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NOTE: This is from a POV of an IS kid (this may or may not be applicable to all). Don't mind me if I happen to be blunt in some parts. To the admins: sorry if this going to take a long time to read & verify if it does not violate any rules and stuff Hello guys, I am a year 3 IS kid who has 1+ year left in sch and would like to give some insights. In my first few semesters, I took 5 mods (with 2 semesters in a row that have 5 finals, while doing CSP) and my GPA took heavy hits (yes I do NOT have a CCA at all since year 1, due to past experiences before entering SMU). Fortunately, I realised that I do NOT need to take 5 mods for each semester anymore and I can graduate 1 sem earlier (Im a single major & single degree kid). I do have a few regrets though: 1. Not doing at least a start-up role in Y1 (yes thats where our mods are still manageable; I was exempted from IS111, therefore I had PLENTY of time in Y1S1) --> pick up a startup role as early as you can for the learning experience 2. Not doing Leetcode since Y1 (I only started doing this every weekday at the start of my internship period during summer break after my Y2S2; yes you will also hear seniors advising you to do leetcode) --> start as early as you AND be consistent (power of compounding applies to this too) 3. Not trying to apply for an internship in Y1 (this isn't that big of a regret because I was self-learning React.js at that point of time) --> this depends on your priorities & plans 4. Doing thorough research on the major companies to intern at (this is essential because you never know when or if you can return to the said companies as full-time when you graduate, and you can contact them to be your project sponsor for your FYP) --> this sets a goal to which company you want to work at as an intern/full time 5. Having a single-digit balance of e$ left in year 1 (I was fortunately able to salvage this in Y2S1, although great risks were taken) --> save up as much e$ as you can (many major mods WILL cost a fortune) 6. Not exactly knowing about masters programme before coming to uni (personal POV: If i knew about masters in y1, i MIGHT have focused on grades more but I will still try not to neglect my coding skills & projects) --> but this also depends on your objectives & goals (this may or may not align) Tbh, however, I did not really regret cramming 5 mods at the start cause I realised that early graduation is almost certain (assuming I do NOT mess up my bidding next year) after checking the number of CUs I had left. I was extremely desperate to graduate from school early because I was sick and tired of school commitments and wanted to focus on coding full-time (and also other personal reasons) To my IS kouhais, here are some pointers (some may ALSO apply to non-IS peeps.l To everyone else, I hope some of these will be helpful): NOTE: some of the points are NOT in sequence cause I typed in what was on my mind and this is NOT a one-size fit all; everyone's perspectives and experiences are bound to be different in one way or another 1) Start building personal projects early on (especially if your doing IT) Note: The leetcode part is especially true if you intend to be a software engineer, but im not too sure about the other parts of IT, since IT itself is VERY broad 2) Start doing Leetcode ASAP (even if its just 1 question per weekday, you WILL see improvements in your coding thought process in a few months. Btw, i recalled being unable to do easy questions when I first started out my Leetcode routine) 2a) Whenever you are doing a Leetcode question, WRITE DOWN your thought processes before you actually code the content out 2b) This is the roadmap I use for Leetcode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrNEKxlDWlw. (This is NOT sponsored or anything but based on personal experience and NOTHING else) 2c) When doing 2b), if you notice that you are weak in these concepts, focus more on these concepts BEFORE proceeding to the next concepts (I would say DFS and BFS, as well as Binary Tree related questions that are relatively challenging. Also, it is essential to familiarise yourself with recursion) 2d) Adding on to 2a), if you are stuck at a question for awhile, watch leetcode solutions on youtube and/or look at a solution from the discussion panel. As you are looking at the solutions, write down the thought process that they use and then COMPARE it with what you had initially tried (you can see what you could have went wrong and/or what you could have done better.) 