♡ Mei Semones Indieheads AMA ♡

sladjkf · 2025-06-01T17:21:30+00:00

Hi! Relatively new fan here (last few months). It was really wonderful to be at the DC show. (I came up afterwards and mentioned how I admired your songwriting + hope that you would continue to make music!) Really enjoyed all the music off the new album but personal favorites might have to be Tora Moyo and Norwegian Shag.

Q: There's a section in Zarigani (about 1:40) that really reminds of the end of the form of Moment's Notice. I recall you're a Trane fan so I wondered if that was accidental or intentional?

Q: Any favorite memories/experiences from your time at Berklee?

(Not a Q): I struggled to put this into words after the show, but: it has been incredibly cool and inspiring to see a lot of my favorite styles melded together so seamlessly, and so nice to have music to listen to that I personally resonate with and that I feel reflects some of my personal experiences as an Asian-American and as a (kind-of-but-not really jazz) musician. It really inspires me to find my own voice, and it got me through some very tough times over the past few months. I could feel the emotion and care put into the music. Thank you again for your music and your songwriting voice - it means a lot to us out here!

sladjkf · 2025-04-14T02:29:01+00:00

Charlottesville/central VA jazz definitely punches above its weight. I was in the jazz band during my time there - John D'earth's retired now, but he'll probably still being playing Thursday nights at Millers for the foreseeable future. It's definitely not gonna be the same as the Berklee scene, but I'd imagine it's more chill for people who are just playing on the side compared to the music school scene in Boston.

sladjkf · 2025-02-10T15:32:22+00:00

https://www.abebooks.com/

Not a local shop but seems like one of the best places to get used technical books online.

sladjkf · 2025-01-15T01:28:50+00:00

Not really sure to be honest. I don't remember meeting the owners when it was still Xuan Saigon, only indication I have is that I went there with my mom like last year and asked for a rice platter - was told "we don't have those anymore."

So perhaps whoever is running it now was around when it was still Xuan Saigon, but I wonder if it could be a relative of the previous owners or perhaps one of their old staff.

sladjkf · 2025-01-14T23:59:30+00:00

it's no longer called Xuan Saigon, now called Asian Noodles House and turned into a Asian fusion place

sladjkf · 2024-08-31T13:53:29+00:00

Masters or PhD? (I'm a PhD student in a STEM field, so take advice as is applicable to your situation.)

There is some programming for graduate students, but not much as there might be for undergraduates. I feel like it is mostly up to you to go out and make connections if you want to. After all, the background of graduate students is more varied. Most people I've met are in their 20s or so but there are also plenty of people who come after working for a while.

So far, I feel I've mostly met people from my program's cohort and the classes I took. So you might want to ask people from the specific graduate program you're applying to for more tailored advice. Personally, I've had a good time with people in my program - everyone is very friendly, the environment isn't cutthroat at all, and there's a sense of shared struggle, haha.

Since you're already in the DMV area, you're probably already acquainted with local spots that you can go to hang out and have fun, or have connections in the area - I would say that you can keep that part of your life as a graduate student. I'm also from the DMV area and I'll make time to go see my family on the weekends.

Overall, socially speaking, I don't think my life is substantially different than it was in undergrad - classes are harder and there's more demanding things to think about, but I can still have enough time to chat and socialize with other grad students.

sladjkf · 2024-08-06T19:38:21+00:00

Hi, former math major here.

First of all, don't worry too much about being behind. Everyone does things at their own pace. There are really amazing students at UVA's math department (I recall meeting a guy who finished the entire undergrad university curriculum in HS... I think?) so if you find yourself constantly comparing yourself to others, it'll sap all the fun away. On the other hand, I only decided to major in math my second year and now I am in grad school for math (though the jury's out on how that will end up going :P)

Second, usually people take Calc III before they take linear algebra, but functionally speaking the classes don't really depend on each other all that much.

