Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
"Yes, I've already looked at those things from a program ranking persective. UW Seattle is actually one of the top CS programs in the nation right up there with the Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, "
Every place has people who like to say their college compares to Stanford, Cal and MIT. In El Paso people spouted UTEP is in the top five in this or that. I believe UW is the best in Washington, but doubt it's in the same league with Cal or Stanford--except for sports.
"Yes, I've already looked at those things from a program ranking persective. UW Seattle is actually one of the top CS programs in the nation right up there with the Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, "
Every place has people who like to say their college compares to Stanford, Cal and MIT. In El Paso people spouted UTEP is in the top five in this or that. I believe UW is the best in Washington, but doubt it's in the same league with Cal or Stanford--except for sports.
I don't follow other majors at UW, but for CS specifcally UW Seattle is routinely ranked amoung the top 10 in the nation. So it falls into an elite category meaning people from all over the country and world are trying to get in which is also why it's super competitive. While MIT, Stanford and Cal are at the very top, UW Seattle is not far behind. More importantly, however, we're not looking at the most elite or pretigious school. That's not the point of the post at all. It is also why I hadn't considered UW Seattle until now. In fact, the only reason I even brought it up at all was because Ruth was wondering if UW had a good CS department. For those who follow CS its very well regarded.
However, if it doesn't work out for whatever reason, another less pretigious school would be fine. The key is finding the best fit.
One interesting thing to note about UW Seattle is the expansion of their most popular major, computer science and engineering (CSE). The school is entering the final phases of a new facility to house more researchers and students. The funding came from large corporate donors such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google. In addition, the state invested $32.5 million in the expansion. This looks to infuse the local economy providing more jobs and educational opportunities for UW graduates. Here's the current unmet need in WA for these CS graduates and one of the drivers for this expansion.
I know this was already covered in an earlier phase of your explorations, OP, but....are you sure your oldest student will qualify for in-state tuition, when he's ready to go? Also, I see nothing wrong with his applying to the UW, along with other schools. Have you checked out UW admissions req's? They require several courses of either AP classes, outright college classes, or an Internat'l Baccalaureate. Probably your student has been collecting AP classes? Just checking.
"Yes, I've already looked at those things from a program ranking persective. UW Seattle is actually one of the top CS programs in the nation right up there with the Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, "
Every place has people who like to say their college compares to Stanford, Cal and MIT. In El Paso people spouted UTEP is in the top five in this or that. I believe UW is the best in Washington, but doubt it's in the same league with Cal or Stanford--except for sports.
Yeah, it's obviously not on a par with Stanford, but the OP says it ranks very high. I was surprised to learn awhile ago, that it's considered to be a "public Ivy"; it's on a list for public Ivies, along with Berkeley, and U of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
I know this was already covered in an earlier phase of your explorations, OP, but....are you sure your oldest student will qualify for in-state tuition, when he's ready to go? Also, I see nothing wrong with his applying to the UW, along with other schools. Have you checked out UW admissions req's? They require several courses of either AP classes, outright college classes, or an Internat'l Baccalaureate. Probably your student has been collecting AP classes? Just checking.
Yes, Ruth. He'll most likely attend a local WA CC for his first year until he establishes residency, then transfer in.
He's taken all the right classes (AP, dual enrollent) and has the test scores, generally speaking. It will be more of a matter of what he likes more and if it's worth it. By worth it, I mean the extra stress, the larger size, etc... if he were to get in. Some students prefer smaller campuses with better student/teacher ratios where they actually get to know their instructors more, etc... I know I prefer that. But everyone is different. There are pros/cons with each.
Yeah, it's obviously not on a par with Stanford, but the OP says it ranks very high. I was surprised to learn awhile ago, that it's considered to be a "public Ivy"; it's on a list for public Ivies, along with Berkeley, and U of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
That's correct, in a book on Public Ivies, UW Seattle is included along with other top UC's from the western states. Its the only one from the PNW.
However, the funny part of this conversation is that I normally 'de-emphasize' prestige or pedigrees. As a senior tech lead for a large Fortune 500 tech co. responsible in part for hiring, we are looking much less at pedigrees and much more at a candidate's experience including hands-on internships while in college. Some of the other large tech companies are doing the same with their hiring practices including Google, for example: Google doesn't care where you went to college.
