Struggling 4th year CS spec, need advice

I apologize if this isn't a great place to share this but I am really struggling right now. I currently have zero prospects after graduation and I am completely lost.

For some context (without sharing too much), I have a 3.89 cGPA and will be eligible to graduate in the fall. I have TAed numerous CS courses at UTM as well. I got a PEY job offer last year in March which I accepted despite it not being ideal because I had been seriously struggling for almost 7 months to get any offers. I struggle a lot with interviews due to my disability, and because of how competitive the job market is I'm at a significant disadvantage. I ended up leaving my PEY after 4 months because they were not willing to provide a permanent accommodation I needed. They were also going to switch from hybrid to 5 days RTO after a few months, which I am not able to handle. The job itself also made very little use of my computer science knowledge (despite the job description and interview mentioning a bunch of programming languages), so I felt that I wasn't learning much.

Based on the courses I took in third/fourth year, I realized that I like AI/ML and wanted to try for the MScAC (master of science in applied computing at UofT) because I liked the idea of industry research, but my application was not as competitive as many other applicants (I don't have any publications in AI/ML or experience working in an AI/ML lab). I ended up getting an interview invite and prepared really hard for it, but got rejected. I didn't apply for the MSc in CS at UofT because it doesn't seem like I can survive off research funding alone, and I don't see myself as a professor. I know there are less competitive master's programs out there but I can't relocate as I need to stay with my family.

Honestly I just don't know what to do at this point. I don't want to be one of those people who live off disability benefits for the rest of their life. The reason I entered this program, worked hard to make POSt on my first attempt and did as much as possible to secure an internship was to avoid that future, but I guess I can't outcompete my peers. I don't even know what I could pivot to because I have major difficulties with communication, public speaking, and managing high levels of stress, which almost every job I can think of involves. Computer science seemed like a safe option until I realized the job market was rapidly getting worse during my second year, but I didn't switch programs because I had no idea what else I could study.

Sorry for the very long post. I hope that someone could provide any kind of insight here.

Posted May 1, 2026, 9:07 PM UTC

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