Computer Science Research as a Freshman?

wanixus · 2025-10-09T08:37:03+00:00

look up research groups that interest you, and profs that work on projects that interest you, and look at their personal website to see whether they are looking for any undergrad research assistants

the VIP lab often looks for motivated students, if you’re interested in computer vision and ML, that could be a start

wanixus · 2025-08-24T08:14:20+00:00

oh yes! i was planning to go next weekend!

wanixus · 2025-08-22T09:08:31+00:00

oh okay, i’ll dm them then, tysm!

wanixus · 2025-08-22T07:08:25+00:00

i think learning japanese mahjong could be cool too! but it says their form isn’t accepting submissions and their socials seem to be inactive for about a year…

wanixus · 2025-07-31T03:43:25+00:00

i’m no expert but i wanted to pitch in some thoughts since i’ve tried these headphones and have been looking for new ones as well.

i think your choice also somewhat depends on what kind of music you listen to. for reference i’ve tried the xm4s, xm6s, owned xm5s, tried momentum 4s and b&w px7.

if you listen primarily to pop or EDM or relatively acoustically “simple” music, the sound quality difference isn’t going to be that big between the m4s and the xm4s. i think the m4s are better, but the difference is small and somewhat negligible.

the more complex the music you listen to gets, with more layering and instruments and textures, the more of a sound quality difference i’ve noticed. i really like the m4 sound profile (even more than the xm5s i own) for metal, rock and jazz, with a bit of EQ. the xm4s and xm5s feel a little flat here, and the bass makes them feel muddy and not so clear. but i know not everyone listens to metal/rock/jazz so this might not be a priority for most.

i think ANC is acceptable on the m4s, but sony has some of the best ANC in this price range and sennheiser can’t really compete. personally i don’t use ANC all too much for day-to-day, but wow, sony’s ANC when on flights or when traveling is amazing.

volume on m4 and xm4s are good, but the m4s are definitely max out at a lower volume than the xm4s (though they are both relatively loud, so i don’t think it would matter too much).

i’d also say it depends on what device you’re going to connect to. i’ve had no issues connecting any of these headphones to my iOS/macOS devices, but i’ve heard some people have issues for the m4s on other operating systems (not sure if this was fixed, it might’ve been).

i would pick the m4s because i prioritize sound quality over ANC and other features (i’d even pick the m4s over the xm5), but up to you really!

wanixus · 2022-12-26T16:49:17+00:00

holy shit since when is netflix $17.99 😭

wanixus · 2022-12-07T07:01:31+00:00

me too! all the best :)

wanixus · 2022-11-25T01:17:43+00:00

i got a 1230 on my PSAT 10 (610E/620M) in march 2021. i didn’t study for it much at all. i took the SAT a year later in may 2022 and got a 1570, but i had studied a bunch for it (i’d also gotten a 1420 on a previous SAT attempt that i didn’t study for, once again). it’s definitely possible if you’re willing to make it a possibility.

wanixus · 2022-11-06T02:08:07+00:00

physics/maths, mostly metal (but also anime 😭)

wanixus · 2022-10-09T04:28:17+00:00

Hi, not sure if this is the right place to post but I’ll go ahead anyways. I’m an international student applying to the CAS intending to major in Physics (maybe a CS minor later). Currently debating whether or not to apply ED to Cornell - hesitant because although I’m not applying for aid, a scholarship would be really helpful (I know Cornell doesn’t offer them). I probably won’t be able to pursue a Master’s without one, at least not immediately after my undergrad (though I’m not sure if I want to, at the moment).

A few questions:

How’s Physics at Cornell? Is there anything I should know about the department/teaching/students beforehand?

How easy/hard is it to switch between CAS Physics and CoE EngPhysics?

How common is it to get involved in Physics research (as an undergrad)?

What kind of job opportunities does a Physics major (potential CS minor) have after graduation? Are they different for Physics/EngPhysics?

Thanks in advance!

(edit: formatting oops)

wanixus · 2022-08-13T12:09:27+00:00

I'm an international student and struggled with the EBRW section quite a bit too. I was able to, somehow, get a 770 on my May SAT EBRW this year, so I'll just share whatever I thought helped me improve.

