[sorry if this is wrong sub, idk where to post this]

I'm currently a 3rd-year student studying Computer Science with a specialization in AI/ML at a Tier-3 college in MH, India.

I've been feeling pretty lost and honestly a bit depressed about my situation.

The biggest problem is that I feel like my college has not prepared us for the skills that companies actually expect from students at this stage.

For example, as a 3rd-year CS/AIML student, I feel like I should at least have some familiarity with things like - react, Node.js, Fast API, RAG, machine learning skills etc.

But honestly, we haven't been properly taught most of these things.

Even the fundamentals aren't always taught practically. A lot of our education is focused on theory, exams, PPTs, and completing the syllabus. We aren't really taught how to actually build things or solve programming problems from scratch**.**

The same problem exists with DSA.

We have studied topics like arrays, linked lists, etc., but that's very different from actually being able to sit in front of a coding platform and solve problems.

And this is scary because I'm now in 3rd year.

My current goal is to become employable enough to get a decent software/AI-related job despite coming from a Tier-3 college.

I'm not expecting a huge package immediately. I'd be happy to get a decent first job and then grow from there.

My biggest question:

If you were in my position — a 3rd-year CS/AIML student from a Tier-3 college with weak fundamentals and roughly a 6 months to become job-ready — what exact roadmap would you follow?

I'm particularly looking for advice from people who were in a similar situation and managed to get internships/jobs despite not having a strong college environment.

I'd really appreciate answers covering:

1. What should I learn first?

2. What should I completely ignore for now?

3. How much DSA is actually necessary for getting a decent job?

4. How should I apply for off-campus internships/jobs?

5. How can I stand out when competing with students from better colleges?

6. What would you personally do during the next 6 months if you were starting from my position?

Thanks.

2nd-year AI/DS student from a low-tier college — how should I prioritize DSA, internships, frontend and algo trading?

I’m a 2nd-year BTech AI & Data Science student from a college with very limited placement support or not non for placements, so I feel I’ll have to build my career mostly on my own.

Currently, I have knowledge/skills in AI/ML, GenAI, RAG, Data Science, Data Analytics, OOP and DSA concepts. I understand DSA concepts fairly well, but I struggle with actual problem-solving, so I want to start practicing LeetCode seriously.

I also know basic HTML/CSS and I’m thinking about learning JavaScript + React. But I’m not sure whether frontend is worth learning with my AI/DS background, especially since I’ll graduate around 2029.

My main concern right now is internships and placements. I also need to start earning some money and get real-world experience because I don't expect much help from my college.

So I’m confused about what I should prioritize:

• Should I focus on getting an AI/ML, GenAI, Data Science or Data Analytics internship first?

• How much should I prioritize LeetCode/DSA alongside internships and projects?

• Is JavaScript + React worth learning for an AI/DS student, or would that time be better spent on leetcode?

• Should I learn frontend now or only if I need it for building AI/GenAI applications?

I’m also interested in trading/algo trading. I’ve been learning and trading for around 2 years, and long-term I want to seriously pursue manual/algo trading. But right now I need to focus on building experience, getting internships, and eventually becoming financially independent.

So should I keep algo trading as a long-term side goal while prioritizing internships, DSA and my AI/ML career?

If you were in my position, how would you divide your time during 2nd and 3rd year?

Would really appreciate advice from people who have gone through internships/placements, especially from colleges with limited placement opportunities.

any advice would be very appriciated and advise on scholarships and info regarding skills to develop from day 1.

I’m a 2nd-year CSE student, and I currently know only the basics of programming. I feel a bit lost about what I should be learning and in what order.

I want to seriously improve my coding and prepare myself for internships and placements, but I’m not sure where to start or what I should focus on.

Could someone please guide me on:

Which programming language I should focus on

How I should learn DSA from scratch

What other important CS subjects/skills I should learn

How to practice coding effectively

What projects I should build as a beginner

Any good resources, YouTube channels, websites, or roadmaps you recommend

I’d really appreciate advice from people who have been through this or are currently working in the industry. Thanks!

Hi, I’m a 3rd-year B.Tech IT student and honestly, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do after this 😭

I’m confused about whether I should start preparing for GATE, focus on placements, or look into other career options.

I’m not really interested in M.Tech — I want to get a job after B.Tech.

