I applied online in late September, answering five short essay questions. A recruiter contacted me soon after and scheduled my interviews for mid-October. I had to move my interviews to an earlier date due to a competing offer deadline, and my recruiter was very amenable to rescheduling.

Because I am a second-year student, the interview consisted of two back-to-back technical phone interviews with different recruiters. I coded on a Google Doc during these interviews. I felt the questions were very fair given my limited technical experience. My interviewers helped me when I was unsure of what to do, but otherwise didn't say much and basically let me code.

My recruiter called in late October, about two weeks after my interview, to inform me I had been approved for an offer. I accepted my offer letter later that day. I received an email notifying me that the project matching phase, which determines your summer location, would begin sometime in November. The email also stated that accepting the offer guarantees a project match.

Overall, it was a very good experience. Both interviewers and both recruiters I spoke with were very friendly, responsive, and helpful in expediting my interview process due to competing deadlines.

Recruiters often send a very helpful PowerPoint presentation with resources that tell you exactly what to study. Some key areas to focus on include data structures, recursion, and searching.

One question I was asked, I knew how to accomplish logically but had never learned the syntax. I wrote it in pseudocode, and my interviewer helped walk me through how to write it correctly.

If you are asked a question you don't know how to do, explain your approach and thought process out loud to your interviewer, and take their advice. They don't really care if you come in with all the knowledge, as long as you're able to learn from their guidance.