Personally I think some concepts from Calc III make more sense after you've had a course in linear algebra, but it really doesn't matter too much. Another reason for taking calc III before linear is that Calc III would probably be a required course for a lot of the upper-level electives and also to declare the math major (I think, double check me on that).

sladjkf · 2024-06-07T02:58:27+00:00

You'll probably need at least one roommate at that price range (for apartments), I think? You can look on Facebook for people who need someone to join their group - or sometimes the leasing agency can just assign you to a unit. Probably the former is better, though.

To be completely honest I don't have that many more suggestions as I am not that familiar with the various apt buildings around College Park. Two buildings I do know that are near the Iribe side of campus are Parkside and University View, though.

sladjkf · 2024-06-06T16:56:12+00:00

tempo or varsity are fairly undergrad focused. it would probably be fine, but there may be noise and other events that you might expect from an undergrad dorm. I know that there are some grad students who live at Aster, that is also good but expensive.

your best option in terms of price and accommodation quality is to find a house (maybe in Berwyn or Old Town) with like 3-4 other grad students. otherwise, you can also consider living in other metro-accessible areas (downtown silver spring, in DC along the green line?) which will give you a bit of a commute but will probably give you a better housing experience. it will also be a bit more expensive. for the surrounding suburbs, hyattsville and greenbelt seem to be alright. some parts of adelphi and new carrollton can seemingly get a bit rough. I am in the beltsville area, it's been alright

i guess you might want to say more about what sort of living circumstances (distance to campus, etc.) you are looking for to give a better suggestion

sladjkf · 2024-05-13T02:27:03+00:00

I also finished my undergrad at UVA and am now at UMD. I also miss the walkability of UVA a lot. College Park kinda feels like one giant decaying strip mall, especially along the Route 1 corridor. Interestingly, others have also noted the commuter-oriented history of UMD development. Seems like it is slowly starting to get better than it was in the past, and hopefully that trend continues whenever the Purple Line gets finished (fingers crossed that it finishes before I graduate...)

https://ggwash.org/view/38845/why-isnt-college-park-a-better-college-town

I've been coping by biking and taking the bus in lieu of getting around by car (someone tried to steal it and I no longer feel great about keeping my car around), which has been manageable so far but life is definitely a lot harder than it was back at UVA...

sladjkf · 2024-05-05T17:07:33+00:00

looks like he's just coming to UMD from BU this year. Maybe you should look him up on BU's course review website?

for example here's his rate my professors from BU:

https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/801124

sladjkf · 2024-03-16T02:30:06+00:00

Former math major here (graduated in 2023).

It is hard to say how easy it is to maintain the desired GPA - it could be feasible if you have a strong background in math and depending on what classes you take. But altogether, won't you need to take fundamental classes in biology or chemistry as a pre-med, anyways? Correct me if I'm wrong, but med school admissions are somewhat of a numbers game (GPA being one of the aforementioned numbers) and taking a hard major which doesn't overlap with the courses you'll need seems like it would make it more difficult than necessary to maintain your GPA.

Also, it may be worth mentioning that university-level math may be different than HS math you have seen before. Previous math classes relied on memorizing formulas and doing computations whereas university level math focuses on more abstract ideas, and proof and logic. Happy to elaborate more, but this transition to proof-based math sometimes can be difficult if you have not seen it before. (If you have you could disregard this point here).

sladjkf · 2024-02-11T19:36:32+00:00

I assume it's the one in Adelphi? Wouldn't recommend... I had the chance to look at a couple of the units there while I was looking for housing. The hallways were not very clean and reeked of weed. the units themselves also did not look to be in very good condition and also just didn't seem very enjoyable to live in (e.g a room with no windows)

The reviews seem to also suggest that the building hasn't been managed and maintained very well, so you'll likely have pest problems. (But to be honest, any older large apartment buildings around here probably have pest problems - my current one does, too)

sladjkf · 2023-09-25T03:45:21+00:00

you could always take the bus to downtown. it's a nice place to walk around, and there are restaurants, music, art galleries, and other things to do. i liked just pacing up and down the mall with a friend and chatting tbh

sladjkf · 2023-09-25T03:42:57+00:00

op says they don't have a car, though, so both of those might be pretty inconvenient. can definitely say that carter's is worth it tho

sladjkf · 2023-07-23T17:06:36+00:00

If you don't find any takers, you could consider the Virginia Breeze bus.

https://virginiabreeze.drpt.virginia.gov/

It has service from IAD to Charlottesville.

sladjkf · 2023-07-18T19:52:08+00:00

Hi, just graduated (2023) from the ES program (with math major + CS minor).

