The University of Washington - Seattle

Date: Mar 23 2011
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
The University of Washington is a great school… or at least that is what I've been told. I came to the UW, because I did not know what school to go to. I was denied acceptance by my first choice school and UW was my second choice because it was close to home (15min) and had a variety of different courses I could choose from because I went to school undecided on a major.

Incoming freshman beware: Make sure you go to an early orientation, because if you don't there is no way you will get the classes you want… unless you are planning on taking American Slavery or African American History. All the good classes fill up quickly.

I came to the UW excited to get started. I knew UW was a large university, but I had no idea how HUGE the campus actually was. It takes 30+ minutes to walk to some places on campus so beware of the Seattle rain. Bring a rain jacket for sure. The weather is gloomy 90% of the time, so if this does not bother you, you may enjoy UW than the average person.

Some classes at the UW are small (about 25 people) and others are very impersonal and large (700+ people). Coming into UW, I had no idea what being in a large lecture hall felt like. I came from a small school and when I got into the big lecture class of 700+ people, I did not think I would mind just sitting there listening for a couple hours. But when people right, left, above and below you are talking through the lecture, it's extremely hard to concentrate on the material presented in the class. Some professors I have found to be very approachable, while others won't give you or your questions the time of day. They are more concerned with their lives than your's and they don't care about you're education. See ratemyprofessor.com before you sign up for classes. Know what you are getting yourself into.

The people at UW are great. There is something for everyone at UW, you just need to search for it. And searching can be a long and hard process. I recommend joining the greek system because it allows you access to social events without any planning on your part. Even though there are so many clubs at UW, they are still impersonal. There are 40,000+ students at UW so every club as a couple hundred people in it. It's hard to make good friends this way.

My advice: Unless you have a specific major in mind while going into UW, do not go to this University. Their resources and the sense of community is lacking. That is why 75% + students do not graduate in 4 years. If you don't have a plan going in, be prepared to fail! Good luck.