D.E.Shaw Ascend Educare Program for women Experience

Hello everyone!

I am a pre-final year student at NIT Delhi. Although I'm not a professional writer, I’m writing to share my experience with the D.E. Shaw Ascend Educare Program.

What is the Ascend Educare Program?

D.E. Shaw is a global investment and technology development firm founded in 1998. The Ascend Educare Program is a six-month mentorship initiative for women in tech, launched in 2021. The main aim of this program is to engage women in the technical field and represent women’s participation in real-world intellectual projects. Through this program, students gain a better understanding of work culture and real-world projects at D.E. Shaw. Additionally, D.E. Shaw provides a stipend of approximately INR 50,000 for the entire duration of the program.

Eligibility Criteria

The Ascend Educare Program is only for women in engineering and is not open to male students. The eligibility requirements are as follows:

• Second- and third-year female students of B.Tech/B.E. programs are eligible.
• Third- and fourth-year students in a five-year dual degree program are eligible.
• First-year students in a two-year M.Tech/MS/MCA program are eligible.
• Second-year students in a three-year MCA program are also eligible.

Program Rounds

Round 1: Resume Shortlisting

This is an elimination round, where your resume plays a crucial role. If your resume is shortlisted, you advance to Round 2.

Round 2: HackerRank Online Test

This test was conducted on HackerRank with proctoring and consisted of two sections:

Section 1: Eight aptitude and computer fundamentals questions.

Section 2: Two coding questions, ranging from medium to hard difficulty. One of the questions in this section was very challenging, and only a few candidates could solve it. Students who managed to solve even half of this question were invited to the next round.

Round 3: Technical Interview

Most candidates were eliminated in the previous round, with only a few reaching the interview stage. This round lasted about 45 minutes. The interviewer asked for an introduction in the first five minutes, followed by two coding questions of medium to hard difficulty. Topics for these questions included linked lists and graphs.

My Experience

After being shortlisted for Round 2, I received an email about the online assessment. This round included two coding questions and eight multiple-choice questions based on computer fundamentals and aptitude. The overall test time was 90 minutes, and switching between questions was not allowed—each question had to be submitted before moving to the next. This round was challenging, with two coding questions of medium to hard difficulty.

After qualifying for this round, I received an invitation for a technical interview, which was conducted entirely online. The interview started with a brief introduction, and the interviewer asked two medium-difficulty coding questions. The entire interview lasted for 45 minutes.

Overall, my experience with the Ascend Educare mentorship program was positive. I hope sharing my experience will help others preparing for the program.

Thank you!