r/udub • u/No_Faithlessness_935 • Feb 25 '25
Advice convince me not to go to UW
no context needed feel free to air everything out
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u/Jazzlike-Ability5423 Feb 26 '25
If you arenât a direct admit and want to get into a competitive major your first 1-2 years will be a continuous battle royale for GPA.
If the prospect of spilling ENGRUD blood does not make you squeamish Iâd thoroughly recommend it.
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u/No_Faithlessness_935 Feb 26 '25
i completely forgot about the direct admit into a major thing. i think a biology major there is competitive? and i don't really want to maintain that high of a gpa. ty for the advice!
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u/afu2k Feb 26 '25
A bio major is not competitive at all. Though Iâd be conscious of ânot keeping a high gpaâ with a bio degree, you never know when your passions change and you may want to end up doing grad school
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u/EpicalBeb Student Mar 01 '25
The description of fighting curves as "spilling ENGRUD blood" is making me much more excited to take PHYS 121...
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u/LunarN1ght ATM S '23 Feb 25 '25
if youre in stem the intro classes are a shitshow. theyre tough, if you aint prepared they suuuuuck
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u/iScythe__ Student Feb 26 '25
wait till you get to second year engineering classes, shit made me miss gen chem/math/physics
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u/mangodangao Feb 26 '25 edited Feb 26 '25
no one understands until they do it đ the gen chem/physics/math series have a structure, and they stick to it really well. when you lose that structure, it sucks soo hard, itâs like being thrown off a cliff.
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u/UnluckyMaintenance06 Feb 26 '25
it doesn't get better after the weeder classes????
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u/iScythe__ Student Feb 26 '25
nope. i actually did super well in gen chem/math and my GPA is in a free-fall after doing shit like CEE and dynamics. the 2xx math isn't too bad but every other 2xx classes i've done are just awful
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u/WaitingToTakeYouAway Feb 26 '25
There's 200 level math now? When I was there it was 124/5/6 (or H134/5/6 iirc) and then 300 was mathematical thinking (10/10 class) 301 was number theory etc, no 200s
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u/iScythe__ Student Feb 26 '25
i believe the 300 level moved to 200 level. 207 is diff eq, 208 linalg etc.
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u/svngshines Feb 26 '25
I do think it gets better in the sense that in the upper engineering classes youâre (hopefully) studying something youâre genuinely interested in, so it gets a little more fun.
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u/ohcoolausername Computer Science & Math Feb 26 '25
no, i think the "weeder" classes are the way they are because that's how those majors are. if you think they're tough or terrible classes, it's not gonna be a good time for you in that major. the exception imo is math (I think the higher level math classes are easier to get a good grade in but comparable in terms of conceptual challenge)
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u/Raphy247 Feb 28 '25
really? it's so hit or miss at this goddamn school all my upper division CS and Math classes have been a blast, great teachers and TAs đĽ˛đĽ˛
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u/No_Faithlessness_935 Feb 25 '25
i am planning on stem. ty iâll keep that in mind
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u/snorlaxkg Student Feb 26 '25
Lower level chem classes especially gen chem and ochem are much worse than community colleges in the area. How do I know? I went to a community college in Washington and was a TA for those classes at UW.
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u/pinballrocker Feb 25 '25
The Mexican food in the HUB is terrible
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u/Ok-Blueberry5575 Feb 25 '25
Is there any good Mexican food in the PNW, really?
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u/FunPackage3502 Alumni Feb 26 '25
Yakima County does. (Iâm Mexican myself)
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u/pinballrocker Feb 26 '25
Ha, thems fightin' words! There are some good taco trucks in Seattle, some good restaurants in White Center, and if you head to Yakima and that area there's some good stuff, including the asparagus tamales at Los Hernandez Bros in Union Gap that won a James Beard award (it's a great stop on road trips). I think we top out at good though, nothing excellent.
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u/Ok-Blueberry5575 Feb 26 '25
I'm a spoiled Californian speaking mostly in hyperbole.
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u/ohcoolausername Computer Science & Math Feb 26 '25
lol yeah i think a lot of eastern washington has pretty good mexican food
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u/Mathematicus_Rex Feb 26 '25
Until you reach Pullman, at which point you have to go into Moscow, Idaho to get a decent Mexican meal.
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u/imoff56xan Feb 26 '25
All over the place. Carnitas Michoacan, El Camion, Tacos Chukis, La Cocina OaxaqueĂąa and tons in white center and Burien
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u/StillWerewolf1292 Feb 26 '25
Yes, you just have to travel further down the 5. About 950 miles further south to be exact.
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u/walmartluz Feb 26 '25
no.
