<p>Lets list some of UW’s pros and cons: </p>
<p>Pros:[ul]
[<em>]In-state tuition
[</em>]Great medical school
[<em>]Beautiful campus
[</em>]Cherry blossoms in the spring
[<em>]Honors College[/ul]
Cons:[ul]
[li]Dorms that feel and look like dungeons [/li][</em>]Overenrolled classes
[<em>]Generally, every problem that plagues large state universities such as being impersonal, etc.
[</em>]Top university but not necessarily Top25
[li]Commuter School[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Pros:</p>
<p>Urban
Great Public Transportation - don’t need a car
Lots of things to do in and out of campus
Diverse student body
By lake Washington - water activities
Plenty of educational opportunities - just need to know what you want to do</p>
<p>Cons:</p>
<p>Large classes
Big school - not a small college with individual attention
Professors spend lots of time doing their own research – makes them less available to students in their classes</p>
<p>Pro:
An objective ranking of Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index by Academic Analytics ranks University of Washington #1 in research productivity in many important disciplines: Business Administration, Genetics, Fisheries Science and Management, Microbiology, Pharmaceutical Science and Medicinal Pharmacy and Zoology. UW is #2 in Anatomy, Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography, Nutrition, Epidemiology and Forestry. UW is in the top ten for 20 other major disciplines. The variables used in the ranking are faculty publications, citations, research grants and awards. UW has a total of 6 number 1 rankings for various disciplines. Out of the 354 institutions studied, only one school has more #1 rankings than UW and only two other schools have as many.</p>
<p>I will be entering the UW as a freshman in Autumn 2007. So, I was just wondering if college is really different from HS? I’m taking 3 AP classes and I’m pretty much used to about 3-4 hours of HW each night. How much of school work can one expect as a freshman?</p>
<p>Yes, college is completely different from high school - it’s like night and day. </p>
<p>AP classes cannot be compared to college courses. For one thing, in AP courses, you usually have an extreme amount of busywork and a few tests occasionally. In math/science classes at UW, you’ll probably have two midterm exams that amount to about 65% of your grade with your final exam making 35% of your grade… or something like that. In your humanities courses, you’ll find that you’ll have a few papers to write, reading to do, and maybe an extra long paper for your final exam. Also, when people tell you about how much reading they have to do per week for a class - be skeptical and do not be scared. My friend had 200-300 pages of reading or something like that to do during on of his more stressful weeks. It wasn’t that bad for him really because it wasn’t like he was having to read out of a dictionary or lawbook or something. Also, he wasn’t to required to know everything he read about but just the general arguments and the gist of it. Those 200-300 pages whatever were primary documents and usually, what you would found in a typical paperback book. It’s not as daunting as you think if you manage your time carefully. </p>
<p>You won’t be doing 3-4 hours of HW each night - you’ll be studying for a couple of hours. Think about it though - you have much more free time during the day in college because a full courseload consists of about 15 units or about 15 hours of class per week - that’s 3 hours of class in a day, on average. Compared to a normal 6-7 hour day in high school that makes you do busywork? Yeah, it’s so different. </p>
<p>Just don’t think it’s high school on steroids. It’s not. Most likely, you will be fine. I knew people who were somewhat slackers in high school who got good marks because our school was ridiculously easy. They went on to attend UW and are doing about *average<a href=“3.0-ish%20GPA”>/i</a> by cramming the night before and not studying consistently. The level of difficulty will depend on how much YOU are willing to work and how much you want good marks.</p>
<p>
How can a rankings system be objective?!</p>
<p>Pro and/or Con:[ul]
[<em>]Your friends/classmates, if you’re a Washington resident, most likely will attend this school.
[</em>]Seattle rain and overcast skies for >75% of the year (Who doesn’t like sunshine?!)[/ul]Pros:[ul]
[<em>]Good varieties of eateries on the Ave
[</em>]Ability to secure internships easily b/c it’s in Seattle!
