>>9945681Network with the people in your program or the clubs on campus
Unless you go into higher education and want to get into academia, which is not nearly as lucrative as just being a programmer in the private sector, general companies could care less. If you want to work in specific fields though, you have to do research on the extra leg work you need. Data Science and generally anything that has to do with ML requires a solid grasp on statistics, linear algebra, and languages/software related to that(Python, R). Disciplined stuff like that is more abundant in grad school though.
Honestly, if you're an undergrad studying CS, just make sure you know how to program everything your prof throws at you and then more, because it will inevitably not be enough. there are tons of projects you can do as a student to build up your portfolio and work experience. If your institution offers elective that are relevant to the field that you want to work in take it.
If you're a highschool student that is applying, decide what field you want to get into and look up which institutions have CS programs that have done research on that field. of course you're gonna have prestigious universities like CalTec and MIT, but below that it really isn't that big of a deal unless you really want to work with some of the professors there. For example, a lot of fresh idealistic HS seniors don't really look at San Francisco State, but there's a lab out there dedicated to machine learning algorithms in relation to prosthetic hand movement. If I wanted to get in on that industry it'd be as easy as gaining admission there, cold emailing the professor, and from there anything can happen.
