The current optimal strategy for new grad SWE applications is to shotgun as many out as possible as fast as possible. I know many people who’ve applied to 50+ new grad jobs (even in this market) and due to its many to many nature, many new grad job applications get 20k+ applicants (from an inside source at a medium sized company). It makes new grad applications slightly better than a random lottery. There is nearly no difference between an applicant that gets screened in and an applicant that gets screened out at the margin. Really unfortunate situation, and I don’t know if there’s a solution. Colleges solved it by adding a barrier to entry to apply (you have to pay) but jobs can’t do the same thing. Perhaps a arduous application process is a kind of mechanism to throttle applicants and weed out those who are just applying for applyings sake?