[*]Engineering co-op program within the university, especially since UW has a quarter system[/ul]</p>
<p>Thank you, @gmail.com for your elaborate answer!!</p>
<p>It seems like you are already a UW student, so I was just wondering if you could answer some more of my questions please? </p>
<p>I know that you will probably only get to take one or two tests per quarter to prove yourself, so how hard exactly are those tests? Are they multiple choice or essay-based? How long does it take the profs to grade them? Are the questions more abstract, or are they the kinds that you can prepare for by reading the textbooks?</p>
<p>Thank you so much!!</p>
<p>Is anyone here applying to the UW Bothell or Tacoma also? Do degrees from those branch campuses mean the same? i.e. Do they have the same prestigiousness ?</p>
<p>Depends,</p>
<p>If my kid gets into med school there, it’s a great place. If he doesn’t they suck…</p>
<p>Know lots of kids who go there and love it. Very few dislike the experience. Very big campus, haven’t been in a dorm there in decades, but from what i’ve seen on tv lately, they haven’t changed a whole lot. Overall a very good school.</p>
<p>No, UW-Bothell and UW-Tacoma do not have the same prestigiousness of UW-Seattle. If anything, they are just UW-S’s satellite campuses.</p>
<p>Pros:
Don’t need a car-good buses
Beuatiful Spring Campus
Losts of classes to choose from.</p>
<p>Cons:
50s and rainign far to much, no snow-ever.
Freshmen are lucky to get the classes they really want</p>
<p>Even though everyone including me complains about the weather you have to take into acount that school starts in late September so thats a month or month and a half of good weather that other schools count towards their great weather that UW is still on summer break. </p>
<p>Also on the question of tests if you are in a large lecture then the test will usually be multiple choice, but in small classes or TA intensive classes essays and short answer are far more probable.</p>
<p>@OpiefromMayberry
Umm… if your kid doesn’t get accepted to med school means they suck? Don’t forget, most medical colleges are VERY difficult to get into and top medical colleges are looking for that “certain” quality in their applicants… And look at their acceptance rate…</p>
<p>Anyway…</p>
<p>Pros:
-Possibility of direct admissions to Department of Bioengineering
-The workload in Honors
-In-state tuition and Husky Promise
-Two-hour drive to Seattle starting from my house :)</p>
<p>Cons:
-Too many teacher assistants teaching classes
-Some of the graduation requirements (in my opinion) are unnecessary</p>
<p>Snorstudent</p>
<p>Even though people say lots of negative things about TA’s teaching classes I don’t see it that way. Many of the classes taught by TA’s are low level classes and when taught by TA’s the classes are smaller. At least in Econ 200I had a great TA while everyone else hated the Professor for the giant lecture. I think this was the case across the board with this professor and I probably is the same way in other classes and departments. Also in Environ 100 a TA and professor dual taught and the TA was much better. I know many professors are good teachers, but don’t assume that the PhD makes them a better teacher.</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster. Some of the TAs I’ve had have been amazing and really I never have had a problem with a professor being inaccessible if I really wanted to talk to them. And I think there are enough smaller classes or professors that want to get to know their students to make “having too big of classes” are really poor excuse for not wanting to come here. However, which department you are in matters a lot for this and you have to remember there are good and bad prof/TAs in every department.</p>
<p>That said my solid “con” for the UW is that the grade point grading can be really annoying when you are on the border of a 4.0.</p>
<p>Pro: Huskey Promise
Con: No scholarship money for less than poverty-level students</p>
<p>Myuw01 - this is a new program and it starts in the Fall of 2007-08.<br>
From the UW website “…The new program, called “Husky Promise,” guarantees full tuition and fee scholarships for students attending the University who are residents of Washington state and who qualify for Pell Grants or State Need Grants.”</p>
<p>University of Washington promises free tuition to low-income students</p>
<p><a href=“http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleid=27325[/url]”>http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleid=27325</a></p>
<p>With the husky promise, you still have to take out loans for room and board and books and everything, right?</p>