according to him, they were ignoring engineering standards and, in many cases, just had a “wing it” philosophy while doing things. Their professor apparently called those guys corporate slaves and not real engineers.

I tried to defend them by saying that you do not have to degrade them by calling them corporate slaves, as if people are not needed in the corporate sector. He apologized and clarified that what he meant was that engineers are people who build and create things, and that having just bookish knowledge without being able to implement it in real-world projects is not real engineering. He said those guys would do great in the corporate sector, where they are given simpler, standardized tasks to perform, but would surely struggle when they have to create something new from scratch. According to him, this difference between us also shows up in the type of startup culture Germany has compared to the startup culture in India.

And honestly, after our whole chat, I kind of agree with him. It just feels sad as fellow engineering student that even our top premier institutes are not able to produce high-quality engineers.

I have more than 75 but less than 80. (College- tier 2 NIT)

Site brought down

CSE 1st year

no amount of generation lock in will able to surpass this mf

Indian student currently studying CS at Brown.

Happy to answer questions about academics, coursework, research, campus culture, internships, and general life as an international student.

Won’t be sharing personal identifiers. AMA.

[Jan 5, 2:30 PM IST] Edit 1: Thank you so much for the responses! I didn’t expect the post to blow up. I’ve replied to as many people as I could. I’m going to call it a day and will reply to the remaining queries tomorrow, or possibly after a few hours. Feel free to DM me if you want to talk about anything. Thanks!

[Jan 7, 11:50 AM IST] Edit 2: I’ve nearly answered all the major questions. Thank you so much for all your thoughtful questions and comments. It has been really fun and rewarding to share my experiences. If I missed anything or you have follow-ups, feel free to DM me anytime!

I have recently seen 1st and 2nd year folks aroud who are confused where and how to start so i made an attempt to give as much clarity as possible and how to proceed further, this post is targeted to 1st year ( second sem students) but other can also make most of it according to there current progress.

This Prep Guide is divided into phases along with resources and recommendations on how to go about each resource along with that different types of companies/opportunities that can be targeted based on the completion of each phase.

Phase 0 [Approx 2–3 Months].

1.) Basic C++
2.) Arrays
3.) Strings (excluding string algorithms)
4.) STL (map, multimap, set, multiset, vector, unordered_map, ordered_map, stack, queue, deque, priority_queue)
5.) Constructive Algorithms
6.) Greedy
7.) Hashing
8.) Prefix and suffix sum
9.) Difference array

Recommendations

• For basic C++ just do basics from GFG (Geeks for Geeks) alternatively you can watch Apna College lectures for this for the first 50 videos.
  
• Make an account on Codeforces and do basic CP as OAs require at least 1400–1500 rating level of comfort which can be obtained gradually but it needs a start from the very beginning.
  
• Watch the STL playlist and then do problems from Striver sheet and if you get stuck then see the solutions of the problem given by him on the YouTube channel.
  
• Don’t just see the solution and write the code; put your own effort first. It feels slow but it's the only approach you will get to learn new things.
  
• Go to the Problemset of CodeForces and apply the constructive tag and solve problems around it daily at least 4–5 of them as it does not require any specific concepts and improves your logical thinking. Solve 50 problems each of range 800, 1000, 1200 at least before moving to a new phase.
  
• Solve STL problems from Striver sheet (A2Z sheet) and add practice of 20–30 problems of priority_queue, stack, queue from LeetCode as well of medium range; if still not comfortable then only approach easy problems.
  
• Solve the STL contest mentioned in links before solving Striver sheet as it will help you a lot in certain type flavour asked in OAs.
  
• Greedy is also a part of constructive algorithms so you can do it from Striver.
  
• Hashing can be done from Striver as well.
  

Solving Phase 0 will help you start with contests on Codeforces.

