Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought UW has a strong preference for instate kids.

It seems really popular for kids in CA, easier to get into than the top UCs.

My DC applied this year but had to pull his app due to an ED acceptance elsewhere. Great school with lots of OOS students - I can't find the stat now but recall it was surprisingly high. I imagine that it doesn't get more DMV applications simply because of the early deadline for RD, which coincided with my DC's EA and ED apps.

I went to UW for graduate school. It's beautiful and full of smart people, but the U-District is (or was many years ago) kind of seedy. The weather was difficult if you like warmth and sunshine, and Seattle natives were/are very reserved. It's a very large school. Without a built-in support system or a lot of personal maturity and independence, it might be a difficult place for an eighteen year old.

So much of college preferences are regional. Most kids still go to colleges that are within driving distance of home. I'm from CA and while more kids from there go OOS than they used to, there is a strong preference for UCs or top Cal States (e.g. Cal Poly SLO) so schools in neighboring states like U of W, Arizona. I was among the top students in my graduating class and only a couple of my peers went to Ivies and most did not even bother to apply, not much appeal in going to New England. But, more wanted to go to Stanford or Berkeley (not so much UCLA because it was too close to home)

Anonymous wrote:I thought UW has a strong preference for instate kids.

It seems really popular for kids in CA, easier to get into than the top UCs.

PP here. I think you apply into majors based on GPA after first or second year?? This is old information though.

I thought it was relatively easy to get into, but CUTTHROAT to get into the highly competitive majors in stem and pre-med.

I thought UW has a strong preference for instate kids.

I think it is a mental block for Washingtonians. Literally when I read your post title I thought, UDC?

on the west coast it is like Washington DC doesn’t exist, people’s minds go straight to the rainy PNW. on the east coast we’re all like Washington DC right. Oh no you meant Washington…state? The place on my sticker of my grocery store apple. Brrr that sounds far away, practically alaska.

I will note - the research dollars aren’t for the undergrads obviously. And almost nobody is getting those internships, girl. Those are for the serious software engineers.

It’s far. I went there, it’s a great school. Hard to get into. But Seattle is it’s whole own thing. I think it’s hard for those from other parts of the country. At least it was.

I have suggested it to my DC, but it doesn’t appeal at all. Not sure why? Weather?

Great school, but really far away and public options here that are just as strong. It's a significantly longer flight to get to Seattle than to the other places you mentioned.

They don't accept the Common App. That's why.

60k seems like a lot to have my kid as far away as possible while staying in the continental US. Also Seattle weather is either your thing or not and a lot of people fall into the not category.

I hear about lots of kids in the DC and Tristate areas applying to OSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Florida, Alabama, etc.

But why no love for UW? It's an top-notch R1 flagship school, great programs. The location in Seattle is awesome and those kids have incredible access to all the big employers for internships during the school year: Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Boeing, Russell Investments, Starbucks, Costco, Zillow, Redfin, etc. It's also the 2nd largest recipient of federal research dollars ($1.3 billion in 2020), behind only Harvard.

Finally, it has a 56% acceptance rate!

I grew up on the West Coast and UW was a decently popular option. But I feel like the school should have way more recognition around here. Is it just simply geographic unfamiliarity?