0x00 | Personal Background#
- In the computer/software field, I am weak in some aspects. In the first five semesters, my rankings in both class and overall were rk2 (1.5%). I scored 590 in the sixth level.
- Research: I only have experience in reproducing some papers.
- Projects: I have worked on a major project (backend: 2000 lines, frontend: 3000 lines, model/algorithm: 300 lines, data volume: approximately 5000+ entries per month). The result was winning the national university information security competition in the individual category (2023.8, Zhejiang University Zijingang). I have also worked on several small CRUD projects.
- Competitions: I mainly focus on CTF, but I have participated in various other competitions as well.
- Network security: Over 30 CTF competitions, offline AWD, network protection, etc. I have won three or four national-level awards (including the CISCN practical competition in which I won the third place in the team category and the third place in the individual category, as well as several provincial-level awards).
- Mathematical modeling: Mama Cup, Higher Education Society Cup, May Cup, Electrician Cup, etc. Mainly participated in these competitions during my freshman year.
- Development: Citi Cup, Computer Design, Software Cup, Huawei Software Challenge, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cup, etc. These competitions involved frontend and backend development, robot scheduling development, deep learning model development, etc.
- Programming: Blue Bridge Cup, CCF CSP.
- Technical skills: Full-stack development, web security, designing and training/fine-tuning simple models using PyTorch. I have some knowledge of C/C++/PHP/Python/Java/Go.
- Organizational experience: Web developer in the Scr1w team, member of the Network Security Center, core member of the Open Source Association at my university.
Personal aspirations: Currently, I do not have the intention to pursue a Ph.D. A master's degree without a professional degree is also acceptable. I want to become a security researcher, but if that doesn't work out, I am willing to work in development.
Final destination: Fudan University Computer Science and Security (secsys)
0x10 | Summer Camp#
Here is the information about the summer camps I applied for and attended:
Fudan University Computer Science (6.26-6.29)
Beihang University Computer Science (6.30-7.2)
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Network Security (7.4-7.5)
After receiving the offer from Fudan CS, I rejected the other summer camps because I felt that none of them were as satisfactory as Fudan CS (which has a strong security group). Additionally, I was tired after traveling between Beijing and Shanghai for 10 days, and I couldn't focus on studying anymore.
0x11 | Fudan CS Summer Camp#
The Fudan summer camp followed the same process as previous years:
Introduction to different disciplines in the first two days
Volunteer selection on the second evening. Fudan has a real-time system where you can see how many people have applied for each discipline.
Computer-based test and English oral test on the third day
Specialized interview on the fourth day, conducted by the professors from the laboratory of the discipline you selected
I felt that the English oral test went well, but the other two parts were not as good. I only solved two out of five questions in the computer-based test, and I struggled during the interview with Professor YZM. My answers to the questions related to the 408 course were not good...
I chose secsys, which is one of the most popular laboratories at Fudan. Many talented individuals competed for the summer camp. There were only five spots available (three for master's students and two for direct Ph.D. students), but there were nearly 20 competitors. Among them, more than ten master's students competed for three spots. It was very competitive.
Result: Unexpectedly, I received an offer.
0x12 | Beihang CS Summer Camp#
Beihang's summer camp is known for its large-scale simulation test and interview that focuses on mathematics and the 408 course:
Introduction in the morning of the first day, computer-based test in the afternoon
Specialized interview on the second and third days
The computer-based test consisted of two large-scale simulation questions, which had to be completed within 2 hours. I barely solved the first question. During the specialized interview, I struggled with the questions related to probability and statistics, and the interviewers also asked me to translate a difficult English passage. However, they stopped me halfway through the translation and doubted that I had a score of 590 in the English level 6 test. It was quite amusing.
Result: I was placed on the waiting list as the 14th candidate. (80 offers and 20 waiting list spots)
0x13 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University Network Security Summer Camp#
There was limited information available online about the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Network Security summer camp, and I didn't research it thoroughly before attending. Additionally, I felt that the guidance provided by the university for the summer camp was not very helpful.
Written test on the first day, which included subjective questions related to security and mathematical questions (cryptography, discrete mathematics, probability, linear algebra, etc.)
Specialized interview on the second day
I was surprised to see that Dean Gu Da Wu attended the interview, but unfortunately, I was late that day and forgot to bring my resume and other materials. Shanghai Jiao Tong University did not provide us with a detailed schedule online, only the starting times of all the interviews. Unfortunately, I was the third candidate, and I didn't know that the interview schedule was posted in the offline classroom, so I didn't check it.
Result: I was placed on the waiting list.
0x20 | Pre-recommendation#
I only applied for the pre-recommendation of Wuhan University Network Security (9.26).
0x21 | Wuhan University Network Security Pre-recommendation#
The pre-recommendation for Wuhan University Network Security consisted of an online interview, which was relatively easy. I didn't prepare at all and went for the interview without any prior knowledge.
Result: I received an offer.
0x30 | Conclusion#
I am quite satisfied with the results, although I really wanted to go to Tsinghua NISL. However, I know that I don't have enough research experience and skills :(
Initially, during my sophomore year, I wanted to do research with a professor, but unfortunately, there were no professors specializing in traditional security at my university's School of Software. At that time, I didn't consider finding professors from other universities. Now, I realize that I made a mistake. Sigh...
I would like to express my gratitude to the mentors from the Scr1w team for their support and help. I achieved many accomplishments and even had the opportunity to travel with their sponsorship :)
CTF experts who are interested in pursuing further studies are welcome to contact me~