Scaler Review: How I Went From a Small-Town UP College to an Amazon SDE Offer
I come from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, and my academic background was in mathematics. I completed my BSc in Mathematics from IIT BHU and was a gold medallist, so pursuing an MSc would have been the usual next step. But instead, I decided to take a different route and joined an MCA program because I wanted to move towards programming.
That decision put me back at the beginning in some ways. Because around 80-90% of the people in my MCA class had come from BCA backgrounds. They already knew coding and had solved programming problems, while I was just starting out.
My first Hello World was in 2018. Over the next two years, I had to learn programming from scratch, get better at problem-solving, and prepare myself for interviews. Eventually, that preparation led to an Amazon SDE role in July 2020.
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Coming from mathematics helped me with the logic behind problem-solving, but knowing mathematics didn’t automatically make me proficient in coding. I had to learn how to take those concepts and actually write a program.
In the beginning, I used online platforms to practise and then spent a lot of time solving questions, but I wasn't very consistent with it. I could sit down one day and solve 8-20 or even 30 programs, and then I wouldn't code for the next week. Sometimes I would start again after a month.
One of my friends then referred me to InterviewBit. I started practising there, and the way it was set up suited me much better. There was a streak challenge, so I had a reason to come back and code every day. If I didn't code or didn't score enough points, the streak would go down by half.
The questions were also timed, which changed the way I approached them. On the platform I had used earlier, getting a solution accepted was enough. With InterviewBit, I had to think about how quickly I could solve the problem and whether there was a better approach.
That's where I started understanding time complexity and algorithms more clearly. I would look at different ways of solving a question and compare them instead of stopping as soon as one solution worked.
For DSA, I also used books and online courses. I started with An Introduction to Data Structures with Applications by Jean-Paul Tremblay and Paul Sorenson, and later found MIT's 6.006 course on YouTube. I went through the course and its assignments in Python and compared my solutions with the ones provided.
What I Prepared for Technical Interviews
My preparation was mainly around DSA, algorithms, and time complexity, but there were other areas I needed to cover as well.
I prepared the core Computer Science subjects, including Operating Systems and DBMS. Programming fundamentals were important too.
I had my own way of dividing the core syllabus into what I considered “necessary” and “sufficient.” When I studied something, I would tag it accordingly. But the basics were always necessary. You need to be really well-versed in the fundamentals when you’re preparing for the interviews.
Mathematics didn't require the same level of preparation. For Amazon, high-level mathematics wasn't really necessary. For companies such as Goldman Sachs, the requirements could be different, but for Amazon I would focus much more on problem-solving and coding.
The programming language itself wasn't something I would overthink either. I prefer C++, but I don't think there is one language that will always be the best. C++ and Java are mostly accepted, and the industry keeps changing. So, it is better to know one language properly and remain flexible than to keep worrying about which language to choose.
What the Amazon Interview Was Actually Like
Amazon had five rounds in my case.
The first was a coding round on Amazon's own platform. There were two coding questions along with some MCQs. That happened on the first day.
The second, third, and fourth rounds were on the following day. These were one-on-one interviews of around 45 minutes. DSA and algorithms were part of them, and one of the rounds focused more on the core subjects. Operating Systems, DBMS, and programming knowledge were among the areas I prepared for.
OOP wasn't necessarily asked as a separate question. It showed up more in the way I wrote code. The interviewer could look at whether the code was clean and modular. In one of the core-subject discussions, I was also asked to write code related to cache memory.
The fifth round was the Bar Raiser round, and that was quite different from the others.
They did ask me about my projects there. I had made a simple student assignment management system in Java because I wasn't an expert in any particular area at that point. I also had a movie recommendation project using three machine-learning algorithms and another project around separating two sounds.
The projects weren't asked about heavily throughout the process, but they did come up in the Bar Raiser round.
There was also an interview where I had used STL in C++ for a solution. The interviewer told me not to use it and asked me to implement the functionality myself. So I had to write the insert function and the other parts on my own.
That experience stayed with me because the interviewer decides what they want to test. Sometimes knowing the library function isn't enough; they may want to see whether you understand what is happening underneath it.
Mock interviews helped with this part of the preparation too. The more mocks you do, the more comfortable you become with the interview itself. I would also ask mentors whenever I had doubts and take their feedback seriously.
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Adobe1200+ moreWhat If Your College Doesn't Have Placements?
Not every college gets regular company visits, but that doesn't mean there are no opportunities.
If companies aren't coming to your campus, you can always make yourself visible on LinkedIn and apply directly. A good profile can help you get noticed, and referrals are another way to get an interview.
I also mentioned Scaler when students asked about other ways to get shortlisted. Its network and community can help create opportunities, and mentors and TAs who work at companies can sometimes refer students who are performing well.
But the most important part that you must keep in mind is to have a good profile while you’re applying to companies. If you're applying for a company, first understand what the company is looking for and then build your skills around it.
Why I Joined Scaler
By my final year, I had spent a lot of time getting better at coding and problem-solving. I knew I wanted to improve further, but I also wanted more exposure to development.
That's when I heard about Scaler.
I joined the program because I wanted to get better at these areas and gain more experience than what I had already been doing. If I had to say what the biggest thing I had taken from Scaler, then it is definitely the confidence.
Interview preparation can be uncomfortable. You can know the material and still find yourself stuck when someone asks you a question in a way you didn't expect. Having mentors and TAs to go back to helped me work through that phase.
And the mock interviews were extremely helpful for this very reason. They gave me a chance to practise before the real thing, get feedback, and make changes.
For me, Scaler wasn't a replacement for the work. The practice still had to happen. The questions still had to be solved. But having people to ask, feedback to work with, and a community around the preparation made the process easier to navigate.
So finally, I don't think coming from a particular college decides whether you can get into a company like Amazon. Having proficient skills can always help you open doors to any opportunities you’d want.
I started programming in 2018 without knowing a programming language. Two years later, I was going through the Amazon interview process. The biggest change for me wasn't one particular course or one particular question. It was getting to a point where I could keep learning, keep practising, and keep going even when I didn't know the answer.
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FAQs
Can you get into Amazon from a college with no campus placements?
Yes. Campus placements are not the only route. Ayush recommends making your profile visible on LinkedIn, applying directly, and looking for referrals. He also mentions Scaler's network and community as another way students can find opportunities.
How long did it take Ayush to learn programming from scratch?
Ayush says he wrote his first Hello World in 2018 after entering MCA and learnt programming from scratch over the next two years.
Which programming language should I pick for interviews?
Ayush prefers C++, but doesn't consider one language universally better than another. C++ and Java are commonly accepted, and knowing the language you choose well is more important than choosing the “perfect” one.
What does Amazon ask apart from DSA?
Based on Ayush's experience, the preparation also covered Operating Systems, DBMS, and programming fundamentals. OOP-related concepts could come through the way code was written, and his projects came up in the Bar Raiser round.
Want to walk on a structured path to learning these skills? Explore Scaler Academy
