Student Profile
Katy
- Class: Freshman
- Major: English
- Gender: F
- High School: Garfield High School
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
UW totally rocks. And i'm not just saying that...since coming here i've heard so many stories from friends at other schools, and i was worried that maybe i'd made the wrong choice. But i visited several of them at their schools, and none of them could even compare to UW! Don't worry about the big size. Seriously. I have sooo many friends, and there's no way you could ever meet everyone, so you can always make more friends! Also, almost every new friend I make knows at least one or two people I know, which really makes the school seem tiny! Also, joining clubs and sports teams helps a lot. I've made a lot of friends that way! There's a lot of school pride, too. There's always a ton of people on campus wearing purple sweatshirts!! Our big rivalry with WSU is fun, because let's face it, it's nice to be in a rivalry with someone who is obviously inferior to you! :) And even though Seattle is a fairly big city, it's definitely a college town!! If you go off campus wearing a Husky sweatshirt, alumni will say hello to you or say "nice sweatshirt!". Also, thousands and thousands of people who live in Seattle come to our football games in the fall. Also, local employers love hiring UW students.
Academic Life
Out of the 15 classes i've taken so far, i've only slightly disliked one of my teachers. They're all great!! They all really care about the students, and even if you're in a huge lecture class of like 500 (which i've been in a few of), you still learn a ton! Two of my favorite classes so far have been Psych 101 and Com 202, which were both over 450 sudents. But both of my professors were so energetic and cool that it still felt personalized and i learned a lot. On the other hand, many of my classes have been less than 30 students, which is great, too, because you really get to know the professor and get to talk to them one on one. Some of the students here are competitive, but not really. Everyone I know wants to always do well in their classes, but no one is cut-throat or mean about it. All my friends encourage me to do well! I study kind of often, but it really depends on the class. Some are reading heavy, some really require paying attention in lecture, and some are a breeze. It really depends on what you take. Whatever your style is, though, it's easy to find a bunch of classes to match it. A lot of the way people here find out what classes to take is by word of mouth. It's commonly known that the class nicknamed "Rocks for Jocks" used to be easy, but then the professors realized people took it for an easy A, and so they made it harder. Also, it's common knowledge that Astronomy 150 is much easier than Astronomy 101.
Student Body
There are a lot of white and asian kids here. there are not that many black, hispanic or native american students. However, what minorities there are are well represented with clubs and specialized sororities and fraternities. Many UW students are from Washington state, but a ton of them are from out of state as well. On sunny days, it's seriously the most beautiful campus I've ever seen...all of my out-of-state friends always say that the sunny days here make all the rain totally worth it. I would say there are not really cliques at UW at all. There are so many students here, it's super easy to find friends. The biggest split I would say is between Greeks and non-Greeks. People in sororities and fraternities mingle a ton amongst one another, but not a lot with non-Greeks. I made the choice (which I am very happy with) not to join a sorority, but I know a ton of people who are in sororities and absolutely love it. It just depends what kind of college experience you want. Also, classes, clubs and sports are great ways to get to know people in or out of the Greek system who you otherwise wouldn't get a chance to meet. Also, most of the Greek system do tend to party...a lot. People in the dorms/off campus do, too, but often the dorm kids (like myself) get the better end of the stick, because we can choose to go to Frat parties if we want, but we can also throw smaller parties just with ourselves. it's great. most students are pretty politically and environmentally aware. It's Seattle, so almost everyone is extremely liberal and environmentally friendly. We have SO many recycling/composting options here, it's great! The people here are just really nice in general. People in the northwest are generally really accepting and relaxed. extremely relaxed. haha. Some people are here just to find a high-paying job and make money, but not many. It seems that everyone is here to find and study something they're passionate about. It really doesn't matter here at alllll what your financial background is. I have friends who come from both pretty poor families and from really wealthy families. it doesn't matter!
The Best Things
The beautiful campus, the awesome people, and the location!
The Worst Things
The rain and constant construction going on.
