Ok, what we see in the valley are two types of recent graduates. We see "curriculum only" graduates who can barely use an IDE and can't code their way out of a

Ok, what we see in the valley are two types of recent graduates. We see "curriculum only" graduates who can barely use an IDE and can't code their way out of a paper bag (usually without real internships). These graduates require 2-3 years of experience before you can trust them with any level of complexity and are not really hire-able unless the startup is very desperate. It's very easy to filter out these candidates but they also (saldy) make up the bulk of the applicants. Then, there are the geek's geeks (you). We love candidates like you. You put in long hours for usually much less pay than a senior engineer and don't know enough to realize that free pizza isn't really a benefit. You will not have any trouble securing offers after you graduate. Now, there are some things you can do to make yourself even more hire-able than you already are. First off, years of real world experience matters more or less depending on the technologies you use. If you are very good in a hot skillset you can name your price and choose your company regardless of experience, degrees, body odor, etc... Right now, the hottest language in your background, by quite a bit, is Javascript. Good UI people, and specifically good JS guys, are extremely hard to find right now. If you add in some solid backend skills (you already have Java, which is good, but Rails or Django might be even better) you are starting to look like the perfect candidate for any startup.