University of Washington-Seattle Campus Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Mason

Waking up at 5:00am, students log on to the UW website and at exactly 6:00am the registration opens for students to secure a spot in their desired course, yet at 6:05am many students find themselves unable to get a spot.

Kendra

One of UW's greatest strengths can also be its greatest weakness: its massive size. There are many resources, which can make it overwhelming at times to discern which will best meet your need. It takes extra self-initiative. UW does a great job of trying to connect new students with a club/activity group to build friendships. I was blessed to start my freshman year in a house with seventeen other women off campus. They were a variety of years and majors, and had a wealth of advice (from choosing classes to the best coffee spots).

David

University of Washington has many incredible departments and experienced faculty, but the class size in the undergraduate level makes it extremely challenging due to the average sizes of 400-500 students. This vast size causes a disconnect between professors and students. I have heard many complaints from fellow classmates about the lack of communication with the professor. Another side effect of the large class sizes influences the curve based grading system. Because the classes are so large, there is a large possibility that a student will not get the desired grade due to necessity to maintain grades above everyone else.

Hannah

My school is located very close to a major city. There are tons of amazing things close to the area and to the campus; however, I get a sense of being over-crowded at times. I, personally, am a bit of an introvert who loves wide-open spaces. My preferences for solitude can sometimes clashe a little with the busy area.

Dena

Hectic urban setting.

julie

Not sure

Alex

The worst thing about my school so far is the food service. They make the same thing almost every other day and I have lost all taste for food now. At home i had diverse food consisting of both asain and hispanic, but now its just food that I like to refer to as "grey".

Phuong

The worst thing about the University of Washington is the class room evironment. The number of students in a classroom is enormous so there is not a lot of chance to talk one on one with professors . Although, there’s always help available from others but its hard to develop a strong relationship with professors because of the enormous number of students in the classroom.

Yelizaveta

It's difficult to deal with large classes at the beginning, but on the upside you get really great lecturer professors and soon you will be in smaller classes with them!

Dina

It's only a bad thing to some people, but I'd have to say the rain. No it doesn't rain every day, but it rains A LOT.

BICH HONG

There are many crimes such as theft, purse-snatching, happening near the campus almost every night. All day long, ambulance and police cars could be heard. The safety isn’t that well-established in the neighborhood. In addition, there are many constructions going on now which affects the learning environment with the noises and classes have been moved to another location.

Paige

There are many benefits to attending the University of Washington. The major issue that sticks out to me are the class sizes. Because this university is so big in size and student population, and with the help of the budget cuts there are huge class sizes and some classes have even been dropped. Some students have to take certain courses in a specific order to get the credits needed for his or her major. The class sizes of three hundred and more can make it difficult for students to learn because there are so many distractions.

Robin

The worst thing about my school is that the campus is huge! It's a beautiful and wonderful campus, but the size of it is just a lot of walking. However, most students ride a bicycle around campus which really helps. Don't be intimidated though, the campus may be enormous but your classes won't be too far away (usually no longer than a 5 minute walk or 1 minute bike ride from class to class). The shortest gap between classes is 10 minutes so you'll have plenty of time to get to class.

Olivia

As of now the school is going through budget cuts, so some resources have been cut. TAs and a couple tutoring programs have been cut. Also, there is too much construction going on campus.

Kristen

The classes can be fairly large depending on your major, so it can be hard to get to know professors on a very individual basis. This is a little fustrating when it comes to things like letters of recommendation that need to come from a teacher.

Cheyenne

The worst thing would probably be the parking. There isn't a lot of parking available and parking permits are really expensive. Currently, it's about $420 a quarter to buy a parking permit so I have no choice but to take a bus to school. Also, for daily parking, it costs $15 which is too expensive for me. If I missed my bus and had to drive to school one day, it would cost me so much money.

Brookann

From my experience, I have not found any negative elements associated with the University of Washington. I love the environment, the courses offered, the professors, the diversity, the energy, and the thriving desire to learn and advance in the world. Students are always searching for more avenues to further both their education as well as their real-world experience, two areas in which the University prides itself in helping. There is nothing I dislike about the University of Washington, or my experience there.

Brittany

There is no worst thing about UW.

Nadine

The fact that we have an image and a name to hold up to really puts stress on all the students. Some majors are so tough it drives you crazy, the demands are too high for what others get at their universities and schools.

Helen

I'm not complaining because I understand that I am very lucky to be able to go to school at the University of Washington; however, I often find myself missing my community and my home. It's also difficult to find people who share the same struggles and understand particular hardships being a Native American women in this society. The isolation I feel here is hard to cope with and I do not have the ability to go back home, for home is all the way in Nevada. Besides the location and lack of my people UW is amazing.

Fabian

Personally, I think the worst part of my university is that in order for a student to be successful, that person must truly be driven. There aren't any "hand outs" at this university and every success story that you hear on campus is because that person was driven, hard working and persisten. There aren't any organizations or communities here that are willing to simply hand you your future.