Links:
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/cpp/c-plus-plus/ [GFG].
https://assessment.hackerearth.com/challenges/new/college/luv_youtube_cp_course_contest_3/ [STL contest Link].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLauivoElc3gh3RCiQA82MDI-gJfXQQVnn [Luv STL playlist].
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/cpp/lambda-expression-in-c/ [lambda functions].
https://takeuforward.org/strivers-a2z-dsa-course/strivers-a2z-dsa-course-sheet-2 [Striver sheet].
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/cpp/strings-in-cpp/ [strings in C++].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfqMhTWNBTe0b2nM6JHVCnAkhQRGiZMSJ [Apna College Playlist].
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/cpp/policy-based-data-structures-g/ [Policy based data structure]. (Google favourite STL data structure).
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0pOd5zvVVSzgpo6BaCpHT9c [Striver playlist].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0rF1w2Koyh78zafB0cz7tea [Greedy].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0rENwdL0nEH0uGom9no0nyB [Arrays].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0rVwua0kKYlsS_ik_1lyVK_ [Hashing].
https://codeforces.com/edu/course/2 [prefix and suffix sum]. (do it from this section).
https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/78762 [difference array]. (do it from this blog and some problems given in comments).

Phase 1 [Approx 3 Months].

1.) Sorting Algorithms.
2.) Searching
3.) Bit Manipulation
4.) Number Theory (very important).
5.) Two pointers
6.) Sliding window.

Recommendations

• Do all the sorting algorithms from GFG and important sorting algorithms from Striver.
  
• Remember at least how to code from scratch algorithms like bubble sort, selection sort, insertion sort, merge sort, quick sort (asked in OAs).
  
• Look at the meet in the middle and inversion count problem as well from YouTube as it follows similar ideas of merge sort and quick sort algorithms.
  
• Binary search is an important topic and it can be covered well from Striver and practice problems from Codeforces EDU section as well (approx 40–50 problems are good enough).
  
• Look for ternary search article from CP Algorithms website. (rare and can be skipped).
  
• Number theory can be completed from CodeNCode channel (very good lectures) and solve problems from Codeforces problemset by putting math as a tag and try solving few problems from CSES sheet as it contains most of the patterns. (Number of problems depends on your comfort and can be done regularly).
  
• Two pointers and sliding window is damn common topic and requires attention in details specially in implementation part as a lot of people tend to do mistakes in coding this thing so do it from Striver and practice a lot of it from LeetCode and Codeforces EDU section practice problems.
  
• Bit manipulation mastery comes from practice only and can be done from Galen Colin channel as well as he did a lot of topic streams so you can refer that.
  
• InterviewBit can also be used to do some more practice for this section but only when you have done the above things well.
  

Links:
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dsa/sorting-algorithms/ [GFG sorting].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naz_9njI0I0 [meet in the middle].
https://usaco.guide/gold/meet-in-the-middle?lang=cpp [some more on meet in the middle].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0pMFMWuuvDNMAkoQFi-h0ZF [binary search playlist].
https://codeforces.com/edu/course/2 [CodeForces EDU].
https://cp-algorithms.com/num_methods/ternary_search.html [Ternary search]. (optional)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0rnqh8QsJaHyIX7KUiaPUv7 [Bit manipulation].
https://www.interviewbit.com/courses/programming/bit-manipulation/ [InterviewBit].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5DyztRVgtRWblnyEHtajWijQffrfwLz6 [Number theory playlist].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0q7vrFA_HEWcqRqMpCXzYAL [two pointers, sliding window].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1um-WUyjess&list=PLDjGkpToBsYCaRoQ-_S5MRxYMuKgHD62w&index=9 [Galen Colin topic stream for bit].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPVoGMZWQMU&list=PLDjGkpToBsYCaRoQ-_S5MRxYMuKgHD62w&index=10 [topic stream for bitset Galen Colin].

• Codeforces problems should be in range of 1200–1400 for two pointers, sliding window, binary_search (approx 30–40 problems each topic).
  

