u/NetworkNo359

This is a weird question but I am genuinely confused.

So I am an international student who got accepted to TAMU and am strongly considering it. I completed my undergrad in the US itself but was in Philly. Now, whenever I tell people that I am planning on going to TAMU, their reaction is always very weird, whether its friends or former professors. They all say, "For real? Hmm, different kind of people, would be a very different world." Now, I might be overthinking it but their tone is not signaling, "Oh wow, you're gonna have a distinct experience" and instead, feels like, "Oh, are you sure?".

I am wondering why they react the way they do. Does it have something to do with the political aspect? I personally don't get involved in political discussions and will almost never judge someone because of their political beliefs so it doesn't matter to me as long those beliefs don't translate into hate from either sides.

I think TAMU is a great opportunity but am skeptical now because of how my admit is being received.

Can someone shed light?

I wonder if I’m asking the weirdest question here and I’m sorry if this is not the sub to ask something like this but I seriously need some help.

So I have spent all of my undergrad doing no leetcode and being a very poor coder in general. And then came AI tools and I screwed even more. Needless to say, I don’t have a job and more importantly, lack the technical skills to find one.

I had plans to go to graduate school before I started my undergrad so not having a job isn’t a major problem at this point given that I already have decent admits and have more or less decided where I want to go.

However, what’s bothering me is the fact that I have solved zero problems on LC and just don’t have the pre-requisites to start. I doubt if I can write a palindrome at this point.

I want to understand how I can build a step by step approach to finally start doing LC. How did you guys start? What all do we need to have conceptual clarity on in order to even approach an LC problem? Can someone give me a list of things we need to diligently to be a leetcoder (including the prerequisites as well)?

TIA to anyone who read this post till the end. Sorry for such a long post.