Below is a list of UVA undergraduate mathematics students and alumni who have volunteered to share their experiences and provide guidance. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please submit this form.
John Layne, fourth year
My name is John Layne, and I'm a fourth-year math major pursuing graduate school in math. I am interested in analytic number theory, combinatorics, dynamical systems, and related areas. For example, I'm very interested in results such as the prime number theorem and the ergodic proof of Szemerédi's theorem. I am currently doing my DMP thesis on the Green-Tao theorem!
I have completed three different math REUs, several independent studies with professors in and outside the department, the DRP, geometry lab, and many math courses at UVA. I have also been very involved in the UVA math club since my first-year, and I am currently vice president. Please feel free to contact me if you want to talk about math, learn more about my experiences, or are seeking some sort of advice!
Outside of math, I'm really into rock climbing. Before that, I did gymnastics, diving, and was really into cubing.
Advice topics: Awards, fellowships, and scholarships, Courses, Distinguished Majors Program, Faculty mentorship, Student Job Opportunities (grading, teaching assistantship, tutoring, etc.), Graduate school applications, Independent studies and undergraduate research, Informal learning, Math Club, Resumé and CV crafting, Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs), Sub-disciplines in mathematics
Mitansh Kagalwala, third year
Hi! My name is Mitansh Kagalwala. I am a third-year majoring in Mathematics and hope to go onto graduate school. I attended the Budapest Semesters in Math program this summer, doing research in Mechanistic Interpretability and Simple Games.
Advice topics: AWM, Courses, Faculty mentorship, Student Job Opportunities (grading, teaching assistantship, tutoring, etc.), Independent studies and undergraduate research, International Students, Math Club, Resumé and CV crafting, Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs)
Brien Meiser, third year
knk3fw@virginia.edu
Hello, friends. I'm a friendly math-physics double major who is interested in mathematical physics. I have done many independent studies to pursue this interest, as well as taken some graduate courses. I am pursuing a distinguished major and plan to write a thesis next year, hopefully on fluid dynamics. Feel free to reach out to me if you would like any help with the math major.
Advice topics: Courses, Distinguished Majors Program, Faculty mentorship, Independent studies and undergraduate research, Informal learning, Resumé and CV crafting, Sub-disciplines in mathematics, Any Interest in Mathematical Physics
Catherine Cossaboom, third year
qkb9us@virginia.edu
Office hours: by appointment (contact by email)
My name is Catherine Cossaboom, and I am a third-year math major with interests in analytic and algebraic number theory and arithmetic geometry. I am very grateful to have attended the UVA REU in Number Theory twice and to have taken many independent studies and graduate-level courses at UVA. I have published two papers in number theory and attended several conferences, and I will be conducting research abroad this summer. I intend to participate in the Distinguished Majors Program and apply to PhD programs next year. I am the president of the AWM chapter and am very involved with running programming for undergraduates in the department. I absolutely love mentoring other students and would love to answer any questions anyone has. Feel free to email me! I am happy to meet in-person or on Zoom.
Advice topics: awards, fellowships, and scholarships; AWM; courses; faculty mentorship; independent studies and undergraduate research; informal learning; Math Club; resumé and CV crafting; Research Experiences for Undergraduates; sub-disciplines in mathematics.
Nat Fink-Humes, fourth year
hww5an@virginia.edu
Office hours: by appointment (contact by email)
Hi I'm Nat, a 4th year heading off to earn a Ph.D. in something related to PDE's. As both a transfer and (extremely) non-traditional student, my path towards graduate school in mathematics has been unusual. If you also find yourself off the "traditional" path, then I am more than happy to offer guidance gleamed from mine!
Advice topics: courses; faculty mentorship; grading and teaching assistantship; graduate school; GRE; independent studies and undergraduate research; informal learning; non-traditional students; resumé and CV crafting; transfer student.
Samuel Goldberg, fourth year
seg8st@virginia.edu
Office hours: TuTh 1:00pm-2:00pm Kerchof Hall room 314 or by appointment (contact by email)
My name is Samuel Goldberg, but most people call me Sam. I am a fourth year math major with interests in number theory and (sometimes surprisingly) related topics. I intend to attend a PhD program next year. During my time as an undergraduate, I have been fortunate enough to have enrolled in the summer study abroad program at Budapest Semesters in Mathematics, taken a variety of math courses and independent studies, participated in the UVA REU in Number Theory, participated in the Distinguished Majors Program, and attended several math conferences. I have also worked as grader for several courses and as a tutor in the Math Collaborative Learning Center. Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have about my experiences! I am also happy to meet in person or on Zoom.
Advice topics: courses; Distinguished Majors Program; faculty mentorship; grading and teaching assistantship; graduate school applications; GRE; independent studies and undergraduate research; informal learning; resumé and CV crafting; Research Experiences for Undergraduates; sub-disciplines in mathematics.
Liran Li, third year
zqj6pe@virginia.edu
Office hours: TuTh 2:00pm -3:00 pm, Clemons Library second floor.
Hi! I'm Liran Li, you can also call me Stephen. I'm from Nanjing, China, and I'm a math and computer science double major. My interests are mainly in algebra, topology, geometry, theoretical computer science, and cryptography.
Advice topics: awards, fellowships, and scholarships; courses; Distinguished Majors Program; grading and teaching assistantship; independent studies and undergraduate research; informal learning; resumé and CV crafting; sub-disciplines in mathematics.
Declan Stacy, third year
fmw3cs@virginia.edu
Office hours: by appointment (contact by email).
I am a third year math major planning to do the +1 master’s program (in math) at UVA next year. I am primarily interested in probability and stochastic processes but I enjoy learning about many other areas of math and also some related disciplines (computer science, economics). At UVA I have taken advantage of opportunities like the Distinguished Majors Program, the Directed Reading Program, and independent studies with Professor Koberda. I also tutor at the Math Collaborative Learning Center and have taken the Putnam Exam a few times. Outside of UVA I have taken a summer class, done the Polymath Jr REU (https://geometrynyc.wixsite.com/polymathreu), and am interning as a Quantitative Strategist at Goldman Sachs this summer. I am happy to answer any questions you may have about anything related to the above or just math in general. Feel free to reach out via email but we could also meet in person if you prefer.
Advice topics: courses; Distinguished Majors Program; faculty mentorship; independent studies; industry; informal learning; math competitions.