Know the Timeline First Google runs a massive hiring operation across multiple waves. For Summer 2026, the main application window for North America and Europe opened in August 2025 and ran through October. A second wave with rolling interviews ran from January to March 2026. The key thing to understand: apply early, not when the deadline hits. Spots genuinely do fill up as the cycle progresses, and getting in during the first wave gives you more runway if you need to re-interview. What the Technical Interview Actually Tests Google's technical bar for SWE interns is well-documented at this point. You'll start with an online coding challenge, then move into 1–2 technical phone screens. The focus is squarely on CS fundamentals: algorithms, data structures, time and space complexity. What catches people off guard isn't the difficulty — it's the emphasis on clean, readable, efficient code rather than just getting the right answer. A brute-force solution that works is a bad signal at Google.…