IMO the only advice I can give college students trying to break into tech is to always have a tech related internship every summer no matter what. Even if you have to apply to nonprofits looking for an IT admin intern, just have a track record of work experience + having coworkers who could move on to other tech companies and give you a good referral is key. Also make sure to have a linkedin and proactively connect with your coworkers so you can later ask for referrals if you need one, don’t lose contact.
Also since I’m writing advice, don’t ever stop applying to places. You might feel demoralized after everyone gets offers and you don’t have a single one in May, or in my case getting 149 oddly similar rejection emails from different companies, but I applied to a place in June and got an interview and offer a week later its never too late and in fact you might find a company/team who also thought it was too late to get an intern for the summer.
Also since I’m writing advice, don’t ever stop applying to places. You might feel demoralized after everyone gets offers and you don’t have a single one in May, or in my case getting 149 oddly similar rejection emails from different companies, but I applied to a place in June and got an interview and offer a week later its never too late and in fact you might find a company/team who also thought it was too late to get an intern for the summer.