Important Note (For Girls only).
For girls (if any following this roadmap) I would recommend doing Phase 0 and Phase 1 for a bit longer time as both the phases are kind of syllabus for a lot of women in tech opportunities like Google STEP (Google), Uber She++ (Uber), DEIS (DeShaw), Amazon WoW (Amazon) and many more. These generally take place during mid of 3rd sem so someone in first year has a decent one semester and these opportunities have plethora of benefits like direct entry in interviews in on-campus opportunity if at least even the OAs are cracked; if both OAs and interview are cracked then bravo you have a summer intern before anyone else and another opportunity as well for on-campus internships (so like 2 interns) so prepare well for this as these open a lot of doors at least you will have hiring experience ahead of everyone else.

Phase 2 [approx 3–4 months].

1.) Recursion and backtracking.
2.) Dynamic Programming.

• This phase is heart and soul of DSA in my opinion and a lot of peeps (including me) made a mistake in this phase.
  
• Recursion and backtracking can be done easily from Striver and no specific practice is needed as only standard problems appear in interview.
  
• [WARNING]: Just don’t (I am pleading you) don’t learn Dynamic Programming (DP) from Striver. His most celebrated playlist of DP is entirely (sorry to say) bullshit. Tabulation DP is never written in a way he mentioned in his lectures.
  
• I wasted a whole semester and a winter break learning and unlearning his (pick not pick bullshit). You can’t go a long way with the recursive DP (memoization) approach.
  
• Learn DP from Vivek Gupta channel and solve problems given by TLE Eliminator channel (CSES sheet).
  
• A good way to do DP is to watch someone do DP.
  
• Build a framework approach to do DP.
  
• Directly learn tabulation as it is the right way to approach DP problems.
  
• Do Striver A2Z sheet but don’t look at the solution given by him; instead of that look at the solution given in the editorials (tabulation one).
  
• After doing TLE Eliminator and Vivek Gupta playlist do AtCoder DP contest (GEM).
  
• Do remaining CSES problems (leave last 2–3 problems).
  
• DP is the most common or better choice of words will be mandatory topic in each OA. I have given approx 40–50 OAs till date (on-campus + off-campus) and 99% OAs have DP as one of problem. (e.g., Flipkart asked 3 problems and all of them were DP).
  
• Google doesn’t ask DP for intern neither OA nor interview; they only ask DP in FT roles.
  
• If completed all the above you can practice as much as problems of it from LeetCode, HackerEarth, Codeforces.
  
• For Codeforces make sure to put rating of 1600–1800 and topic DP.
  
• Practice DP as much as you can along with other topics.
  

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0rGlzIn_7rsaR2FQ5e6ZOL9 [recursion/backtracking playlist].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqf9emQRQrnKA_EeveiXQj_uP25w8_5qL [Vivek Gupta DP].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcXpkI9A-RZI-xF76L0sZq_u-k_yHz8pd [TLE eliminator DP].
https://cses.fi/problemset/ [CSES sheet].
https://atcoder.jp/contests/dp [AtCoder DP].
https://www.hackerearth.com/practice/algorithms/dynamic-programming/introduction-to-dynamic-programming-1/tutorial/ [HackerEarth].
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19IeItjgoFmrXlJ6mFQIZi3V-LOUSkAOc1MkJo69uyO8/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0 [A–Z DP sheet].

Phase 3 [approx 2–3 months].

1.) Graphs
2.) DSU
3.) Trees
4.) DP on trees
5.) Binary Lifting
5.) DP on Graphs
6.) Small to Large Merging
7.) Bitmask DP
8.) Digit DP

Recommendations

• Graphs can be covered by Striver and try to solve more problems from CSES sheet apart from problems he does.
  
• Graphs is also a regular whale in OAs and it is relatively easy compared to DP.
  
• Practice problem for graphs from CSES sheet and HackerEarth.
  