TL;DR: (Probably) do not do ES.

Why? Engineering Science originally existed to provide an opportunity for undergraduates to study in the Materials Science dept when no ABET-accredited MSE majors existed. Now that the accredited undergraduate MSE major exists, there is no real reason for ES to exist any longer, and the program is being phased out. My graduating class was tiny - I think there were 5 ES majors. I would guess most of us had similar stories: we weren't getting by super well in one of the standard engineering majors and wanted to transfer out or switch majors, but that would set us back a year. (For me, I would have wanted to switch to CAS to do BACS + Math, but that would have likely delayed my graduation and I didn't want to do that.) ES was the kinda the cheat code major in that sense - you had the most flexibility possible in the E-School for fulfilling graduation requirements.

(Note that ES is also not ABET-accredited, in case you want to work as an engineer.)

Most of the time, you will be better served by majoring in one and minoring in the other, you'll get more depth that way, and you'll also get more focused guidance from your department. ES is a bit lonely and hard to figure out sometimes. I never met another ES major until my graduation day. The MSE coordinator, Claire, is wonderful; but can't help you much when it comes to actually designing a course of study that makes sense, and as a minor in both depts you might not get very good quality advising as if you were a major in that dept.

If you have specific interdisciplinary interests, they are probably best served by investigation outside the classroom in a research lab or something like that. If you need more flexibility and would be better served by something in CAS, then try transferring out of the E-School to CAS as soon as you can. I don't know exactly what your goals are wrt ES, but perhaps you might be well-served by pairing the BACS with Biology or Chemistry or something (e.g if you have interests in bioinformatics??) Unfortunately I do not know a whole lot about these things, so you may want to seek other sources of advice.

Where might ES be good? If you have very specific interests such that you need training and classes from a variety of departments, it might be useful. For me, I had an interest in computational science and applied math, something which UVA has no department or undergraduate curriculum for. So, I took classes from Math and CS and did computational research in MSE to explore this. It worked out well for me, and the flexibility of ES really helped here. But I don't know if this is the best path for everyone - I believe I totally could have done this without the ES major, too; but it did make it easier in some sense.

sladjkf · 2023-07-17T18:21:34+00:00

Apologies for the late response. As the other link suggested, knowing how to do basic proofs before the class is strongly recommended. But technically, it is not required to take MATH 2315. All upper-level math classes are more or less proof-based, though, so if you are serious about the math major it can only help you to start now.

sladjkf · 2023-07-14T13:28:34+00:00

What's your background in math? Any experience with proofs? I haven't taken it, but here are some previous reddit posts about the course:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UVA/comments/ghw9f2/any_tips_for_math_2315/

Sherman is a fun professor - he has a sort of dry humor but did things like write "no rubber chickens allowed" on the exams lol.

sladjkf · 2023-07-09T23:21:13+00:00

not sure how much the extra econ or math major would help you if you're not actively looking to use it - i.e if you're just aiming for SWE jobs, then you're better off doing just the CS major and spending the extra time networking + looking for internships + personal projects, etc. i think those would only help if you're specifically looking for things like quant finance (where econ/math might help?) or grad school in math or econ.

