@magiebaste You are only required to submit grades. There is an extra space with a minimum allotted number of characters for special circumstances, but no essay required. 
Iām really at a crossroad here. I got in UIUC For Computer Engineering and UW General yet I have not received what major I am going to be in (UWHS problems, mail hasnāt come). If I do not get into direct, should I be heading to UIUC? I have in-state tuition so it would be a less pricey tuition for UW but getting into cs end of freshman year would be tough and UIUC is guaranteed because itās an admit-by major process. HELP?
@AskUWAdmissions If you are waitlisted and donāt get accepted for Autumn Quarter 2017 can you stay on the waitlist for Winter Quarter 2018?
@alfolywa If you are assigned pre-engineering as your major, that means you did not get direct admission.
@swift99swift, tough call based on your (presumably unweighted) 3.69 GPA and ACT 31, (although your 10 APs and SATII MathII 740 reflect very positively on your chances of regular admission to CSE), and of course, UIUC has a top notch program as well.
According to the CSE website, the 150 students offered DA āhave an average unweighted gpa of 3.97 and are mostly Washington state residents. Average test scores are: ACT 34, SAT math 764, SAT verbal 758.ā
The Seattle Times recently reported, āAlthough computer science and engineering is a tough program to get into, the picture is getting better. In 2016, 43 percent of bachelorās applicants were admitted to the program. In previous years, the admission rate was lower.ā
Thus, it looks like you are already a strong candidate for regular admission, and the prospects are getting better for all regular admission candidates. However, I recommend that you speak with someone in the CSE department for guidance about your unique situation. Congratulations on your acceptance at both schools, and good luck!
Ok this answers my question:
āComputer Science, Math, Applied & Computational Math Sciences, Psychology, and any Science majors will be assigned pre-Science which is part of the College of Arts & Sciencesā
@swift99swift Mom here from Seattle area. We have lots of friends with sophomore kids at UW who busted their butts only to be denied by business/engineering/CS. UW counselor point blank told them to go to SeattleU, Western, CC and try there. My advice as a parent? Go where you have direct admit. Have fun in school and work hard. Your life will be more of a balance. My son didnāt get into to UW with a 3.6, 34 ACT, amazing EC related to his field, and strong essays. Heās going to a school that has pursued him, has stellar student support, etc. instead of going somewhere that says āyouāre lucky we chose youā heās going someplace that says " weāre so lucky you chose us" I have no doubt his experience will be great!
@kds02 I love this.
GPA definitely outweighs SAT/ACT in UW admissions, as noted in the CDS.
@kds02 Thank you so much. My mom always says thereās a balance in life. It really helped me settle down and appreciate what I already have.
@UWfromCA Thanks for the help! I think Iām going to do more research and talk to people around me since thereās time left.
I am in-state and I have a pretty similar dilemma here. I either go to business school at uiuc which already accepted me or go to uw and try to get into foster later on. My parents are pretty against the idea of going to uiuc with the tuition and all. But they donāt really understand the competition at uw.
S waitlisted, anyone know when they might start to pull from waitlist and how often a waitlister gets in?
@blinkblink17, or maybe they do understand the competition. You have a GPA (presumably unweighted) of 3.94 and an SAT score of 1410, which probably probably put you somewhere around the top 10 to 20% of the entering class.
Getting ready to send in my appeal. Iāve been working on it for a while now because I saw this coming. Wish me luck!
@kds02 Thanks for putting those concerns out there, they are real. I saw posts expressing that same issue over the last several months, but their posts were disregarded moments later in attempt to market UW over these valid concerns. That is sad. The best interest of the students should always be ahead of promotion of a school. These posts can influence you, and while people obviously are behind an alias, it is good to consider the source and understand their connection to a school if you can - are they a current student, do they have a current student, did they attend and how long ago, are they just a proud alumni marketing the school, do they have a helpful posting history or just like having an opinion. It is is easy to tell who is helpful and who just likes controlling a thread.
With several extended family members going to UW and some choosing not to, I completely agree with @kds02 . This isnāt med school. This is undergrad, you should not have to battle to get in your major. There are kids with very high college gpas 3.5+ that donāt get in when they are sophomores or juniors, that is nuts. The highest ranked and best CS and Business schools donāt do this, they directly admit you. You are committed so they should be committed to you. UW is a great school, but this method of not directly admitting to these key majors is crazy. They will tell you it gives you time to find yourself. Well you may find yourself not getting into your major, ever, or still in college 5 years later. You really have to think if you want to risk that. Even UCLA with over 100,000k applications is able to determine their CS admits. Cām on UW.
At least know this is how it works, call CS or Biz school admissions and talk to them about your chances, realistically. Ask how many apply and donāt get in each year. What is the avg gpa of those getting in and not getting in? Research and know what you have to do to be successful there.
So how many of you guys are still planning to go and try to get into CSE?
@blueskies2day, I hope that was not in any way directed at me, as my posts point students to the actual UW websites that detail the major admission requirements and provide published admissions statistics so students can size up the competition for themselves if they happen to be applying to a competitive major. No one should disregard the valid concerns you mentioned.
Your opinions are certainly valid as such.
My undergrad school is overwhelmed with activity on CC and has plenty of alums who direct students to accurate and official information regarding the school, so I am pleased to do the same regarding my favorite grad school.
Accepted! I do, however, have to have to participate in the EOP Scholars Academy (probably due to my grade dipā¦ all discussed in my essay)
GPA: 3.13 UW
SAT: 1360
Pretty sure itās entirely my essay that got me in.
@UWfromCA Really? I have a 3.5 GPA and a 1420 SAT score and it got me into the engineering department at UW. My Essay was ok I think. College admissions are weird. Im also in State.