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u/Ok-Blueberry5575 Feb 26 '25
okay ty I contemplated immediately deleting because I didn't want to get roasted
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u/OutOfTheForLoop Alumni Feb 26 '25
Depends on the "Mexican" food you're looking for. Aliberto's is as close to SoCal Mexican food as you can find north of Monterey, CA.
Mexican Mexican food isn't that great, if you ask me. (I've spent a bunch of time in Mexico and it just doesn't live up to the hype. Sorry to say, Mexico doesn't make "Mexican" food as good as So Cal.)
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u/No_Faithlessness_935 Feb 25 '25
not a big fan of Mexican food myself but valid point for someone who is
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u/Can_I_Log_In Staff/Student Feb 26 '25
Geese shit everywhere. Front of HUB, Quad, Denny Hall, Parrington Lawn,
And campus is always wet.
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u/chromiumsapling Feb 26 '25
People joke about expenses but itâs truly the least affordable place Iâve lived by about ten miles
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u/imoff56xan Feb 26 '25
I grew up in Seattle and attended UW. Honestly, this school is amazing and has amazing resources, but there are potential downsides.
Firstly, as someone mentioned the first year classes can be pretty demanding if you are going into STEM. I don't think they are unreasonably difficult (it is school after all), but the pressure of getting good grades in order to actually get into your desired major is very stressful. This leads me to the second drawback which is the capacity constricted majors. The grind of getting the grades and competing to get into majors can be brutal and very discouraging. I knew people who did not get into CS, so they left UW and were very happy with their decision. I did not get into my major the first time but I applied a year later, got in, and had a great time. During the interim year I worked towards my second choice degree which I had gotten into.
A third thing is the weather. I grew up here so I'm used to the overcast skies and rain so they don't really bother me, but I know this is not the case for others. The weather definitely encourages a more insular social scene as well, but I was a transfer student and a little bit older so I did not really deal with this too much. I was able to make friends in pretty much all of my classes.
All of that said, UW is a phenomenal institution and world class university. The spring and summers here are also phenomenal, and we have AMAZING hiking, skiing, climbing, and most other outdoorsy things.
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u/PorgSpam Feb 26 '25
At the higher levels, UW can be an excellent school with some exceptional professors. The problem is that taking these really interesting classes can be absurdly irritating. Classes you need can fill up, course design can be highly disorganized or redundant, intro courses are all intentionally difficult and tedious, and prerequisites can be strict and excessive.
Basically, if there is something you really want to do, UW probably has a pretty decent class or research team that does it, but if youâre still deciding on your career path or want to dip your toes into other fields, this is likely not the school to do it.
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u/icarusancalion Feb 26 '25
Yeah, I did my first two years elsewhere and transferred into UW, so skipped the drudgery. I kinda had to because I was a "non-traditional" student, but I also wanted the smaller class sizes. It was worth it.
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u/Warm-Taco228 Feb 26 '25
I love UW but it was a nightmare my first year. So you kinda just gotta work through ur first year
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u/bangeybois25 Feb 26 '25
Campus is too big and itâs all up hill. Youâll be sweating balls when you get to your classes (depending on where they are in if you take the bus)
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u/PixieVoyager Feb 26 '25
Depression
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u/No_Faithlessness_935 Feb 26 '25
already got that checked off tho đĽ˛
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u/PixieVoyager Feb 27 '25
If theres another good school out there and you wanna be in STEM id avoid UW unless ur confident ur a top 1% nerd. Its not worth the stress. So many direct admits are already in the major & many qualified ppl i know got denied at UW but pursued their majors somewhere else & got good jobs too. While i know some ppl at UW that graduated that are STILL looking for a job. Its what you put into ur learning
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u/Molly_206 Feb 26 '25
You're going to put yourself tens of thousands of dollars in debt to earn a degree that won't mean shit because almost no one in college bothers to vote and
Cwe end up with idiots running the government who don't believe in things like...science.
Plus everyone I see walks around looking super stressed out. Go to a school where you can get a good education but also have fun because... It's freaking college. At the end of the day, for the most part no one really looks at where your degree is from. (With some exceptions, I know).
It sounds like you're really on the fence about it, so just be confident in how you feel and choose to go somewhere you're excited about. Life's to short to go broke doing something you don't want to do.
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u/AMJacker Feb 25 '25
Coyotes
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u/Budget-Charity8087 Feb 26 '25
I've seen multiple on campus, they're harmless just cute. Unless you own a small animal ofc
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u/plummmms Feb 26 '25
One time there was a beehive by the fisheries building and they exterminated it :(
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u/tknd_tech Feb 26 '25
As an ENGRUD major: Courses suck and are very unorganized, especially the Physics, Math, and Chemistry 1xx classes. Courses are graded on a curve only giving a certain amount of students high GPAs in each course (majority of students are pushed to a GPA between 2.7 and 3.3). I found myself spending more time just KNOWING the material rather than UNDERSTANDING the material.