I bring this up because the 'only' reason I would recommend a more pretigious school is if it actually provided tangible benefits including greater educational opportunities for a specific student. One example of this is in the area of research. Some of the more well known schools are doing some phenominal research in areas such as robotics (among other things) which our son is very interested in. In those cases, the larger research institution could provide greater educational benefits beyond simply bragging rights post graduation. The other big benefit or lack thereof are internship opportunities where local companies actively work with the universities. Some schools are so far removed from industry that its harder for them to provide many of these internships. Academics can be more theoretcal, outdated and less applied in these cases. The outdated educational part can be more severe in the areas of technology which advances quickly. With those young graduates you are basically starting from scratch when training them to do something relevant.
Derek
Last edited by MtnSurfer; 07-18-2018 at 03:49 PM..
Yes, Ruth. He'll most likely attend a local WA CC for his first year until he establishes residency, then transfer in.
He's taken all the right classes (AP, dual enrollent) and has the test scores, generally speaking. It will be more of a matter of what he likes more and if it's worth it. By worth it, I mean the extra stress, the larger size, etc... if he were to get in. Some students prefer smaller campuses with better student/teacher ratios where they actually get to know their instructors more, etc... I know I prefer that. But everyone is different. There are pros/cons with each.
Derek
IDK about the CS field, but when I went to the UW, my interests were eclectic enough, that I got a LOT of classes that only had 10-15 students! And several of them fulfilled the general ed requirements. Pretty amazing. Some of the bigger survey courses were fun and fascinating, too, like Oceanography. They weren't huge, like 100 students or more; they were still manageable: maybe 30-40 students. All of it was a great experience. The UW has so many specialized courses that still count for those general ed requirements, that you can find small, off-the-beaten-track type of courses, and have a very personal experience, very friendly with your classmates and professor.
OTOH, I can definitely see the attraction of a school like WWU, and others. One thing I was impressed with, at WWU, is that they have dorms dedicated to certain programs of study. This helps reduce the anomie and estrangement new students experience. I have no idea if there's one for CS students, though.
University of Washington is an awful school if you are a student.
Check carefully for the requirement of "competitive admits" to the professional schools.
My daughter had a 3.5 undergraduate average at UW. She then HAD to re-apply for upper division in her major. She didn't make it. At that point, without a Plan B she dropped out of school.
It ruined her life. The taxpayers wasted a ton of money on her.
Your son as a junior college transfer would probably face the same issues, but at even a greater scale. I would be very careful about totally planning on him getting a successful education at the UW.
I would not recommend UW. Even back in my day, I applied and got accepted to UW for graduate school TWICE. Both times other schools offered teaching assistantships and other financial aid. The UW position was show up and we will talk after you come here....really!!! As a poor kid I did not have the option of rich parents to finance my graduate education.
My daughter also commented that UW is bascially a commuter school for Seattle area residents so you do not get the full richness of a college education compared to a normal University environment.
Higher education is Washington state is a total mess. The Legislature really needs to convene a special panel to look at how to fix the higher education system here. As a taxpayer I have no problem with a research university. However, the one I attended cared about its students and we really need to change the mindset at the UW.
University of Washington is an awful school if you are a student.
Check carefully for the requirement of "competitive admits" to the professional schools.
My daughter had a 3.5 undergraduate average at UW. She then HAD to re-apply for upper division in her major. She didn't make it. At that point, without a Plan B she dropped out of school.
It ruined her life. The taxpayers wasted a ton of money on her.
Your son as a junior college transfer would probably face the same issues, but at even a greater scale. I would be very careful about totally planning on him getting a successful education at the UW.
I would not recommend UW. Even back in my day, I applied and got accepted to UW for graduate school TWICE. Both times other schools offered teaching assistantships and other financial aid. The UW position was show up and we will talk after you come here....really!!! As a poor kid I did not have the option of rich parents to finance my graduate education.
My daughter also commented that UW is bascially a commuter school for Seattle area residents so you do not get the full richness of a college education compared to a normal University environment.
Higher education is Washington state is a total mess. The Legislature really needs to convene a special panel to look at how to fix the higher education system here. As a taxpayer I have no problem with a research university. However, the one I attended cared about its students and we really need to change the mindset at the UW.
My understanding is that the OP is NOT planning on his son getting into the UW; his son is applying to other schools, but may toss his hat in the ring for UW, just as an outside chance.
I don't agree that the UW is a commuter school for Seattle residents. It may get fewer out-of-state students than it used to, I don't know, but it's always attracted students from all over the US, for the quality of some of its programs, and before some departments were closed--for the specialized programs many other schools didn't offer. The UW also accepts students from other parts of WA State, of course, so those are not commuter students. The school still has a plethora of extra-curricular activities and groups.
It's too bad that the school is now so competitive, that some students have to apply to their own department, for acceptance into upper-division studies. That's pretty outrageous. Do you mind my asking what field that was in? Was she not able to transfer to another WA university?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
