A senior engineer at a “MAANG-tier” company has sparked debate online after claiming that many fresh graduates joining top tech firms lack even basic computer science knowledge, despite having high academic scores.The post drew mixed reactions online. (Unsplash/Representational image)In a Reddit post titled “New Grads are doomed (not all though) This is not looking good”, the engineer said they had recently been assigned to mentor interns from the Class of 2027 and full-time hires from the Class of 2026. They said that the issue surfaced while reviewing Java code written by interns.“As a Senior Engineer, I was assigned to mentor a few interns on a project. Recently, we ran into a system issue: their Java code was improperly managing memory," the user wrote.What surprised the engineer most was that the interns were unfamiliar with fundamental memory management principles. “The crazy part? They didn't even know what heap or stack memory was,” they wrote.“I tried explaining it using fundamental OS concepts, like virtual and physical addresses, just to give them a better idea of the problem. It turns out they don’t even know how basic memory works. Like, WTF? How are you guys getting 8.5+ CGPAs?” they added.The engineer added that full-time fresh graduates did not fare much better. “All they know is how to write AI prompts and throw around big system design buzzwords… they don’t even know the difference between LLD and HLD,” the user claimed."So, my question to new grads is: Have you completely lost interest in core engineering? Are you all just learning surface level stuff now?" the techie asked.How did social media react?The post drew mixed reactions online.One user wrote, “Have you mentored freshers for the first time? This is how it has been even before LLMs. I've been mentoring freshers since a decade, and all the learning is done on the job, not in college. College is only for rote learning and clearing exams.”“Yep throw ai in front of students who grew up with technology basically since birth and blame them for not beating a system that’s built to work against them. And feel good about it. Real superior,” commented another.“Felt the same, but it’s our job as mentors to point them, how to study and become a better engineer. I had a similar problem too, with my interns who I personally hired. They would beat the shit of chatgpt for a simple issue. But they do learn with some hard hearings “professionally of course!'” wrote a third user.Techie addresses criticismResponding to criticism of the hiring process, the original poster said the issue was not limited to coding concepts.“They don’t even know what is the difference between semaphore and mutex,” the engineer wrote.Comparing Indian recruits with their counterparts abroad, the techie added, "Those who are blaming the recruiting process. My sister team is in the USA, and they also hire two FTE fresh from college. They are absolutely smart; you can literally discuss in and out about computers and systems (though I agree they are from top US colleges)."(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)