Who let the Dawgs out?!
Written: Jun 22 '03 (Updated Aug 10 '03)
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Pros: Potentially a great education, coffee, easy to get lost in the crowd, Seattle Rocks!
Cons: Huge campus, huge frosh classes, easy to get lost in the crowd.
The Bottom Line: Emotionally, I love the UW. The price is right for residents, and the education is what you make of it. Recommended!
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| javajnkie's Full Review: University of Washington |
I spent three years of my life at the University of Washington, Seattle campus, and made it through without ever attending a single football game. The only time I set foot in the stadium was on Graduation Day. Despite this, I still claim to be a Husky.
I was one of those geeks who missed out on all the fun of college--I never attended a party, attended most of my classes, and enjoyed the education. I did participate in a few protests, I did enjoy the alumni bringing us free coffee and bagels on the first day of classes, and I did enjoy the HUB (Husky Union Building). I bowled a few times in the HUB's bowling alleys, and I ate lunch, frequently, at Subway (again, in the HUB).
This school instilled in me three main things:
1. a love for learning
2. a love for coffee (coffee shops are in almost every building!)
3. a love for thinking (this is not the same as #1).
Cost
With in-state tuition running about $4000 (you'll pay ten thousand more if you're coming from out-of-state), the University of Washington is affordable. I grew up in Los Angeles County, and had assumed I'd attend a State U there, but by the time life got out of the way and college was in front of me, I was a resident of Seattle.
Academics
The UW is a research institution. Practically, what this means is that you'll often find profs who are more interested in conducting research then they are in teaching, and that translates, sometimes, into having teachers who could really care less about the course they are teaching. Having said that, I also have to say that your experience here is what you make it. With classes sometimes bursting from the seams (300 students in the frosh classes), your teacher will not ever know you if you don't make a point to introduce yourself. My advice:
Show up at office hours.
Care about your own work, because oftentimes no one else will!
Get into your degree program early and the class sizes will dwindle.
The quality of the education also depends on the department. I took a horrible freshman-level Spanish class, taught by a TA who just wanted good evaluations. But I also took incredible Genetics courses, taught by research-focused profs (and one from a post doc) who knew their stuff! A terrific tool for picking your classes are the old evaluations that are available online. Read them, take them to heart! Look up any class you are thinking about taking and read every detail you can the different teachers. Then remember, when it's your turn to fill out the evals, that other people will base their decisions on what you put down. Be honest!
The atmosphere
I loved the atmosphere more than anything else. The libraries foster a love for studying (no joke!), and the Graduate Reading Room in Suzello Library is breathtaking. The buildings are an eclectic mix of old and young, and the vine-covered older buildings just amaze me.
The campus is huge, but that allows for so many places to discover. The amphitheater, hidden back behind bushes and trees, is perfect for a quiet spring day, and sitting on the library steps above Red Square, staring off towards the fountain, is a wonder as the sun goes down.
As I mentioned before, the coffee shops are a godsend. The physics building has a terrific little shop, with no waiting (at least years ago), and there's another one in the Engineering building that was never busy. The Health Sciences Center cafeteria/coffee shop was always packed, and the coffee there was sub par, although it did offer plenty of tables to sit and study.
And the U-district. I hung out here a lot. Food lovers will find any genre of food in a three mile radius of campus. Theaters, the zoo..it's a whole world unto itself.
Graduation
This is no small school--so the graduation ceremony is such a madhouse I just have to comment! I left the UW with a BS from a combined program, so I was graduating from two different departments (Arts and Sciences and Engineering). I lined up with thousands of A&S students, as indicated by my tassel color, when someone from Engineering saw me. They pulled me out of line, dragged me by my cap and gown to a tiny booth behind the football stadium, and changed my tassel.
We marched, thousands (hundreds of thousands??) strong into the stadium. There was no hope of finding my friends from any other department, and my family couldn't find me in the crowd until I stood on a chair and called from a cell phone. Dad, with his binoculars, finally sited me as I jumped up and down while waving frantically, but then lost me when I went up to receive a piece of paper (not the 'real' degree). It was a mix of pandemonium and pure joy; although the real graduation for me was the quiet ceremony my department held.
Bottom Line
My years at the UW were terrific! There are plenty of student activities to engage in, although I missed out on all of that. There are protests, there is ambiance, there is a real education waiting for you. The Daily (student newspaper) is excellent as far as student newspapers go, and the profs are good if you take advantage of them. Seattle is an awesome city--cultural, temperate, liberal, and fun.
Oh, the parties
I didn't participate in any of the typical drunken-party stuff that happens in college, mostly because I was already a mommy and already living real life. I hear the party life is like, awesome dude...or something like that.
Go Dawgs!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
javajnkie
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Member: Mari Nichols-Haining
Location: Somewhere Out There, USA
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 22 members
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