Charisse

The worst thing about my school would just be the sheer size of the student body because it sometimes gets crowded in the lecture halls and auditoriums.

Riane

Due to recent state budget cuts, tuition is being raised a total of 28{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} over the next two years (14{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} this year, and 14{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} next year).

Jonathan

The food is way too expensive.

Caitlin

While it has its advantages, being at such a big school has its disadvantages as well. I don't struggle in larger classes personally, but I can see how many students would. It also takes some time to learn to find your way around.

Charles

Too much vehicle traffic on and around the campus, proposeing a danger for foot and bycycle traffic.

Taryn

There is not enough financial aid consideration given to those who do not show financial need. Many of us have parents who make a significant amount of money, but that doesn't mean that the student has access to that money. It is very, very difficult to find monetary help at this school unless you can show that your family does not make much. This has resulted in less opportunities for those middle class students whose parents make enough to, according to the FAFSA, "Completely pay for college," but not enough to actually help their child.

Brian

Like most universities, the University of Washington has a heavy emphasis on its collegiate sports programs. While these generate lots of money and opportunity for students, I find that at times it can be distracting. I don't consider this a "negative" about my school. I think it is a wonderful instiuition and economic times are tight. I fully realize the importance of money-generating programs for our school.

Jamie

The difficulty of obtaining good grades in science and math based classes versus the liberal arts classes.

Bronwyn

The university is not as experimental and expressive as I expected. I thought there would be more evidence of very interesting and different thinking young people but it seems like there is a lack of imagination.

Emily

The worst thing about this school, is the fact that it is so crowded. Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed with all of my fellow students. Sometimes people aren't respectful of others personal space and this can be aggitating. If anything it has taught me to be more patient and to be more aware of people around me. I attended the University of Washington because of everything it had to offer. I just didn't really think about the fact that the same things are offered to thousands of other peopl who are all heading towards the same goal.

Jason

The worst thing about my school is that it is hard to get friends you really feel "connected" to. It's easy to make acquaintances but it's really hard to make good, close, intimate friends.

Candace

jsut one block from campus, the Ave seems to be (and it is) pretty dangerous in my opinion

stephanie

to large

Hai-Quan

I think my school is a too big. Its huge campus sometimes gives me a feeling of loneliness. However, I already got used to this fact after my first year at UW.

Chloe

The campus is huge which is unfortunate when you have to walk to class and it is pouring down rain most of the time. Classes are huge and there may be even less quiz sections because of the budget cuts, resulting in less availability to get the classes you want. The school is VERY focused on business and pre-med so sometimes it feels like the other programs get shafted for them.

Kevin

I've heard it's hard to get the courses you need once you declare your major. It's also hard to get off campus housing close to the school that's affordable. It costs so much to take your car on campus that it makes it almost impossible to get a job off campus.

Flora

Before I switched to a pre-law major, I was doing engineering prerequisites. One of the chemistry classes had a professor who was a very well-known researcher in his field but a lackluster teacher. I think the focus on research at this school sometimes hinders the quality of its science teachers. However, if you are able to self-start a bit in the introductory classes, it is an amazing school for research, especially medical research.

Sheena

Sometimes it seems so big, that it's hard to meet new people on a personal level.

Wilhelmina

I'm not a huge fan of the size. I'm used to learning well in small classes and prefer them, but at UW, you can be in classes up to 400+ students and it's harder for me to ge something out of the class at that size.

Jane

I think the worst and best thing about my school would just be that it is a big institution, where it's often hard for similar people to get to know each other. There are lots of great programs and small niches that people can find for themselves, but you really have to put yourself out there sometimes. This also means that you won't know everyone in your class, and it can be difficult to meet people when you're only in classes with them for a short quarter.

Desiree

What I consider the worst thing about my school is having to use time to commute to and from school.

Amy

Lack of a sense of community.

Timothy

The large class sizes, (300+) can be nice sometimes, but most of the time leave questions for the professor to be asked via email. Very limited teacher-student contact.

Brice

The worst thing about this school for most anyone is its large size. It is easy to get lost not only on campus, but lost among people as well. Although the school is very large and there are many people to meet, it is still rather hard to get in the swing of things and make new friends here simply because the lifestyle is so different and takes awhile to adjust.

Heather

Campus is very big. :P

Nadya

The worst thing about attending the University of Washington would be the weather and the affect it has on student activities. There are plenty of in-door events, but with cold, wet weather students don't always attend. This can make it difficult to build relationships with other students, especially if you are new to the area and don't have established friends. I have found that most people stick to their already made friendships and spend a lot of time visiting each other at apartments rather than at events on campus.

Benjamin

The unnecesarily hard intro classes.

Korrie

No diversity.

Michael

Some classes are restricted to those who are in that major only.