<p>Since there are SO many EECS/CS majors at Cal, do they all compete for a small number of high paying internships at tech startups, as well as top companies like Google/Microsoft? Or are there enough to go around for most students? (including freshmen/sophomores)</p>
<p>There’s going to be a lot of internships since there’s a bunch of tech companies and startups, but they aren’t going to hand them out. You will have to prove that you’re a qualified candidate with your resume, classes, and projects you have done. And yes, there will be competition for internships for the top companies, but they’re still hiring a large amount…and you don’t get internships just by applying online. besides applying online through the career website, you need to network and talk to the companies to even get your resume through. and they will test your coding capabilities during interviews and maybe on the spot if you are at the internship fair. Yes it will be harder for you to get an internship since you are a freshman/sophomore (that’s like every major), but it isn’t impossible.</p>
<p>though startup internships are easier to get if they are unpaid…but they are usually paid.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answer; I realize that they won’t just be handed out.</p>
<p>Do you think if I were to go to a school with a much smaller CS department (only a couple hundred students, I believe), that would decrease competition and make it easier for the majority to get internships in the bay (even if this school isn’t near the valley)? Particularly, I’m deciding between Brown and Cal, so I’m trying to see the effect of a large student body competing with one another vs being farther away from SV at a school slightly less known for its CS program (but still is very good).</p>
<p>It’s a lot easier to get internships where the college is since it is more likely that the company will recruit there. FOr Brown, there might be several companies from the bay area that come recruit, but it would probably a little more difficult since many companies would not go out of the way to go over there to recruit if they can recruit from Berkeley or Stanford. Yes, internships may be competitive, but it isn’t impossible to get. I never had any difficulty getting internships (might have taken many applications and interviews), but I still ended up getting some. My EECS friends never complained about having trouble finding internships. I think as long as you do decently in EECS, there is a pretty good chance for you to get internships and jobs. </p>
<p>Let’s say you go to Brown; you’ll still be competing with Berkeley students if you are hoping to apply for internships in the Bay area. I would still think you have a decent chance as long as your computer science background/classes are sufficient. However, if the company doesn’t recruit at your school, you will have a difficult time even getting a first round interview, so I would look into Brown’s CS program and see what companies hire from Brown…</p>
<p>here’s the berkeley one and what companies hire eecs majors, I can’t seem to find one for Brown, so you might want to look around
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/EECS.stm”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/EECS.stm</a></p>
<p>EDIT: you would also need to compare with programs. Yes, Berkeley is one of the best in the nation, but would you enjoy classes with hundred of students for lecture (there are discussions that involve 30 students to a TA but lectures always have a lot) Or would you prefer a smaller student to professor ratio? You have to be more independent at Berkeley since its a public school. Brown would have a better teacher: student ratio, more resources, more people reaching out to you to assist you since it seems to be a more close-knit program. </p>
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<p>I’m certain companies from SV (Google etc) recruit at Brown so that shouldn’t be a problem, and I JUST talked to a few undergrads there and they say it’s not that tough to get internships in the bay area, even as a sophomore (but of course, it’s hard as a freshman).</p>
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<p>I know… I’ve been comparing and comparing and comparing for the last two weeks. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to arrive at a decision… every few hours I vacillate between the two.</p>
<p>There’s plenty of internships available. Even though the Berkeley CS department is sizable, there’s a plethora of startups, tech companies, normal companies that need CS majors, etc. around the bay area. I wouldn’t worry about not enough internships.
For your reassurance, ALL the Berkeley CS/EECS majors I know (may be a biased sample though) got at least one internship before they graduate. They got jobs directly out of college at institutions like Amazon, Google, Chatsworth, Crunchyroll, Planetary Resources, Tesla, SpaceX.
However if class size is a concern, you should look into Brown. Berkeley CS/EECS is notoriously difficult as well. </p>