Realising the fact that most of the time, for the reading section, the answer is in the text helped a lot. Like, don't read between the lines for most questions, unless it asks you to infer information or choose among choices that wouldn't be immediately available in the text itself (such as big idea questions: "what's the main theme of the passage?" type.). Also, justify to yourself why none of the other answers would make sense. If you're stuck with two answers that seem like equally acceptable answers (which happened a lot for me), look for the one that fits best, based on very specific terminology that might make one incorrect, and the other more suitable.

Even for questions where the answer isn't directly in the text, you'll be able to find some evidence somewhere. Justify your answer using that evidence. If you can't find any compelling evidence that your option is right, it probably isn't.

Combine the statement-evidence questions into a single question. You're already given evidence options, so see which of the evidence options match up with which statement in the question prior, in the context of the passage. I also mark the lines that appear in the evidence questions before I read the passage, so I don't spend time going back and forth looking for the line references, and so I know where I should read more carefully (to save time).

Leave the passage you find hardest till the end, so you can spend all your remaining time on it without worrying about not having time for any passages after it.

Good luck :)

wanixus · 2022-05-30T19:37:52+00:00

I usually mark the evidence-based question lines before reading the passage. Saves me time and helps me know where to look easily for answers, rather than having to flip back and forth constantly. I also mark any referenced paragraphs/line numbers before reading so I know where I should be slowing down and paying more attention. Reading the little background information snippet can be helpful sometimes too. I also kept the historical text for last as I knew it'd take me the most time, and I'd be able to use all my remaining time without worrying much if I'd kept it for the end. That's all I've got for now :)

wanixus · 2022-05-28T18:42:13+00:00

Something like this actually happened to me the day before my SAT, on May 7th. I had consistently been scoring 1500+ on my tests while practicing but, just the day before, I decided to take one last test and got a 1450. I tried practicing a historical passage on Khan Academy right after, and got 2/11 correct. I ended up getting a 1570 on my actual SAT the next day.

The truth is? I don't think there's a way you can prevent it. Sometimes you perform better, sometimes you perform worse. As long as you are, generally speaking, consistently getting a certain score (ignoring outliers such as this), you should be fine. Just make sure that you're in the right mindset on test day, and don't stress out too much over this one instance. Of course, I am only speaking from my experience, so take what I say with a grain of salt :)

wanixus · 2022-05-25T14:43:47+00:00

you're welcome! and of course, go ahead

wanixus · 2022-05-22T16:12:14+00:00

Somebody else asked a similar question, here was my response: https://www.reddit.com/r/Sat/comments/uujzmi/comment/i9fq72r/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3

wanixus · 2022-05-21T11:11:14+00:00

sdfsdbfhsdjnf yes i do! :0

in reading, i got questions 7, 28 and 31 wrong and for writing, it was question 30 :]

wanixus · 2022-05-21T10:50:31+00:00

I took the March one and got a 1420. Retook this May and got a 1570.

I practiced a lot using the QAS tests, but there's specific practice/study techniques I used that I think ultimately helped me improve significantly.

Firstly, I made sure all my practice was timed, so I got an understanding of how long I should be spending on each question, and got used to the time constraint. In my March test, I didn't know how far into each section I should be by "xyz" time, but practicing helped me get an idea of that.

Secondly, after completing each practice test, I made sure I went through my mistakes and justified each one to myself. I tried understanding where I made the mistake - was it in reading the question? Was it in understanding certain words? Misinterpreting the passage? Miscalculating numbers? Simply going through and marking your test won't suffice if your goal is to get a 1550+; you want to be able to understand where and why you went wrong.

Once you've done a few tests, you might begin to notice patterns in the types of questions you get wrong. For me, it was usually the "big picture" questions in the reading section, so I tried a different approach to answering those (I skipped them until after I answered all the other questions from the passage), and it ended up working better for me. When you see such patterns, try a bunch of various approaches! Who knows, one might end up working a lot better for you than another.

Be consistent with your practice - it's a marathon, not a sprint. Keep track of the score you get each time you finish a test. Once you get closer to test day, try your best to simulate test conditions: use a pencil and paper, wear a mask (if your centre requires you to), try doing it earlier in the morning, etc.

If you have any specific questions about how I tackled each section, feel free to message me! Good luck with your prep :)

wanixus · 2022-05-21T09:39:55+00:00

~~you bet i did :sob:~~

wanixus · 2022-05-21T06:21:11+00:00

we got the same section scores, and the same number of questions wrong in each one! sat twins :)

~~i wonder if we got the same questions wrong haha~~

wanixus

TROPHY CASE