Guydeguyde blog
Hackathons: The Ultimate Extracurricular for CS Majors
April 6, 2026 • 15 min read
Hackathons: The Ultimate Extracurricular for Modern CS and Engineering Majors
If you are a Computer Science or Engineering major at Santa Monica College, your GPA is only half the battle. In the tech industry, recruiters care more about what you can build than what you can memorize in a lecture hall. Hackathons are the most efficient way to build a professional portfolio from scratch in a single weekend.
1. What Exactly is a Hackathon?
A hackathon is not a "hacking" event in the criminal sense. It is a 24-48 hour invention marathon. Groups of 2 to 4 students come together to build a functional software or hardware project—such as a mobile app, a web platform (like Guyde!), or an AI model—and then present it to a panel of judges.
The "Hackathon Hustle":
- No Sleep: It’s a high-intensity environment that mimics a real-world startup product launch.
- Free Food & Swag: Most hackathons are sponsored by companies like Google, Meta, and AWS—they provide free pizza, energy drinks, and stickers.
- Networking: Recruiters from those same companies are often wandering around looking for high-energy students to hire.
2. Why CC Students Should Compete with MIT/Stanford
Major hackathons like CalHacks (UC Berkeley) or LA Hacks (UCLA) often provide travel reimbursements. Even as a community college student, you can go to these massive events and compete directly against Juniors and Seniors from the most prestigious universities in the world.
"Winning a prize at a university hackathon as a community college student is a massive 'Transfer Hook.' It proves that you have the same technical talent and drive as students already at those elite institutions."
Search for events on Major League Hacking (MLH). They list both in-person and virtual hackathons year-round.
3. Building the "Hackathon" Section on Your Resume
One weekend at a hackathon can give you more resume content than a whole semester of CS classes.
Resume Transformation Example:
Project: 'SMC Grade Scanner' | LA Hacks 2026
- Collaborated in a team of 4 to architect a Python-based scraper using Selenium to aggregate campus grade data.
- Deployed a React frontend with a Firebase backend to handle 500+ concurrent user queries.
- Winner of the 'Best Use of Google Cloud' award among 150+ competing teams.
4. SMC Hackathon Culture
SMC has one of the most active CS communities in the California Community College system. You don't have to leave campus to get involved.
- SMC Computer Science Club: The biggest club on campus. They organize "Internal Hackathons" and carpool to events at UCLA and USC.
- Google Developer Student Club (GDSC) at SMC: A student-led organization mentored by Google. They host workshops on cloud computing and app development specifically for hackathon prep.
- CMD (Center for Media and Design): SMC's tech-focused campus on Stewart St. This is where most of the high-end coding and digital media work happens.
Hackathon Strategy for Beginners
Don't be intimidated if you only know basic Python or HTML. Hackathons are for learning. Most events have "Beginner Tracks" and mentors who will sit with you for an hour to help you fix a bug.
Use the Guyde Search to find professors who teach CS 1 (Introduction to Computing) or CS 20A (Data Structures). These are the core classes that give you the tools to finish your first hackathon project.
Looking for more pre-professional advice? Read our guide on Landing Your First Internship or Finding Undergraduate Research.