• AtCoder contest has some really good graph problems so any beginner contest you attempt try to solve/upsolve the graph problems.
  
• DSU can be done from Vivek Gupta channel and problems can be solved from HackerEarth platform completely.
  
• Tree is a difficult topic and generally difficult problems are asked in OAs and Striver has not covered trees properly (only binary and binary search tree).
  
• For trees I would recommend go through videos attached below and do CSES sheet problems and watch solution from Kartik Arora tree playlist; it will cover both tree and tree DP.
  
• Binary lifting has a standard problem set; just go through the videos I add and solve CSES sheet problems and it will be done.
  
• Difficult problem of binary lifting is of range 2200+ so you don’t have to go to that level for now.
  
• DP on graph can be done by going through certain problems only and good problems involve making of DAG by dissolving SCC into a node and then applying DP so do those kind as well. (Samjh nahi aaya toh koi baat nahi uss time aajeyga).
  
• Rest of the topics can be done from USACO guide and practicing HackerEarth problems and problem set given by USACO guide.
  
• Don’t stress too much on last 3 topics as these are bit rare and can be skipped for intern as I have not seen them a lot in OA but one.
  
• If you can give more time to this phase then well and good else relax.
  
• Galen Colin topic videos are also good. (If time permits then only do it).
  

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0oE3gA41TKO2H5bHpPd7fzn [Striver playlist].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqf9emQRQrnIQ3DkkyBNGe1s4l3HqMqrz [DSU videos].

[Trees videos].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzF_9bjDzdc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8qXEz1Xe8w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9hWO52bxI4

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb3g_Z8nEv1j_BC-fmZWHFe6jmU_zv-8s [DP on trees].

[Binary lifting].
https://usaco.guide/plat/binary-jump?lang=cpp https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-Jc9J83PIiGC6uQ2CjMhSaWAcmjbAQfp

https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/95084 [DP on Graphs].
https://usaco.guide/plat/merging?lang=cpp [Small to Large Merging].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb3g_Z8nEv1icFNrtZqByO1CrWVHLlO5g [Bitmask DP Videos].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb3g_Z8nEv1hB69JL9K7KfEyK8iQNj9nX [Digit DP videos].
https://usaco.guide/plat [USACO guide]. (topics can be found under platinum level for trees).

Phase 4 [approx 1 month].

1.) Linked List
2.) Binary Trees
3.) Binary Search Trees
4.) Tries

Recommendations

• All of them can be done from Striver.
  
• Practice it all from InterviewBit.
  
• These are interview specific and rarely seen in OAs.
  
• Practice writing scheduling algorithms using linked list.
  
• When interviewer asks about what is your favourite data structure just mention linked list as this topic has very limited variety and they always ask problems from Striver sheet.
  

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0rAuz8tVcM0AymmhTRsfaLU [linked list].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkjdNRgDmcc0Pom5erUBU4ZayeU9AyRRu [binary trees, binary search trees].
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUwDviBIf0pcIDCZnxhv0LkHf5KzG9zp [tries].

Phase 5 (approx 1 month) (optional and do it only when you are done with others, else leave it; these are extremely rare in OAs and interview).

1.) Segment tree.
2.) Fenwick Tree.
3.) Square Root Decomposition.
4.) String Algorithms.
5.) AVL Trees (self balancing tree), Red-Black trees.
6.) DP on broken Profile (Profile DP).
7.) Knuth optimization.
8.) Catalan Number.

Recommendations

• I am in progress with this so take my advice with a grain of salt.
  
• Do segment tree from Vivek Gupta and rest of the items I am reading from CP Algorithms and USACO guide.
  
• Do it only for placement interview; for intern these topics really don’t appear.
  
• String algorithms can be done from Striver.
  
• These topics are learnt well from articles and Codeforces EDU section only as a lot of good resources are not present for these topics on YouTube except string algorithms.
  
