When Chris Andrews first got to college, he didn't know beans about computers. "I had learned enough to play solitaire and write papers with Microsoft Word," says Chris. "That was about it."

Three years as an EECS major gave him a solid grounding in the fundamentals of computer science. But as he entered his last year, Chris felt he needed more experience to make it in the professional world.

Chris spent his spring semester at Ejasent Inc., an Internet start-up company in the heart of Silicon Valley. There, he honed his programming skills and saw firsthand how things operate in the business world. "I now have a greater appreciation for the benefits of careful design and the dangers of an ad hoc approach," says Chris, who hopes to go on to graduate school in computer science.