University of Washington, Seattle

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: I’m going to apply for Biochemistry in the spring. At UW you have to apply for majors if you don’t get in direct admit.
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Biracial: Half Caucasian and Half Chinese Heterosexual Male

Summary

I’m in a fraternity and I volunteer at Street Youth Ministries (SYM).

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Biracial: Half Caucasian and Half Chinese
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public school in Cupertino, CA with a graduating class of about 350 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: I’m going to apply for Biochemistry in the spring. At UW you have to apply for majors if you don’t get in direct admit.
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a fraternity and I volunteer at Street Youth Ministries (SYM).
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Greek life has because it’s a really great way to get connected with people and it’s pretty inclusive. You have to be outgoing and put yourself out there at UW because people generally keep to themselves more. Greek life’s a very good way to become immersed in a community. If you don’t like the people you live with freshman year, Greek life is a really good way to meet people who are socially active. SYM has been a way to extend my impact beyond just the University of Washington. It’s been really cool to get the perspectives of the people because they have the untold stories of the city’s population.

Academic Experience

Have you taken many prerequisites for Biochemistry?
You take General Chemistry, General Biology, and then Organic Chemistry. The Chemistry sequence is one of the more rigorous sequences.
Can you describe the weekly coursework for the prerequisite classes?
For the General Chemistry series, you have lecture and then also a three-hour lab. It can definitely be hard if your high school wasn’t that rigorous. It’s the same for General Biology but the lab is only two-hours. The major graded assignments are exams, labs, and homework assignments.
Is there anything you feel the science departments do especially well or poorly?
I haven’t had a bad professor in the Chemistry or Biology department. I’ve taken classes in other departments where professors have been really bad. In the science departments, some professors are better than others, but I don’t think you can have a bad professor overall. One thing that I noticed is for some of the labs, especially the labs in General Chemistry, there is such a great room for error because of the equipment you’re using and your skill level. It sometimes felt like we were set up for failure because it’s really difficult to get high-quality data. I think the labs could be structured better, but, overall, I think the professors do a great job of teaching you the material and preparing you for the tests.
Another thing the Chemistry department does really well is we have a study center for General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry and there are always teaching assistants there. Even if your TA is not having office hours, you can always go there and get help with your assignments.
How accessible are your professors?
The professors are usually very accommodating, we also have TA’s. The professors are usually very helpful and accommodating with their office hours. They like to see students showing up and taking the initiative. If you have questions and are willing to put yourself out there, you definitely can get help.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s a healthy balance between the two. You can get help on assignments from other students. In terms of the average on tests, usually they fall around 70% for some of the General Chemistry classes and right now I have a professor who writes really hard exams so the average is around 40%, but they’re all graded on a curve so it’s all relative. I wouldn’t say it’s super competitive. If you put the work in and try to understand everything you can do really well in the classes.
How do you like the quarter system? How has it impacted your ?
I like the quarter system. I like how fast-paced it is. Worst case scenario, if you get a bad schedule one quarter, you only have it for ten weeks and it goes by fairly quickly. It’s the same if you have a bad professor or a class you don’t like, you don’t have to put up with it for a long time. It works really well for me.

