The $12.5k UW in-state tuition value is tough to beat, really anywhere. Great school, fantastic reputation, etc. A lot of students (not all, of course) value the big school, big athletics, and full “college experience”. I’d say biggest con w/b if someone is looking for a small “college town” feel. UW is more or less a city school. Also the best NW weather is May-Sept and any out-of-state student who go home June-Sept miss out on that time of year. Maybe a smaller consideration w/b the $20 local min wage, which is helpful for students who want to make a few extra bucks pretty efficiently. I think to be fair though, some of the UC schools are certainly competitive, but the value would be worth a discussion.
I’m an alum and have two kids at UW, so consider the source too!
It’s all a best-guess at this point, but I now lean Thurs. The counselor office hours seem like a bit of a tell to me. Yes, it’s currently UW finals week (actually it’s mostly over) and spring break next week, but they aren’t taking any drop-in appointments beginning this Friday all the way until 4/1. Feels a lot like a “cooling off” period to me.
The argument for tonight is they definitely would be feeling some pressure as it’s running later than recent prior years, and you know it’s just a push-of-a-button away.
Friday night would surprise me most. But yes, we’re all guessing now.
Honestly UW was my top choice for a long time, but I toured my top california schools this summer and just fell in love with them. besides that, i’ve been hearing some terrible things about UW from people that went there. i know the academics are so so good, but it’s really the social aspects and other things that are worrying me most. I’ve heard that there’s absolutely no sense of community at UW and you’ll feel completely alone if you can’t find friends really fast. I’m not sure how true this is? i’m pretty confident about getting in, but it’s almost off the table for me now. do you know anything about the social aspects?
My elder son went to UW and completely loved it. He got in UCSD and Cal Poly and USC. He visited all these schools, but felt none can compare to UW’s beauty. He’s a shy and reserved kid in high school, but he changed dramatically at UW. He became very outgoing, found many friends (including his girlfriend), partied every weekend, joined a professional Greek society, lead a student organization, etc. He’s working now but still living with 4 roommates he met at UW. Of course everyone’s mileage will vary, but I don’t think lack of community or lack of social activity are drawbacks of UW. (Homeless encampment and vehicle theft around campus may be, though.)
Man, I think a lot of parents of college kids may agree that this could be a much longer discussion…
I really think the social aspect of college is more individual and situation-specific than university specific. My kids love it and have great friends and no lack of social interactions of all sorts. Football games in the fall are pretty big deal for many, whether they love sports or not. The transition to college is significant and often the expectations are much different than the realities and that can be a challenge no doubt. We know many kids who have gone out-of-state to “get away” and are back in the area now. Others who are loving it. Either can happen at any school, UW included.
One thing for all who are accepted to consider: this may be your only (or best anyway) shot to get into UW. It is much harder to transfer from another university. Yes, there are plenty of stories out there but the acceptance rate is only in the 20% range (from another 4-year university). The other easier path is through a WA CC’s, where the acceptance rate is much much higher. But not everyone wants to take that path.
These can be challenging decisions for sure, but it’s also always important to be grateful when you’re choosing between some great options in life! That’s not always the case.
What? Is it only WA in-state who have received decisions starting 3/1? D24 has not heard of any decisions among any of her peers (OOS) yet, but maybe it’s because they’re saving the rejections 'til the end?
I live in Seattle near the university. So far majority of people have not heard back from UW. I know a girl at a nearby highschool that got awarded a full ride from the UW in the beginning of March. UW visited her at school and surprised her. So im assuming they have just been awarding big scholarships to people the last couple weeks. Regular decision for the rest of students I think will come out tomorrow night 8:30 pm Seattle time. I can’t imagine they are going to wait till Friday night.
And in general UW doesn’t do the thing where they send rejections or waitlists to people after sending accepted letters, regardless if they are in state or not. So don’t worry about that!
Depends if you are in or out of state first of all. As well as what you put as your major and if it’s capacity constrained. STEM majors, comp sci, business are just a few that would be tuffff to get into with anything below a 3.8 regardless if you are in state or not. Being in state helps a ton though. For example my brother got into anthropology at UW with a 3.6 in 2021. He had friends with 4.0s and tons of APs get denied from comp sci and business. They were all in state.