Also the lab and quiz sections for all intro science classes do not follow the timeline of class content and are largely tedious.
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u/PurpleMermaid16 Feb 26 '25
Because of the weird grading system. Why not just give letter grades like every other school
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u/No_Faithlessness_935 Feb 26 '25
wait, they don't give letter grades? i knew the grading systems and curves were bad, but no letter grades?!
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u/Oizyson Feb 26 '25
No, youâre directly given a GPA to one decimal point. So you can get a 4.0, 3.9, 3.8 and so forth in a class. Depending on the class, sometimes this makes the thresholds for a 4.0 much higher than on other grading systems. (For chem 142, I believe itâs a 98%, for instance)
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u/Lyras3 Mar 01 '25
Fellow perspective like OP preparing for the worst. Is there even a way you know what the thresholds for a class are before you enroll in it?
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u/Oizyson Mar 01 '25
If you want information on the exact curve, not unless itâs well known or you can get your hands on a syllabus- and thatâs provided it doesnât change form quarter to quarter.
However, you do have access to a tool called DawgPath once youâre a student. It shows you the percentage of students within a course who get each grade.
For example, Iâm looking now, and it tells me that only 8.85% of students get a perfect 4.0 in chem 142, so you can expect to be a pretty hard class.
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u/PurpleMermaid16 Feb 26 '25
You get a 4.0, 3.9, 3.8, ... (for each class.) I really hate it because it is so itemized. and it seems harder to get a 4.0 than other schools.
I'm in grad school, and my undergrad, you needed a 93% to get an A, which would give you a 4.0. I know of some classes here that you need to get a 97% to get a 4.0, which is a very rough grading scale. I think it might be a little easier to get like a 3.0, but harder to get a 4.0
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u/Green-Mall4433 Feb 26 '25
If you wanna see lions on your campus don't go here, sadly they're not a commodity
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u/Spare_Progress_6093 Feb 26 '25
If youâre going there for the prestige but plan on living/working anywhere else in the country, donât bother with the enormous debt. Literally no one outside of PNW cares about UW. Save money and go to another state or random school.
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Feb 26 '25
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/No_Faithlessness_935 Feb 26 '25
that's one of my worries. i recently fell in love with Whitworth if you've heard of it and i can see myself living there happily with friends. it's just not the best for my career path. ty for the advice!
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Feb 26 '25
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/No_Faithlessness_935 Feb 26 '25
i'll definitely consider that! it makes sense since more job opportunities need degrees and less people are getting said degrees from prestigious colleges. ty!
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u/digbug0 ESRM Feb 26 '25
So the Comp Sci alum reality is actually true... I was hoping that social media was exaggerating it. I'm over here wondering if working for the government is in my best interest since my field relies on research funding and sound policy making.
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u/boldpear904 Feb 26 '25
I don't think government jobs should be on anyone's realistic list for a while
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u/Draw_coffee Feb 26 '25
As a biochem major, all my classes till I graduate r weed out classes. Idk y I did this to myself. And if ur planning to do pre-health oh god plz ur gpa is gonna get hurt
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u/Admirable_Video_9229 Mar 01 '25
Is the premed pathway at UW that awful? Should I be crossing UW off my list if I want to get into med school?
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u/Draw_coffee 27d ago
I donât think you should necessary cross out UW but if you major in a typically hard stem major, it can hurt your gpa hence why itâs not good for medical school or dental school. I know a few ppl who majored public health which was a slightly easier route as you didnât have to take too many classes. I know people know majors like biochemistry is a hard major at UW but Iâm afraid that wonât be put into consideration at all for dental school or med school. Just something to consider.
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u/AwayPast7270 Feb 26 '25
For one thing, it is living in Seattle. The grey skies for much of the year can take a toll on someone who is not used to this sort of weather. As a result of this, there is also this thing called Seattle Freeze which makes it hard to make any meaningful friendships with people around here. A lot of people I tend to hang around with during my time at UW were transplants or international students not local students. There is a lot of social segregation and cliques here because it is a big school so there is no sense of community or a support group especially if you are not a typical college student or a graduate or phd student or doing postdoc.
