Episode summary introduction: Sibi Venkatesan knew he wanted to study Computer Science. He had always enjoyed it and was good at it. When time came to go to College, Sibi moved from Bangalore, India to Berkeley, California to pursue the prestigious Electrical Engineering and Computer Science program.

Sibi gives us a ringside view into his experiences at University of California Berkeley.

In particular, we discuss the following with him:

• Why he chose Berkeley
  
• Being an International Student at Berkeley
  
• His advice for Students applying to Berkeley
  

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Berkeley - “Fantastic Experience” [2:00]
  
• Choosing Berkeley [4:27]
  
• Bangalore to Berkeley - The Transition [7:57]
  
• “Very Smart Students” [14:42]
  
• Campus Life [22:37]
  
• Amazing Food around Berkeley  [24:58]
  
• Summers of Research [28:52]
  
• On to CMU for Grad School [31:33]
  
• Comparing Berkeley and CMU Campuses [37:05]
  
• The PhD Research  [42:47]
  
• Advice to Aspiring Students [44:55]
  
• “Video game I couldn’t quit!” [49:45]
  

Our Guest: Sibi Venkatesan graduated with Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from University of California Berkeley. Sibi is currently pursuing a PhD at Carnegie Mellon University.

Memorable Quote: “I just shot him an email saying, I am in your class, I read some of your papers. Really interesting, do you think I could work with you?” Sibi on how he got his summer research project with Prof. Pieter Abbeel at the end of his second year.

Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.

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