[michaelpinto]

Q. What direction do you want to go in with your career?

I think you really need to think through where you'd like to be when you get out of school. Do you want to work at a big company or a startup? Is there a problem space that you have a passion for (this can be anything from finding a cure to cancer to videogames)? Are you into a certain language or a certain platform?

The people who stand out are the people who have a passion for something. If your obsession is stock picking then you want to bring that passion to an investment bank. If your obsession is self driving cars then you want to work for a tesla or uber.

There's the old Woody Allen phrase "half of life is showing up". In a humorous way you can envision a slacker who shows up for school and manages to pass, but in reality it's showing up and hooking up with the people or projects that you want to work on.

By the way I trick I use is this: If I gave you several million dollars and no conditions, what would you do with it? Would you buy a house or start a startup? By the way don't buy the hype and be honest with yourself on that answer. Many people are selling startups, but there's a world of people doing other things out there.