Vidit Bhatwadekar
What are your year, pronouns, major, and where you're from?
I’m a senior studying data science. I go by the he/him series, and I’m from Hong Kong.
What committee are you currently in, and what committees have you been in?
Currently I'm in Data Consulting, and last semester, I was doing Research & Publication.
How have those been?
For Research & Publication, I think my whole project went pretty well. I think I personally chose too hard of a topic to pursue, so I didn't get as much out of it as other people, but overall, I think I was given the right amount of tools. I was given the right amount of help. And it was a pretty interesting thing to pursue throughout the semester. So this semester in data consulting, obviously, we haven't done too much yet. We've just started wrangling the data so far. It’s a good amount of work.
You also mentioned that you were a data science major. How come you chose that major? Was there anything else in your mind when you're trying to decide what major you're going to go through, and why data science?
To be frank, I had a bunch of different majors that I was choosing from in my freshman year, so I took a bunch of math, stats, physics, and CS classes. And when I took Data 100, I really enjoyed it. And to this day, I think that that has been my favorite class at Cal so far. So I think it just makes sense for me, given that I have a relatively good mathematical background and understanding, to pursue data science.
What are your professional interests, and why are you interested in such fields? Is it stats related?
Right now, I'm recruiting mostly for software engineering and data science roles. But that's not necessarily the only thing that I'm interested in professionally. Last semester, I actually took part in this venture capital fellowship, where I got to be a part of this group that hosted a bunch of different venture capital speakers. I got to learn a lot about the venture capital industry, and I'm looking forward to getting into entrepreneurship and venture capital, maybe sometime in the future.
So you mentioned that you had a venture capital sort of internship where you're able to see how it was like?
It wasn't really an internship. It was like a fellowship. The person who was leading it is a Cal alum, who now is a limited partner at a venture capital firm, and she's also a lecturer here at Cal. Overall, it went pretty well. It wasn't work, per se, but it was more a chance for me to learn. There was a weekly lecture kind of thing where we got to learn about different concepts within the venture capital field, and then there was also a weekly talk by some industry professional, whom the professor knew. It was a very rewarding experience because I got a chance to understand this whole venture capital landscape and because it's such an opaque process, getting into venture capital and things like that, and having ties to it in Berkeley is just very helpful.
In what way was statistics used in VC or other things you’ve done?
One thing we focus on in data science is looking at metrics. That's actually a huge part of venture capital as well, especially like sales metrics, revenue metrics, growth metrics, and things like that. So I think although I never did really have to use my statistics knowledge or any coding knowledge, it was definitely good background knowledge to have when doing [analysis on industries and companies].
What are your hobbies and interests?
I like to play sports in my free time. I play mostly soccer, but I used to, back in the day, play cricket and basketball as well. I enjoy reading. I'm listening to True Crime podcasts. I watch soccer as well. Also YouTube and Netflix. I think those are my main hobbies.
Is there any other campus involvement that you are or was a part of?
I'm in a consulting club called Diversatech.
How did you find out about SAAS, and what made you join SAAS?
What made me find out about SAAS was searching up Cal extracurricular clubs, and I actually applied to a bunch of different data science-related clubs, so basically all of them.
If you had to choose between R&P and DC in terms of which one you enjoy more, which one would it be?
I think, although I haven't had much experience, I think I'm going to say Data Consulting. Just because in R&P, you're basically on your own, for the most part. You have to set your own goals. I guess it does offer you a lot of freedom. But I think having a whole team around you to help you and guide you is a lot easier for me.
In DC, were you able to sort of apply the things you learn in classes?
Definitely. Actually, today we were in a DC meeting and we were doing proper data science stuff, like cleaning and things like that, which I did in Data 100.
What would you say is your proudest accomplishment in SAAS as of now?
I think producing my research paper for last semester was my biggest achievement at SAAS. I had done some research projects, but I haven't really done data-related research projects, where I got to actually use my Python skills and data science skills to create a personal insight. It was the first time I got to research something that I wanted to and that I was interested in.
Are you allowed to disclose more about the research project?
Yeah, I actually did a research project on the stock market. It was about how well the American stock market was valued, like undervalued or overvalued during the pandemic. That's a bird's eye view.
How has SAAS helped you with your career and professional development?
SAAS definitely gives me a chance to practice the skills that I've learned and also develop a lot of new skills. I actually developed a lot of time series skills last semester because I've never done time series before I had to do the whole project, so I had to learn those skills. Because of that, obviously, you can put all these achievements onto your resume and things like that. So, employers know that you have experience wrangling data and things like that. So, I think it's very useful.
What are your favorite SAAS memories?
Unfortunately, I haven't had that many SAAS memories, just because last semester, the whole thing was online. This semester, I think, is like a couple of meetings.
How did you make friends in SAAS?
One funny thing was my R&P director was also my Big, and he was also my house prefect. So yeah, I became really close to Jai.
I'm pretty sure you're at least somewhat familiar with the SAAS values, which are community, exploration, and mentorship. Which one do you resonate with the most and, and how come and how so?
Personally, at least in my current position, mentorship is the most important thing for me. That's one big thing that I’m looking for in both clubs and internships because right now, I'm looking more just to learn about different things. Having mentorship not only allows a person to [shadow] and gain experience, but also, in a way, puts less pressure on you, because you know that people are there and they're always going to be helping you. So, I think mentorship is definitely one of the things I look at the most when I'm deciding on which club or which internship to apply to.
Favorite spot on campus that more people should know about?
The music library.