Reasons to Attend

1) It’s a really good public university. They give a good education.
2) Seattle is a very nice area. There are a lot of outdoorsy stuff to do and the city is really cool.
3) There are a lot of opportunities on campus for research and getting involved with clubs.
4) Greek life is very big here and there are a lot of houses to choose from.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The food on campus is pretty overpriced and the quality is not super high. [The average cost of a meal at a dining hall at UW is between $7-$11.]
2) Introductory classes can be a pain because you can put a lot of work into them and understand the material and still not get the grade you’re looking for.
3) You have to apply for your major if you aren’t directly admitted.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: McMahon Hall with one roommate. It was a cluster living style so I had a couple of other rooms surrounding a common area and we were all really tight-knit, which was fun.
Sophomore: I moved into the frat house, which is really fun. It can get really loud at times and I’m definitely one of the more academic ones in my house. It’s just sometimes hard to find a place to study in the house so you have to leave and go to a library. I moved out to start this quarter into McMahon again.
How was transitioning from Cupertino, CA to Seattle, WA?
For me personally, it went really smoothly. For others, it was a pretty big change because you have a lot muggier weather in the winter. The rain isn’t super bad, it’s just light and constant. I personally really like the weather up here. I’m more of a cooler climate person, but I could see how it’d be difficult for someone coming from California where it’s sunny all the time. Also, the people here are a little less open and keep to themselves a bit more, so that is also a bit different.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
On campus, I feel like it’s really safe and the residence halls are secure. Off-campus, you want to stay away from University Way at night because there are a lot of homeless people and shots fired sometimes. But, the campus is very safe and I think the campus police do a really good job.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in?
If you want to go to parties here you’re going to have to join a fraternity. Rushing and joining a house is pretty inclusive, but if you’re not part of the house it’s really hard to get into parties if you don’t know someone in the house. They don’t let people in because of liability issues. There are also bars on University Way – also known as The Ave – so if you’re over 21 you can do that and that’s a pretty popular thing to do. Seattle isn’t a town with a bustling nightlife and things close relatively early, so I think if you want to go out and party as a guy, you should think about joining a fraternity.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out?
I really don’t party that much. The big party nights are Tuesdays and Thursdays because a lot of people in Greek life are in the business school and don’t have classes Wednesdays or Fridays. People also tend to go home during the weekends, so there are not a lot of big parties Friday or Saturday night, which I think is kind of weird. I don’t go out a ton, but if I do I go out on a Friday or Saturday night, but that’s pretty infrequent.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
It’s always really fun to go to downtown Seattle and chill. There are also a lot of really good food places around campus, so there’s always fun stuff to do around campus. If you have a car, you can get out of the city and there are a lot of really cool nature preserves close by. Vancouver is pretty close, so if you have a three-day weekend you can go up there. Going skiing in Whistler is a really popular thing to do.
How happy are you with the weekend options at UW? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy with them. I’m not a super exciting person. I will usually study in the morning and be productive and chill with friends at night. I’d say if you’re looking for a really, really exciting campus with a lot of things to do over the weekends, UW’s not the best place to do that. There is still a lot of stuff to do, but if you want a bustling nightlife with stuff going on every night of the week, this is not the best fit for you. Overall, I’m really pleased with it because I’m not too big of a party person so it’s perfect for me.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I got really lucky and met them in the cluster in McMahon. We all clicked and it makes life so much more fun when you live with people you really enjoy being around. I think I got really lucky because, generally, people get along with their clusters, but it’s not like they’re super tight. If you go to other dorms in West Campus where the dorms are more traditional, people aren’t as social.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
With dorm life, there is not usually anything super social going on. Residence halls will host events, but people usually don’t go to them. If you really want a social life, Greek life is the way to go I think. But, you could also get lucky and become close with your floor and meet people there. Overall, the on campus social scene is not super social, so you should look off-campus to Greek life for more of a social life.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
The campus is really, really diverse. There are a lot of different ethnic clubs that are open to everybody. There is a pretty big and outspoken LGBTQ presence on campus. Seattle is very, very progressive and people are very accepting of all different people, so there’s a lot of mixing. [About 40% of undergraduates are Caucasian, about 24% are Asian, and about 15% are international students.]
How would you describe the student body?
It’s similar to the general population of Seattle where people feel more closed off. It’s not very social, but if you put yourself out there by joining clubs it makes the campus feel very small. There are [about 29,000 undergraduates] but you recognize so many people passing by that you know and say hi to. If you put an effort in, you can have a good social life and meet a lot of really cool people.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
Not very much at all. There are a few people who are tight with people in Greek life, but those are exceptions. If you want to get involved with Greek life, you have to join a house. [About 4,700 students, or 16% of undergraduates, are involved in Greek life.]
Do you ever feel like you are more so a resident of Seattle than you are a student at UW?
I wouldn’t say that. I love Seattle, but I’ve only been here for a year and a half so it’s hard to make the city feel like home. Also, I live in a dorm rather than a house, so I feel like more of a student. Seattle is a really cool area though and I’m enjoying my time.
How do you like the size of UW in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience?
I think it’s perfect. I cannot see myself going to a small school because it’s easy to make a big school feel small. If you go to a big campus, it’s so easy to put yourself out there and meet new people to make it feel smaller, but you still have all of the perks of a big campus. You have more classes to choose from, more clubs to choose from, and more opportunities. The size has worked really well for me so I’m happy with it.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
No, but I know that Greek life will help in the future. One of the big reasons people join Greek life is because of the connections. There are alums who have gotten jobs because there are fraternity alumni who work at the company. That also goes for non-social Greek life, like business fraternities.
What did you use the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I haven’t gone to the career office year.
Have you learned any computer programs through your coursework that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’m really familiar with Excel from all of my labs. It’s an extremely useful and helpful tool to make the process the data you collect in your labs. I haven’t learned Python or any coding, but I want to learn that in the future. As a side note, it’s really hard to take Computer Science classes if you’re not a Computer Science major because the major’s already so, so competitive and if you take the class just to learn it you should expect a low grade.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with?
I have a scholarship and they’re pretty lenient with their scholarships for out-of-state students. I haven’t had to apply for anything on top of that.