Advice to first year students in UVCE

What should I be doing in my first year of Engineering at UVCE? 

Hello everyone,

This post is for the first year people since I get a lot of questions to me regarding what the students should be doing in their first year. 

I live near Murugeshpalya Airforce camp. Even people near my house, ask me the same questions ( from the time they got to know that I am already placed in a good company and have won several competitions here and there ). 

There are 3 advises which I would like to give! Again, it is all subjective. But then I will speak about the things that worked for me and will work for sure for most of you out there. 

The very first advice would be: Focus on Academics and pull up your aggregate the maximum you can. 

Yes ! Go after the marks in the first year. 

There are some reasons for the same:- 

• First of all, as the saying goes - Work hard now and bear the fruits later.
  The same applies here. If you maintain your aggregate from the first year itself, then you won't struggle during your 5th and 6th semester of your engineering. 
• What I mean by the struggle in the 5th and 6th semester of engineering is - The companies have a minimum criterion of marks that they specify ( usually it is 70% but for some, it might be 65% or lower too ). Now, if you are struggling with marks in your end moments when the companies are actually coming for the placements, then when will you prepare for the actual stuff which is being asked in the interviews ??
• Therefore, focus in the initial years itself so that a little bit of relaxation you can take towards academic preparation when you are in the 5th and 6th semesters of engineering for preparing the actual stuff being asked in the interviews. But then don't take so much relaxation also, that you end up spoiling your already established aggregate. 

So, my first advice is: Improve your aggregate!

Now, 

If you are sure about the first point there. Then I would suggest learning one programming language properly. ( Even for other branches, trust me! )

What I mean by properly is - You should be able to implement some of the common things in that particular language. 

If you were already a Computer Science student in your 12th standard, then you would have had programming in your curriculum. ( For me it was C++ during my 12th ). 

So, the second piece of advice would be: learn at least one programming language properly.
A personal suggestion would be to learn C++ ( along with STL ). 

Don't just learn what is there in the syllabus just for the sake of passing. 

Don't go for Java, because the learning curve is usually steep. Later, you will be having Java as a subject in one of the semesters ( I forgot which semester. I guess 4th 

For C++, if you have been using Turbo C++. Grow up and do the real C++ ( >= C++14 )

The different revisions in the C++ standards!

If you are a Biology student, don't give lame reasons like - I didn't have programming in my 12th standard so I feel it difficult!
I have seen many people who code better than the people who were already there from the Computer Science background. Yash Kothari of 2016-2020 CSE batch ( my batch ) is the greatest example.

Along with all these, be active in the college in your first year of engineering !!! 

Participate in a lot of competitions in the college. Both Technical and Cultural fests. You would be knowing about Fiesta, Milagro, Inspiron, etc. ( I actually forgot more names ! ) 

If given a chance, volunteer for some of the fests. Organize your own events. And just be active. 

( I never got the chance though! But I had applied for volunteering many times. )

Since I participated a lot, I had several certificates in my arsenal. Apart from the certificates you also win Cash Prizes many times. That was the primary reason I used to participate in the competitions. 

Being a volunteer? You get free T-Shirts too. Tshirt++! 

So, third advice from my side: Be active in the first year. 

This is because - It shows that you are not just into the books kind of a person. You do something apart from academics. It's always an added advantage. 

Summarizing all the above points - 

• Improve your aggregate. 
• Learn at least one programming language. 
• Be active in college. 

Have a nice day!

To know more about what I did during my 2nd year of engineering life, visit - https://baroodblogs.blogspot.com/2019/10/what-i-did-during-2nd-year-of-engineering-uvce.html