Scaler Academy review : 500 Days of Coding, From Tier-3 College to Microsoft
Rachit Srivastava's journey from a Tier-3 engineering college in Jaipur to Microsoft was not an overnight road to success. Rather, it was built through a simple routine: coding, learning, and repeating the process for years.
After graduating in 2016 without receiving the joining letter for his campus placement, he built his software career through other roles. In 2022, he joined Scaler, solved more than 1,200 coding problems, and maintained a coding streak of more than 500 consecutive days. His preparation eventually opened interview opportunities at Microsoft, VMware, Walmart, and Oracle, followed by a Microsoft role.
His story resonates with the vast majority of engineering graduates in India, but what makes him stand out is not a salary figure or a college rank. It is the number 500.
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Rachit grew up in Jaipur and studied Electrical Engineering. His interest, however, gradually moved towards software development.
He graduated in 2016 and received an on-campus placement offer. But the joining letter never arrived.
But instead of getting disheartened, he began to look for another way into the industry. He joined a PG Diploma program at CDAC, developed practical software skills, and started working as a Junior Software Engineer in 2017. From there, his career progressed through a small software company, Icertis, and LTI.
By the time he discovered Scaler, he had already gained professional experience. But he still felt there was a gap between his current position and the product-company roles he wanted.
The gap was not simply years of experience. It was preparation.
Rachit writes that coming from a Tier-3 college, he felt there were concepts and interview skills that candidates from stronger academic backgrounds already possessed. His objective was to close that gap and prepare for leading technology companies.
That became the starting point for the next phase of his career.
Beat 2: Day 1
Rachit's Day 1 was not a dramatic turning point.
When he enrolled with Scaler in 2022, Data Structures and Algorithms, Low-Level Design, High-Level Design and core Computer Science concepts were still relatively new to him. He struggled with parts of the curriculum and often had to revisit lectures before the concepts became clear.
The response was repetition.
"Consistency beats motivation."
While working full-time, Rachit dedicated around four hours a day to learning and practice. Some evenings were productive. Others were simply difficult.
The routine continued anyway.
There was no claim that every day felt rewarding. In fact, his account makes the opposite point. Some concepts took several attempts. Progress was not always visible. The useful part was continuing to practise even when the results were not immediately obvious.
That is where the streak began.
Beat 3: Days 100–400
The first hundred days can still feel measurable.
The middle is harder.
Rachit's preparation eventually stretched across nearly two years. During that period, he continued working full-time while revisiting lectures, solving coding problems, and preparing for technical interviews.
The numbers accumulated quietly.
More than 1,200 coding problems.
More than 500 consecutive days of coding.
Four hours a day alongside a full-time job.
The Scaler curriculum gave the practice a direction. Instead of solving problems randomly, Rachit focused on the areas he needed to strengthen: Data Structures and Algorithms, Low-Level Design, System Design and Computer Science fundamentals.
"Progress wasn’t always visible. But I kept showing up."
That sentence explains the middle of the story better than the final Microsoft offer does.
A streak only matters when the day itself is ordinary.
Day 100 was not the finish line.
Neither was Day 250.
Neither was Day 400.
The routine remained the same: learn, practise, revisit, repeat.
Rachit also describes the trade-offs behind that routine. For nearly two years, weekends often went towards lectures, coding practice and interview preparation rather than travelling, socialising or relaxing. The process was anything but glamorous.
But repetition changed what he could do.
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Google
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Eventually, the preparation moved from practice platforms to interviews.
Rachit says the strongest areas of preparation were Data Structures and Algorithms, Low-Level Design, System Design, and core Computer Science fundamentals. As interviews increased, so did his confidence in competing with candidates from top colleges and established product companies.
The opportunities began to widen. Microsoft, VMware, Walmart, Oracle, and other international technology companies were among the organizations where he received opportunities.
Then came Microsoft.
The important detail is what happened before the offer.
There was no single coding session that changed the outcome. The interview preparation was built on the accumulated work of hundreds of days.
The 500-day streak was not the achievement that Microsoft was hiring for. It was the evidence of the preparation behind the candidate.
After completing the program, Rachit says his compensation increased by more than 160%. More importantly, he says, he gained the confidence to pursue opportunities he had previously considered out of reach.
The outcome fits the process.
Beat 5: What 500 Days Buys
A 500-day streak does not make college tier irrelevant.
It does something more practical. It creates enough evidence that the college name no longer has to carry the entire argument.
Rachit began with a Tier-3 engineering degree, an unsuccessful campus-placement outcome, and a desire to move into product companies. He built software experience first. Then he identified the skills he needed to strengthen, committed to a structured learning path, and spent nearly two years practising them consistently.
More than 1,200 coding problems later, he had something concrete to demonstrate.
The number matters because it represents repetition.
The 500-plus-day streak matters because it represents consistency.
The Microsoft outcome matters because it shows where that preparation eventually led.
Scaler's broader career report also places Rachit's story in a wider context. Learners in its reported cohort came from more than 3,000 colleges, showing that the learner base extends well beyond a small group of elite institutions.
Rachit did not begin with a perfect roadmap.
He began with Day 1.
Then came Day 2.
Then another day.
And another.
By Day 500, the difference was no longer theoretical.
The work had compounded into a level of preparation that made opportunities such as Microsoft possible. For someone looking at their own college, their own first job, or their own unfinished preparation, that may be the most relevant part of the story.
Not Day 500. But Day 1 is available to everyone.
To know more: Explore Scaler Academy.
