Current Georgia Tech graduate student Devesh Dalmia (CmpE ‘21) knew he had to find a way to stand out in the highly competitive field of computer engineering. In true Georgia Tech fashion, Dalmia used his ingenuity to hatch a plan that would make him unique in his field. He wrote a book. 

In his book “The College Success Guide: Your guide to navigating college, conquering obstacles, and thriving,” Dalmia goes beyond the typical advice for new college students. 

“The whole point of the book is that I wanted to talk about things that aren’t generally covered or things that students don’t really talk about before entering college,” said Dalmia. “I find great satisfaction in making sure that other people are succeeding, and that’s what inspired me to write this book.” 

Growing up, Dalmia was the oldest child in their social circle, so he was the one leading the way for the younger ones, but he didn’t have a guide for himself. 

“There was quite a bit I wish I knew beforehand that I didn’t because I was a first-generation college student in America,” said Dalmia. “While my parents did attend college, they attended back in India. With this book, I want to be that guide for someone else.” 

From Computer Engineer to Author

Dalmia is currently a graduate student at Georgia Tech studying analytics while working full-time as an analytics specialist and data engineer for Delta Airlines. His education started with an associate degree from Perimeter College at Georgia State University. He then went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech in computer engineering in May 2021.

Georgia Tech has helped shape my future,” said Dalmia. “Apart from the technical skills for my day-to-day work, I think more than that, it gave me the motivational skills and the ability to always try things out of the realm, try things that are different that no one else is doing to see where you can succeed. With that spirit in mind that I got from Georgia Tech, that helped me decide that I also want to stand out from the norm and do different things and try new things. That’s more or less what led me to write a book.

As a recent bachelor’s graduate and current graduate student, Dalmia is poised with a unique perspective. 

“I started writing this book while I was finishing up my undergrad,” said Dalmia. “The experience is pretty fresh. I have noticed that the books that I read about college were always from the point of view of a professor or someone who graduated college years ago. This book is from the point of a college student, so it’s a lot more relatable, a lot more casual. You really do feel like you’re talking to another person rather than reading a formal novel.”  

Apart from his experience as a student, Dalmia also served as a peer leader. 

“I got to interact with incoming freshmen,” said Dalmia. “At the end of every semester, we had presentations about what they have learned about Tech so far, and they would ask questions that I would write down. Having that conversation with these incoming students really gave me more perspective apart from my own experience.”

Dalmia also worked in the Georgia Tech Office of Undergraduate Admission taking incoming calls and emails from parents and students asking about college dorms, meal plans, and all the other questions new students have. 

“I wrote about the things that I noticed while being a peer leader, while being a student assistant in the admissions office, while attending classes,” said Dalmia. “Also, just having conversations with other people in college. I reached out to my friends and asked them for their advice.” 

He was able to pull from all of this experience to put together the “College Success Guide: Your guide to navigating college, conquering obstacles, and thriving.”

The book is broken up into three sections: academics, extracurriculars, and life skills.

“I made sure to talk about topics that aren’t covered by other books,” said Dalmia. “Topics such as commuting, how to properly structure your classes, and when to apply for internships.” 

Prospective or current high school, undergraduate, or graduate students will find valuable information in Dalmia’s book. For those interested in learning more, Dalmia’s book is available exclusively on Amazon, both in a physical format as well as Kindle format. Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited subscribers can download for free, according to Dalmia. 

When asked about plans for a future book, Dalmia has no intention of retiring from his author career after one book.

“I do have plans to write more books,” said Dalmia. “I’ve already started researching for my second book. I really want to write about artificial intelligence because there’s such a boom in the capabilities of that, so the second book that I’m working on is theorizing what the future could look like with AI, how different industries could be affected, and what’s the current state of the technology versus what we could expect in the future.” 

He also has another book in the works to add to his bibliography. 

“I’m also tackling another book at the same time, which is telling different fun facts and sharing information through data visualization,” said Dalmia. “I really want to tell different stories about our world through charts and graphs.”

Dalmia has plans of publishing both books in 2024. 

“If people do decide to buy the “The College Success Guide” and read it, do connect with me on LinkedIn and leave me a chat,” said Dalmia. “If you have any questions or feedback for me, I would love to hear that from anyone, and I love receiving messages. LinkedIn is the number one way to connect with me and reach out to me.”