University of Washington - Ratings, Reviews & Ranking

" The UW is a great university in terms of options. If you aren't sure what you want to do in life yet but are hoping to find out, the UW offers a wide variety of degrees and has a good overall reputation. It has one of the most reputable medical schools in the world and amazing computer science and informatics degrees. The university is big, which comes with the usual pros and cons. There is a variety of staff (some are great, some care more about their studies than actually teaching), and there are some very unique classes, especially in the sciences. The campus is beautiful if you care about the enviroment and it has good access to Seattle. Due to the size, you can sometimes feel lost and very lonely. Also, if you don't know much about the university keep in mind that for many of the most sought-after degrees you have to apply. That means that even if you get into the school, you might not get your degree. Some (like Engineering and CS) take a huge amount of their admits direct out of high school as well, meaning if you don't decide right away you might have a really tough time getting into your degree. These are very competitive, so keep that in mind. Overall, good school, tough, has academic rigor, sometimes hard to reach out and feel like you have access to your professor in the large 200+ person classes. "

" I think UW is a great school for those who already know what they want to do and how to get down that path. I felt that there wasn't much opportunity for exploration before doors closed for me. The competition present in many lower-div courses and pre-req courses is bad - my classmates were classmates, never friends. I'm sure this is present at many other universities, but too many courses were for the grade, and ultimately not useful to me. I was much happier when I transitioned to the art program at UW. If you aren't a competitive person, it's probably not best to pursue a competitive nature unless you're willing to fail over and over again (which is totally fine if you've got the mental fortitude and healthy mindset which I did not have) "

" My experience at UW was very positive overall. The academic environment is competitive and pushes you to perform at a high level. There are strong connections to major tech companies and real opportunities to position yourself well for the job market. "

" I wouldn't recommend UW and the reason why is because of the competitive major system and harsh grading scales. If you don't get into a major from high school, you have to apply after you've finished all of the prerequisite courses in college. Many majors require difficult "weed-out courses" as prerequisites. These classes are graded on a curve targeting a 2.7 GPA, making it very challenging to earn high marks and get accepted into certain competitive majors. "

" I am a FT remote student. I have found that all my classes have been very diverse. Since this is a Master's program, every class has included group work. So far all my classes have weighed the group work the most - making it about 60% of your grade. "