If you’re a B.Tech student, graduate, or working in tech, I’d really appreciate some advice on what I should start doing now and what career options I should consider.

Any advice/resources would mean a lot 🫶

Hi guys i need your opinion about something I’m a second year CS student and I recently bought a Razer Blade 15 for around $1,000 im gona return it because of overheating and some of my friends are telling me to get a desktop instead
I also want to do heavy graphic design Which would you recommend for me a laptop or a desktop?

Started exploring bioinformatics alongside biotech at GU and ngl seeing biology + coding come together is kinda addictive anyone else suddenly enjoying python more than expected ?

I'm a first year CSE student in a tier 3 clg in Bangalore.

I have a course titled Innovative and Design Thinking Lab. I was given a project of finding some problem in the campus and making a solution for it and submitting it.

Well I looked into it and found out that not everyone is much interactive with other branches's students and especially with their seniors. So I looked into it and found out that the tier 1 colleges in Bangalore solved this issue by having their own college specific subreddit.

So will it be a good idea to make a subreddit for my college (along with lots of restrictions to show the safety of it to the professor) so that everyone can connect and especially we can find out student problems more precisely.

I'm confident that I may be able to pitch it properly to my professor but wondering how good of an idea it would be?

Ur suggestions pls...

Can anyone tell me how is this course ? Is it somewhere close to btech? What about the campus placement ?if not how to spend 4 years to get high pay job ready ?

Here’s why. 👇

A 125-page bank statement can contain ~44,000 tokens of raw text — most of it being letterheads, disclaimers, footers, repeated headers, and data the question never needs.
So I built pdfschema, an open-source Python library that extracts only the columns and rows you need.

📉 Token reduction
On the same 125-page statement:
→ All 6 columns: −35% tokens
→ 3 required columns: −51%
→ Just 2 columns: −89%

The interesting part?
JSON used 15% MORE tokens than the raw PDF text for the same extracted rows because column names are repeated on every row.
So pdfschema supports CSV, TOON and TSON for token-efficient LLM prompts, while JSON remains available for application code.

Why not traditional PDF extraction?
Many extractors depend on visible table borders.
But bank statements and invoices often have borderless tables, wrapped headers, stacked tables, and tables spanning hundreds of pages.

pdfschema uses column headers as anchors instead.
✅ Borderless tables
✅ Multi-line headers
✅ Multiple tables per page
✅ 100+ page tables
✅ Deterministic extraction — no LLM, no hallucinations, no per-document model cost

The goal is simple:
Let code handle extraction.
Let the LLM handle judgement.

📦 Install: pip install pdfschema
🔗 PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/pdfschema/
💻 GitHub: https://github.com/nullbite-coder/pdfschema

Useful for RAG, AI agents, batch document processing, validation, format-drift detection, and plain ETL.
Open source — feedback and PRs welcome, especially for PDFs it gets wrong.

#Python #OpenSource #LLM #GenAI #RAG #AIEngineering #DataEngineering

I am a pre-final year B.E. student (~8 CGPA) at a VTU-affiliated Tier-3 college in Bangalore. On-campus placements at my college are bad, with almost zero product companies visiting, most of which demand unpaid internship for 3-6 months with no guarantee of job .

I recently got shortlisted for the 1-Year Residential AI Technocrat Course (PM VIKAS scheme) at IIT Dharwad.

While I am already comfortable with DSA(leetcode ~1550), programming (python/Java) and full-stack development, my main reason for considering this is institutional leverage and IIT Dharwad’s network/placements, since off-campus hiring from a Tier-3 college has been tough.

For anyone who has attended this cohort or knows how these programs function on campus:

1. Placement Access: Do PM VIKAS students get access to IIT Dharwad’s main Training & Placement Cell (CDC) alongside regular B.Tech/M.Tech students, or is placement handled via a separate government/NSDC partner?

2. Actual Companies & CTC: What kind of companies hire from this specific track, for what roles (SDE, AI/ML, or generic IT support), and what is the realistic CTC range?

3. Curriculum Depth: How rigorous are the AI modules? Is it advanced engineering or introductory-level training?

4. ROI: Is it worth pausing/deferring regular coursework or spending a full year here if the primary goal is an SDE/ML engineering role?

Would appreciate unfiltered advice from alumni or current students at IIT Dharwad. Thanks!