3) If possible, do startup roles for your resume AND experience (and do your best to enjoy the learning process for this). Startup roles are seriously gold mines in terms of learning experience 4) Do NOT overload yourself with commitments (this applies regardless of the faculty you are in) 5) If you are joining a CCA, be 100% sure that you are NOT only doing it for your resume (gotta enjoy the process & make sure you learn as much as you can from it), and also be 100% sure that you are going to commit WHOLEHEARTEDLY (this applies regardless of the faculty you are in). Side note 1: I only joined a CCA in my previous school cause it was compulsory + portfolio. If I had seen CCA as an enjoyment rather than a chore, I might have joined at least a few CCAs by now, and I might have learnt more (I do self-learn stuff to minimise the loss of potential gains) Side note 2: To those that are juggling between commitments and stuff, I salute all of you guys :D 6) Monitor & maintain your mental health occasionally (YES this is extremely critical, regardless of what faculty you are from and mental health issues are NOT something to be overlooked) 7) Self learn stuff as much as you can (Especially the stuff that are relevant and this applies outside of IS too) --> this is also important if you are gna explore your interests (yes uni is a good time to explore interests) 8) Have a strong vision/goal (yes this applies even when you enter society, regardless of faculty) 9) Network as much as you can 10) Do NOT forget to make friends (yes it is really possible to make friends even if you do not happen to have any CCA; just be brave and talk to the ppl in your area in class. If a guy like me who has autism (I'm not the best in social interactions tbh) can make friends and stuff, you guys definitely can) 11) WRITE CLEAN CODE (i cannot emphasize more on this, especially when you are doing coding group projects or intend to code startups, your code should be easy to understand and readable by others) 12) Write modular code (this will save you painful hours of debugging due to improved readability) 13) Start picking up github in year 1 (even if its just the basics; just learn along the way). You will need it for coding-related projects/intern/jobs 14) Do gym/workout like weekly? (Best is morning cause discipline and keeping your mind sharp) 15) Do NOT consume sugary content too often (avoid them as much as possible. From personal experience, I used to be skinny fat a few years ago due to drinking excessive amounts of sugary drinks before entering uni and my mental state wasn't very good either) 16) Build as much discipline as possible 17) Keep your mind sharp consistently IF possible (yes there WILL be days where your mind will feel dull, but just get back up afterwards) 18) Do NOT do things at the last minute; start doing your assignments and stuff ASAP 19) Stay in your lane (different ppl have different goals and abilities, so focus on your goal and purpose while maximising your abilities), you got your own life to manage and only you have control of your life 20) Whenever a decision is made, sacrifices are ALSO made. (since sacrifices are mostly inevitable, do your best in maximising the gains) 21) Also do your best in group projects (this is also a good way to build bridges if the teamwork is good; yes there will be conflicts) 21a) Regarding conflicts and disagreements in grp projects, rmb that yr groupmates are ALSO acting in the best interest of the grp just like u guys 21b) Do try to understand your groupmates as much as you can (at least you can understand their purposes cus their priorities may be different). This might be important in ensuring everyone is in the same page if possible (especially for the end goal) 22) IS is NOT just about coding. Its MAINLY about understanding business and IT requirements (yes this is very critical, cause it helps in efficiency and its an expected skill in the IT industry) 23) Think long term 24) Plan on which company you intend to strive for when you have 3 more semesters left before graduation 25) If things are turning sour or if you are experiencing tough times, take a step back and think of what has happened and then do things abit differently --> improvements may take some time to manifest so trust the process 26) I don't know where you guys are from before entering uni, but I do know that you guys have fought very hard to enter uni, so do NOT waste it 27) Learn how to and when to say no when needed (I don't mean instantly saying no. I mean taking a very good look at your situation before you agree on something) TLDR: Balance your aspects of life well (your relationships, school, CCAs if any, jobs if any), start preparing your IT skills as soon as you can (especially if you are a fellow IT kid like me) and do your best in sch (grp projects and stuff), take control of your life as only you can control your life trajectory LASTLY, thanks everyone who have made it to the end. Also, jiayous for the rest of this sem you guys.