University of Washington-Seattle Campus Top Questions

Waking up at 5:00am, students log on to the UW website and at exactly 6:00am the registration opens for students to secure a spot in their desired course, yet at 6:05am many students find themselves unable to get a spot.

One of UW's greatest strengths can also be its greatest weakness: its massive size. There are many resources, which can make it overwhelming at times to discern which will best meet your need. It takes extra self-initiative. UW does a great job of trying to connect new students with a club/activity group to build friendships. I was blessed to start my freshman year in a house with seventeen other women off campus. They were a variety of years and majors, and had a wealth of advice (from choosing classes to the best coffee spots).

University of Washington has many incredible departments and experienced faculty, but the class size in the undergraduate level makes it extremely challenging due to the average sizes of 400-500 students. This vast size causes a disconnect between professors and students. I have heard many complaints from fellow classmates about the lack of communication with the professor. Another side effect of the large class sizes influences the curve based grading system. Because the classes are so large, there is a large possibility that a student will not get the desired grade due to necessity to maintain grades above everyone else.

My school is located very close to a major city. There are tons of amazing things close to the area and to the campus; however, I get a sense of being over-crowded at times. I, personally, am a bit of an introvert who loves wide-open spaces. My preferences for solitude can sometimes clashe a little with the busy area.

Hectic urban setting.

Not sure

The worst thing about my school so far is the food service. They make the same thing almost every other day and I have lost all taste for food now. At home i had diverse food consisting of both asain and hispanic, but now its just food that I like to refer to as "grey".

The worst thing about the University of Washington is the class room evironment. The number of students in a classroom is enormous so there is not a lot of chance to talk one on one with professors . Although, there’s always help available from others but its hard to develop a strong relationship with professors because of the enormous number of students in the classroom.

It's difficult to deal with large classes at the beginning, but on the upside you get really great lecturer professors and soon you will be in smaller classes with them!

It's only a bad thing to some people, but I'd have to say the rain. No it doesn't rain every day, but it rains A LOT.

There are many crimes such as theft, purse-snatching, happening near the campus almost every night. All day long, ambulance and police cars could be heard. The safety isn’t that well-established in the neighborhood. In addition, there are many constructions going on now which affects the learning environment with the noises and classes have been moved to another location.

There are many benefits to attending the University of Washington. The major issue that sticks out to me are the class sizes. Because this university is so big in size and student population, and with the help of the budget cuts there are huge class sizes and some classes have even been dropped. Some students have to take certain courses in a specific order to get the credits needed for his or her major. The class sizes of three hundred and more can make it difficult for students to learn because there are so many distractions.

The worst thing about my school is that the campus is huge! It's a beautiful and wonderful campus, but the size of it is just a lot of walking. However, most students ride a bicycle around campus which really helps. Don't be intimidated though, the campus may be enormous but your classes won't be too far away (usually no longer than a 5 minute walk or 1 minute bike ride from class to class). The shortest gap between classes is 10 minutes so you'll have plenty of time to get to class.

As of now the school is going through budget cuts, so some resources have been cut. TAs and a couple tutoring programs have been cut. Also, there is too much construction going on campus.

The classes can be fairly large depending on your major, so it can be hard to get to know professors on a very individual basis. This is a little fustrating when it comes to things like letters of recommendation that need to come from a teacher.

The worst thing would probably be the parking. There isn't a lot of parking available and parking permits are really expensive. Currently, it's about $420 a quarter to buy a parking permit so I have no choice but to take a bus to school. Also, for daily parking, it costs $15 which is too expensive for me. If I missed my bus and had to drive to school one day, it would cost me so much money.

From my experience, I have not found any negative elements associated with the University of Washington. I love the environment, the courses offered, the professors, the diversity, the energy, and the thriving desire to learn and advance in the world. Students are always searching for more avenues to further both their education as well as their real-world experience, two areas in which the University prides itself in helping. There is nothing I dislike about the University of Washington, or my experience there.

There is no worst thing about UW.

The fact that we have an image and a name to hold up to really puts stress on all the students. Some majors are so tough it drives you crazy, the demands are too high for what others get at their universities and schools.

I'm not complaining because I understand that I am very lucky to be able to go to school at the University of Washington; however, I often find myself missing my community and my home. It's also difficult to find people who share the same struggles and understand particular hardships being a Native American women in this society. The isolation I feel here is hard to cope with and I do not have the ability to go back home, for home is all the way in Nevada. Besides the location and lack of my people UW is amazing.