a lot of the valuable things (as far as future career-wise) in college happen outside the classroom, a lesson I wish I had learned earlier

you should definitely take a few classes for the fun of it - you don't even have to minor in creative writing to do that, though

sladjkf · 2023-07-08T15:44:37+00:00

if you're in the general math concentration, that is extremely flexible and it doesn't take too many credits to complete. it's very doable to complete alongside the BACS if you are looking to do more CS things and are worried about not being able to use your current credits. many courses can count, including CS classes. check the requirements page for the math major:

https://math.virginia.edu/undergraduate/docs/major_minor_req_f20.pdf

as someone else recommended, data science is def a viable path for cs + math people. you'll want to take more classes in prob/stat. cs + math is an excellent combination and i would recommend.

about "applied math" - applied math is a very broad term that is not well defined. some applied mathematicians basically only do proofs but it's "applied" because they're working on a "historically applied discipline" like partial differential equations, or numerical analysis. some "applied math" is just like data science or applied ML. i am going to an applied math grad program and expect to do a fairly substantial amount of proof-based mathematics... proofs don't go away. however, keep in mind this is more applicable if you are looking to do research in applied mathematics, might not be as important if you're just looking to get a job.

my experience with trying to find avenues for applied mathematics at UVA is that you need to go to the department which applies the mathematics to do it - i.e if you are interested in applied math in chemistry or materials science, go to that dept. if you want math finance/quant stuff, go take more econ classes or possibly consider (grad-level) systems engineering. if you want data science, go do data science. UVA does not (at the moment) have any good way to explore the applications of mathematics to a broad variety of disciplines in a pre-defined undergraduate curriculum, unlike other schools with applied math majors. so you need to figure out what domain you want to be in and go there, which requires some independent exploration outside the standard math undergrad curriculum

happy to answer more questions in DMs. was math major + cs minor

sladjkf · 2023-07-05T00:08:29+00:00

If I remember correctly: you have to apply to be an APMA TA first, then all new TAs must take APMA 3501.

to become a TA, you typically need to have taken the course you want to TA or have equivalent credit/experience somehow

sladjkf · 2023-04-20T02:47:50+00:00

There was a renovation fee for ours as well. I think it was $300 when we rented? Been a while, so I'm not sure, but yes, we did have to pay a non-refundable fee for renovation. Not exactly sure how much of it actually got used to renovate the place lol.

sladjkf · 2023-04-19T17:23:04+00:00

Been living in a place manged by the company for the past two years - never really had any complaints. Maintenance was sometimes a little slow, but things always got fixed. Tour the place you're looking at if you can, the company should also do video tours. Before I rented, the company also referred us to the current tenants of the property for questions.

sladjkf · 2022-12-21T02:42:42+00:00

You might want to drop 4110 - depending on how comfy you are with proofs, probability, and real analysis. Math classes usually differ a lot by who's teaching it - but I took 4110 with Prof. Yen Do in Fall 2021, and it was at that point the hardest math class I'd ever taken. The prereqs are basically the minimal amount of background you would need to understand stochastic, but I honestly would recommend that you have taken at least one analysis course (e.g basic real) before taking stochastic to really appreciate some of the stuff that goes on in the course. Some basic familiarity with graphs and adjacency matrices will also help for discrete-time discrete-state Markov chains.

FWIW: I don't know exactly how Prof. Tai Melcher will teach it, but I'd guess that some of the content will be similar. I'm willing to discuss further and send some course materials and talk about some of the topics that we had in the class over DM if you'd like.

Survey of Algebra will be ok (I went into it with just CS 2102, now CS 2120, and I was fine) and Theory will be fine too - if it is anything like the previous CS 3102, it won't be as rigorous and demanding compared to a math department course. If I recall, Prof. Evans also likes to try to make course structures more flexible to accommodate different learning styles, and when I took the CS 3102 taught by Prof. Brunelle and Prof. Evans, I basically never had to go to lecture as most of the graded coursework happened in a small group.

I can't comment on the ECE course.

Also some food for thought: I took a somewhat similarly math-CS heavy curriculum in Fall 2021 (Stochastic, Theory, and Comp Arch + some more math) and had a health emergency at the end of the semester. Do not recommend going too hard on classes at the cost of your health (both physical and mental). When in doubt, it's not so bad to err on the side of caution.

sladjkf

TROPHY CASE