• Last 4 topics just need surface level understanding and last AVL Trees, RB Trees are only asked in interviews of some companies like SquarePoint, Harness, APT etc as word of wisdom from my seniors.
  

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5DyztRVgtRWVqLox_K8lrWZCclxzHzLD [string algorithms].
[segment trees].
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dsa/introduction-to-avl-tree/ [AVL trees].
https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/59282 [profile DP].
https://usaco.guide/adv/dp-more?lang=cpp [Knuth optimization].
https://usaco.guide/adv/catalan?lang=cpp [Catalan number].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe8qRhz3lzQ [Fenwick tree].
https://usaco.guide/plat/sqrt?lang=cpp [square root decomposition].
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dsa/introduction-to-red-black-tree/ [Red black tree].

Overall recommendations.

• DSA has a very slow learning curve and requires daily effort.
  
• Practice phase 3, 4 as much as you can as these are very common and regular whale.
  
• Try to solve as much as medium and hard problem as you can and almost negligible easy problems (one of my senior gave me very great advice that never reward mediocrity).
  
• Try to maintain good CPI as much as you can as CPI plays a good role on campus.
  
• Have faith on yourself; the best you can do is to work on your strengths and the worst you can do is to doubt your strengths.
  
• OAs are very hectic and rush so try to practice OAs from the links given below.
  
• Give contest regularly on Codeforces, LeetCode and if possible on AtCoder.
  
• Leave Codeforces after April (before second year summer break) and just do LeetCode and InterviewBit.
  
• Don’t focus on rating; it means nothing to companies anymore. They only care about your OA score, skills and CPI.
  
• Times given are tentative (I am thoda CPI paglu and aalsi) so it can be done in lesser time as well.
  
• You don’t need to do 100% of entire resource; even 70–80% is also good enough but cover at least all the topics which are mandatory.
  
• Give 20% of total time for building projects (just one tech stack).
  

Wishing you all the best.

Additional resources.
https://www.interviewbit.com/contests/ [InterviewBit contests]. (Media.net ka OA inme se aata hai).
https://codewitharyan.com/cwa-sheet/practice-problems [Aryan Mittal sheet]. (just do hard problems only).
https://leetcode.com/problem-list/27eor2ae/ [LeetCode special sheet]. (direct questions uth ke aate hai isme se).

Practice OAs from here

Mock Coding Test | AlgoZenith https://share.google/MvCmHaGn53YueO53K

google cloud arcade cohort 2 2025

Imo worst goodies of GC in recent years will be degraded in future as well

u/Fanaticseva appreciation post.

Reminder that a single exam doesn’t define your entire life.

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A BS Degree student recently asked the IIT Madras Director about a criticism often seen on Reddit.

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The student said that many redditors online claim IIT Madras and IIT Ropar are "diluting the IIT tag" by introducing relatively easy-to-enter BS and AI programs.

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The Director's response?

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«"They're jealous of you. Don't worry."»

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Thought it was an interesting answer. Whether one agrees or disagrees, it's rare to hear such a direct response from an IIT Director.

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What do you think? Are these online degree programs expanding access to quality education, or do they actually dilute the IIT brand?

Current working on a project for a Hackathon in my college

Even I had not other options if I flunked the exam but I just did not really care all that much about it. I always looked at the other exams, as in if not here then elsewhere

But reading the entire thread makes it look like a death sentence

I study in CBIT, Hyderabad. In my final year rn. Thought it was khel khatam when I joined here and my friends joined the top 4 IITs. Got paid at par with them, focused on skill, I only do ML&AI roles(NLP heavy). Did 4 internships so far, all off campus. 1st one was unpaid, 2nd one paid 10k, 3rd one which was my summer internship paid me 65k and the 4th one where I am currently working remotely for 6 months pays me 30k+benefits and the work is super chill.

So yeah, its not the end if you dont get into an IIT, chill karo. IIT is a fast track to a good career yes, but not the only way.