CS373 Fall 2021: Varad Thorat
Where did you grow up?
I spent part of my childhood in India, and then I moved to the United States when I was 6. I lived in Plano, Texas ever since then.
What high school did you attend?
I attended Plano East Senior High School in Plano, Texas.
What was your favorite extracurricular activity in high school?
I participated in many extracurricular activities, but my favorite activity would have to be tennis. I enjoyed playing tennis with my friends, and I played tennis on the Varsity team for my high school.
Why did you come to UT?
UT has a very strong CS department. A lot of my friends from Plano came to UT as well. Also, UT had a lower tuition cost than some of the other universities that I got accepted to.
Why are you majoring in CS?
I was interested in pursuing a career in technology as a teenager. I was in the Computer Science club at my high school, and I participated in several programming competitions. I enjoyed those, and I decided to major in Computer Science.
Why are you in this class?
I want to potentially do a Software Engineering internship next year, so it would be great if I learned important fundamentals about this before I start.
What are your expectations of this class?
From what I have heard from other students, I expect this class to be intensive. I expect to do a decent amount of independent research to do good on the projects. I also expect to learn a lot of material relating to Software Engineering. I expect to get a good idea of what most Software Engineers do in their jobs, as I think Professor Downing will cover what software engineering looks like in the industry.
How much Javascript/Python/SQL/Web programming do you already know?
I know some Javascript since I taught myself some last year. I know some Python because I took Artificial Intelligence last semester, and all the assignments were in Python. I do not have any experience in SQL. I have done some Web programming with React a couple years ago.
How did you like the first lectures?
The first lectures were pretty good. I had Professor Downing last semester, and the style of lectures for this class matched last semester. He was very informative and thorough with his lecture.
How did you feel about the cold calling?
I am fine with the cold calling. I think it is a good way to interact with the professor. It also keeps me focused as I could get called on.
What made you happy this week?
I moved back to Austin this week, and I was able to meet a lot of my college friends. I have not seen a lot of them in person for more than a year due to Covid, so I was really happy to see them again.
What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?
My pick-of -the-week is Leetcode. Leetcode has a lot of coding questions to practice from. These are very important for technical interviews for many different companies.
