Trauma

I interviewed for an SDE Intern role at a big tech last week and got rejected (didn't even get waitlisted), even though I felt okay about one round LC hard and strong on another DP with multiple followups. It hit me harder than expected. I’m at a T5 CS school, keeping up a high GPA, doing research, grinding LeetCode, and mass applying, but it feels like I’m putting in more effort than people in other majors just to get interviews. As an international student, sponsorship adds another layer: many companies claim they sponsor but end up ghosting or rejecting. Right now, my only option for summer is a lower-paying role at a big company in the traditional industry, and seeing peers land FAANG/quant is affecting my confidence and motivation A LOT, like I don't even think I deserve a LinkedIn post. I’m trying to figure out how to improve for the next cycle. Current ideas: * More focused LeetCode + better interview communication * Some OOD/system design prep (given some companies are giving some people OOD questions) * Trying to get into open source (not sure how to start effectively) * Possibly dropping a research lab that I’m not enjoying (but worried about losing publication potential for grad school application) I’m also interested in databases/data engineering, but it feels like everything is shifting toward AI, so I’m not sure if I’m on the right path... Would appreciate any concrete advice, and if someone has been through something similar, hearing your experience would help a lot T_T