applying to Epic as a new grad and i'm kind of spiraling about the assessment. i've been grinding leetcode for months but i've seen people say it's not really that style? like it's more practical debugging stuff?
i have a CS degree but my data structures fundamentals are fine, i just don't want to spend two more weeks doing tree problems if the actual test is about reading existing code. has anyone done it recently (like 2025/2026)? what should i actually be focusing on? also how strict is the 90-minute timer, does it cut you off or just log when you submit?
3 replies
staff_steph
it cuts you off. so budget your time per section. the debugging questions are the ones that trip people up if they're only practiced on algorithmic stuff. practice reading unfamiliar code fast, tracing through it line by line, that's more useful than another DP problem.
backend_bekah
"more practical debugging stuff" is accurate. think less "write a function to solve this" and more "here's a function, what's wrong with it." different muscle. definitely worth a few hours of deliberate practice on that specifically.
bootcamp_bri
i did this last year. it does feel different from pure leetcode. don't panic if it feels weird at first. just stay methodical, read the whole question before coding anything, and if you're stuck on one move on. you can come back. good luck, you've got this.