Why isn't the University of Washington more popular among Acela corridor families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its a long way away OP and the weather there is gray.

The weather in Seattle is better than the weather here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its a long way away OP and the weather there is gray.

The weather in Seattle is better than the weather here.

In the summer? 100%
The rest of the year? Not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't UVA and UMD more popular for students from Washington State?

UMD because it's nothing special. West coast kids do apply to UVA. I did (from Oregon) as did at least one HS friend.

[Anonymous]

In general, OOS tuition to the large public universities for undergraduate study doesn't make too much sense to me as there are private options with similar cost that pay more attention to undergraduates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its a long way away OP and the weather there is gray.

The weather in Seattle is better than the weather here.

In the summer? 100%
The rest of the year? Not so much.

Meh, it’s comparable. Here it rains more, actually. And there, you’re actually surrounded by the mountains, the sound, the rivers and natural beauty abounds. The mountains are spectacular. The entire outdoor experience is better. Even when it’s misty, it’s beautiful. It’s ugly here much of the year.

Better arguments against - most UW grads stay in Seattle. It’s hard to go other places because everything is far and a major flight. It’s insular.

[Anonymous]

Way too far away.

[Anonymous]

It's just too far away. Most people go to college a bit closer to home, just makes the whole process easier on everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its a long way away OP and the weather there is gray.

The weather in Seattle is better than the weather here.

In the summer? 100%
The rest of the year? Not so much.

Meh, it’s comparable. Here it rains more, actually. And there, you’re actually surrounded by the mountains, the sound, the rivers and natural beauty abounds. The mountains are spectacular. The entire outdoor experience is better. Even when it’s misty, it’s beautiful. It’s ugly here much of the year.

Better arguments against - most UW grads stay in Seattle. It’s hard to go other places because everything is far and a major flight. It’s insular.

I've lived in Seattle. Summers are spectacular: reasonable temps, no humidity, and hours and hours of daylight. The rest of the year is cold, wet, and dark. Totally agree that the area is beautiful, but the academic-year weather, for the most part, just sucks. It's much worse than this area and just laughably worse than Berkeley, LA, or Boulder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In general, OOS tuition to the large public universities for undergraduate study doesn't make too much sense to me as there are private options with similar cost that pay more attention to undergraduates.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The real answer is simple: East Coast kids, including DC kids, are sheep. Very few other kids are applying, so why apply?

If you are not a sheep, you should know that University of Washington ("U Dub") is beautiful and pretty highly ranked. The students are smart and serious but have fun, especially on weekends. Sports fans have plenty of games to attend. Music fans have plenty of shows to go to.

The University neighborhood is sort of like Madison or Ann Arbor or Berkeley, but it's part of one of the nicest large cities in America.

Getting to Seattle is no harder than getting to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, or San Diego--there are plenty of direct flights from East Coast citiies. While flights are expensive, airfare doesn't make that much difference when you add up all of the costs of college. Flying to Seattle is easier than driving to Upstate New York, Northern New England, or plenty of other places that attract a lot more students from Mid-Atlantic cities.

Go Huskies!

My kid is at UW now. Her choices included UVa, VT, WI and MI. She chose mild rain over frigid snow. The majority of her peers went to UVA. Each family and child ranks things like distance, programs, costs, weather, support system, area, size and rigor differently. For mine, they all added up to UW. She has a view of Mt Rainier from her dorm room. She joined the hiking club. She is studying environmental studies. Their fisheries program is top-notch. As is infectious diseases, global health, and oceanography. Engineering is more competitive than UVA (anecdotal). The university district is not as “seedy” as some say here. That’s relative too I suppose. Students have free passes for bus and trains. She can take the light rail from campus to the airport. Or go into Seattle or other burbs like Ballard for the day.

Our friends ask, “UWhat?” when we say UDub. Flights aren’t horrible - Alaska flies direct from DC. It doesn’t rain all day, but most days there is a high chance of rain. I have found it to be foggy in the morning, which burns off mid-day to glorious views, and then clouds roll in, rain, repeat. It is worth looking into and having as an option. Especially these days when admissions is so unpredictable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its a long way away OP and the weather there is gray.

The weather in Seattle is better than the weather here.

In the summer? 100%
The rest of the year? Not so much.

Meh, it’s comparable. Here it rains more, actually. And there, you’re actually surrounded by the mountains, the sound, the rivers and natural beauty abounds. The mountains are spectacular. The entire outdoor experience is better. Even when it’s misty, it’s beautiful. It’s ugly here much of the year.

Better arguments against - most UW grads stay in Seattle. It’s hard to go other places because everything is far and a major flight. It’s insular.

I've lived in Seattle. Summers are spectacular: reasonable temps, no humidity, and hours and hours of daylight. The rest of the year is cold, wet, and dark. Totally agree that the area is beautiful, but the academic-year weather, for the most part, just sucks. It's much worse than this area and just laughably worse than Berkeley, LA, or Boulder.

I love the mild year round weather in Seattle.

[Anonymous]

University of Washington in St. Louis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Washington in St. Louis?

How good is your reading comprehension?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I both went to UW (him for both his degrees). I don't really get this. Seattle is much further away than the other schools you mentioned, and UWash isn't meaningfully better than, say, UMich. Also, if you are going out west, there are much better flight options between DC and SF or LA than there are between DC and Seattle...so most UC campuses would get a preference from a convenience perspective.

I don't really buy the weather arguments. I'm from the midwest, and Seattle weather is definitely better than Ann Arbor or Madison.

So take my perspective as a single data point, like yours is a single data point.

- Grew up in NOVA.
- Attended grad school in Boston.
- Lived in NH and MA for several years. (Used to the New England winter.)
- Transferred to Seattle for 3 years. The early sunsets in winter, gray days, and frequent rain were very difficult on me.
- Add in people freaking out about a day that was 80 degrees and sunny. I couldn't understand this reaction.

- So very happy to get back to the East Coast.

I'm not saying it's for everyone, I'm just saying that it isn't like moving to Fairbanks or Siberia where you could legitimately argue that the weather is a unique deterrent that would significantly reduce applications. Plenty of people hate the weather in the Midwest as well, but people go there for school all the time. Personally, I was very happy to leave

Either way, I wasn't comparing to east coast weather. I went to grad school in NE, and one of the things that really struck me is how much sunnier the winters are there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its a long way away OP and the weather there is gray.

The weather in Seattle is better than the weather here.

In the summer? 100%
The rest of the year? Not so much.

Meh, it’s comparable. Here it rains more, actually. And there, you’re actually surrounded by the mountains, the sound, the rivers and natural beauty abounds. The mountains are spectacular. The entire outdoor experience is better. Even when it’s misty, it’s beautiful. It’s ugly here much of the year.

Better arguments against - most UW grads stay in Seattle. It’s hard to go other places because everything is far and a major flight. It’s insular.

I've lived in Seattle. Summers are spectacular: reasonable temps, no humidity, and hours and hours of daylight. The rest of the year is cold, wet, and dark. Totally agree that the area is beautiful, but the academic-year weather, for the most part, just sucks. It's much worse than this area and just laughably worse than Berkeley, LA, or Boulder.

Yes, I’ve also lived there for 20 plus years. I assume most posters responding have which is why they are responding. LA is burning hot and drought ridden and many people hate the weather there actually. There’s no water in Boulder. Berkeley I will give you is amazing weather wise but that’s a very apples to oranges comparison given difficulty of getting in.