This isn't going to be the polished "10 tips" post. This is the stuff I'd say to a freshman over coffee.
Take Data Structures seriously, but don't fear it
It's the most-feared course at UH and the most reused later. The trick: do every single Leetcode-flavored problem the prof assigns, even when you have a working solution from class. You're building muscle memory for patterns — sliding window, two pointers, hash-map-as-cache — that show up in literally every interview.
Your GPA matters less than your GitHub
Hot take, but it's been true for everyone I've watched land internships:
- 3.2 GPA + 3 polished public projects → interviews.
- 3.9 GPA + an empty GitHub → ghosted.
A "polished" project is shipped, deployed, with a real README, and something a stranger could try in under 60 seconds. Not 14 abandoned tutorials.
Use Handshake. Actually use it.
Every UH student gets it free. Most people set up the profile in week one and forget about it. The companies posting there are specifically targeting UH students — your resume isn't competing with the entire internet.
Side projects that actually mattered
Looking back, the ones that made interviewers light up weren't the ones with the most stars:
- A Discord bot that solved a real problem in a community I was in.
- A scraper that pulled my own data out of a clunky portal and made it useful.
- A small CLI that I and three friends actually use weekly.
The pattern: built for a real audience, even if that audience is two people.
Schedule advice that worked for me
- Stack the pain. CS courses + a math class in the same semester is brutal but it's how you finish in four years.
- Take a Kinesiology elective every fall. You'll thank yourself.
- Don't take Senior Design until you have an internship under your belt — it's so much easier when you've already shipped real software.
Hit me up if you want specifics on any of this. I'm easy to reach.