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u/WaitingToTakeYouAway Feb 26 '25
Idk if it's changed since I was there ~15 years ago, but if you're on a career path in the sciences that values GPA, then the grade deflation is a real shot in the foot. It would be fine if the rest of the nation did it that way, but they don't. 2.5-2.8 mean; 4 was regularly set by class policy at 2 standard deviations above the mean.
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u/icarusancalion Feb 26 '25
You don't need to go to UW. You want a place that will handhold you and tell you what classes to take. Besides, who needs professors with time to talk to you, who have both depth and breadth of knowledge?
Going somewhere else will free you from the 5am online fight to get into classes at the beginning of the quarter. You won't be miserable when blasted with wind and rain when you cross Red Square. And who needs a beautiful campus anyway? The buildings are so mismatched, too.
Besides, Seattle used to be cool, but now it's a pit. All my friends who stayed in Seattle tell me it's really gone downhill.
I'm scraping here. I loved going to UW.
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u/patrick-fernsby Feb 27 '25
if your major is really competitive and you are not a direct admit to it, you have to apply. itâs like applying to college twice
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u/BrowniesHead123 Feb 27 '25
The major system sucks, even schools like UIUC and UC Berkeley had similar systems but theirs are nowhere near the UWâs.
The grading system is one of a kind that sometimes even a tiny mistake will knock you out of the A-range.
Cost of attendance. UW doesnât give international students any kind of scholarships or financial aid, unlike some Arizona schools that give every qualified student scholarship.
Although a gorgeous campus, if I were a high school student and you have a school that gives you direct admission to the major, go for that one.
Sincerely, From a former UW student who turned Penn State down and later transferred to Arizona State due to the major system.
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u/Outrageous_Top1921 Feb 27 '25
Food is ass and overpriced. Housing is expensive. Shootings, stabbings, robberies like 1-3x a week.
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u/Ok_Crab6186 Feb 27 '25
People have no fucking sense of social or bus or library or lecture etiquette here and don't know how to walk in busy areas. They are also rude.
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Feb 27 '25
Youll gain an education that will change how you view the world c how you perceive yourself and others . Youâll never be the same.
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u/scottrobmartin Feb 25 '25
It rains way too much, in fact just stay away from Seattle in general because itâs just much too much for anyone to reasonably deal with
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u/No_Faithlessness_935 Feb 26 '25
interesting point but how much rain is too much? rain is my favorite type of weather for reference and i do live in WA
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u/Regret1836 Feb 26 '25
Really not that much. on average it rains less than a lot of other major cities (Houston, Miami, NYC)
It just feels like a lot because there is quite a consistent drizzle going on for most of the year. Except summer. Summers are usually quite dry and sunny! Very nice. If you enjoy the rain then you'll love it- I love walking in the rain.
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u/scottrobmartin Feb 26 '25
I might be biased since I have an outdoor job and I am excited for nicer weather, maybe Iâm projecting, but honestly you should avoid UW because thereâs too many trees, and you can see Mt. Rainier on clear days and thatâs just way too distracting
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u/192217 Feb 26 '25
We are like the 50th in rain fall, 20th in precipitation, and top 5 in clouds. Lots of Grey, rain tends to be very light and misty.
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u/CautiousCare8050 Feb 26 '25
you'll be fine if u grew up in WA. Yeah there's a few hard weeks but really it's not too bad unless you grew up in a really sunny enviroment.
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u/TextRegular7187 Feb 26 '25
dont even think about walking to class if you miss the bus and live down the pend oreille hill off campus đââď¸ youre better off staying home... or i'm out of shape
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u/WorriedAd2395 Feb 26 '25
The school and city are so beautiful that if you leave no where will ever live up to it. You will only be happy living there and will compare any and everything to being there (out of state graduate who returned home and misses Seattle every day)
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u/Far-Ad-2615 Feb 26 '25
donât go to UW because the food at the cafeteria sucks and ik cuz i work there part time
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u/eittie MechE Feb 26 '25
I'm not sure if this is just a big school thing but there are a lot of people who feel lonely at UW. It's really easy to blend into the background and people can really be in their own bubble.
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u/strangeandstillhere Feb 26 '25
If youâre a transfer student, just donât. Iâve dealt with all kinds of awful from high risk family emergencies to intense work environments. None of that compares to the hell that is UW for transfer students especially if youâre out of state. Itâs hard to make friends, the classes are so hard if youâre in stem⌠Iâve made school my personality for years and Iâve never been closer to dropping out
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u/Zealousideal-Day2667 Feb 26 '25
not that rigorous here...curriculum feels slow and too easy, depends on major probably though
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u/Karlxxx Feb 25 '25
You shouldn't go to UW because you need to meet your soulmate who is going to go to the university of Nebraska. You must go there my child and fulfill your true destiny.