Choosing college by scholarships and ROI

Today I sit down with Morgan: a networking strategist who landed six internships, saved over $100K before graduating, and built her entire college trajectory around efficiency, not prestige. We break down how she negotiated scholarships, used social platforms to create career leverage, and built visibility that led to competitive offers most students never access.

We also unpack why GPA matters far less than people think, how to network without being cringe, the exact playbook she used to stand out on LinkedIn, and why internships, not degrees, are the real accelerator for CS students.

If you’re in college, breaking into tech, or trying to build a career through strategy instead of luck, this episode is a must-listen.

Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉  https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=Morgan_NetworkingExpert_Internships&video=51lCdXLPWS4

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I’m Aman Manazir, a career coach and software engineer. I interned at companies like Amazon, Shopify, and HP in college, and the day I graduated I landed a $168,000/year* full-time software engineering job. I help you make it as a computer science student & software engineer and get your dream job offer.

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👉 Morgan's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsmorganashleigh?igsh=ODk2ZnVmZHNvcG1j
👉 Morgan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsmorganyoung?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios

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⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
01:44 $100K Saved, Zero Debt
03:26 Paying Bills During School
04:23 Campus Culture at Elite Schools
07:20 Colleges as Businesses: Negotiate Offers
08:22 ROI of Conference Travel
09:53 Classes Are Basically the Same
10:46 Not Meeting Ambitious People
13:53 Why Classmates Hated Me
16:16 The GPA Lie
17:17 The Software Engineering Accelerator
18:37 Techniques for Landing Internships
19:02 Treating Recruiting Like Full-Time
24:43 Cover Letter Framework
27:54 Struggling with Stupid Tasks
30:46 The 80/20 Principle
31:53 Is CS Oversaturated?
36:00 Is Accounting The New CS?
36:29 Just Start Posting
39:30 Everything You Need to Kickstart Your SWE Career
40:00 Experts Don't Really Exist
46:28 Step-by-Step LinkedIn Playbook
57:06 My Viral Disney Post
58:30 Networking Hacks 
1:03:49 Are Referrals Worth It?
1:06:54 Where to Connect