I am (sometimes)

So, why did I choose Google? I was pretty adamant about choosing Microsoft for a while. I thought the work at MS would be pretty cool, and I really wanted to know the corporate culture at MS. This was enough to sway me initially towards MS. Besides, Google was pretty much ignoring me. The recruiters said they wouldn't even talk to me until after the MS deadline. That was a bit frustrating. So MS really liked me, and they had a good offer. Hooray! Then I actually got talking to the Google guy, and he seemed pretty cool. As he pointed out, if I hadn't been so persistent, he wouldn't have talked to me, and I wouldn't have gotten the internship offer. Good thing I was persistant. So we started talking, he asked some good questions, and I gave some good answers. Now if I go to Google, I know who I'm going to work with. Awesome; most interns at Google don't know. Then Google told me the money. It's a bit more than MS, but there are moving expenses (and a moving stipend), and hassle, and no Stargates with Julia to consider. As I mentioned before, I had talked to Prof. Dumas about grad school. What he said really convinced me I'd love it, and that it was a great path for me. So I talked to Steve Gribble, an awesome Professor I had last quarter (networking), and one of the profs who recommended me to the manager (contact at least) at Google. He had some very good things to say. If I'm seriously considering grad school, and if I'm insistent (which I think I am) about either MIT, Carnegie Mellon, or Berkeley, then I need to have a very good recommendation. Everyone applying will have the grades I do, and a lot will have done some research. So my research with Dan will help, but not guarantee anything. So another letter from someone well-known (potentially the guy I'm going to work with at Google) will be another helpful bonus. That really got me thinking. There's also the consideration that Google won't be this awesome (probably) forever. I do want to get in on the awesomeness while I can - especially since grad school will take some time and it may settle down by the time I'm out. But I'm still not sure if Google has the kind of work I want to do. I think I might be a Programming Language guy. Microsoft has C#. I'd love to work on C#. Or maybe development environments for Javascript (which Google may have). What better way to find out than by working there for a summer? So those were my academic considerations. I also kinda want to know if I still like the Bay Area (especially for raising kids). I really like Seattle, but I remember loving Berkeley as a kid (though now I'm sure I mind the breakins a bit more). With Fuzzy and Ben bashing it, its important for me to know. I should talk to Dumas a bit more - he went to Berkeley way back when.

"Subscribe to National Geographic. Make a list of all the places you'll never visit. Add to that list, Schmidt." - Shirley Schmidt, turning down Allan Shore.