How do ou like the University of Washington, and what are the pros and cons?

[toothy97]

Hey everyone! It seems like I will be attending UW this coming fall! I just wanted to know all of your opinions on UW- everything from student life and feel to academics.

I'm asking because while I know the academics are research for students are amazing (as well as the campus), I have read several concerning comments about the struggles pre-med students encounter there. Some such comments have been lack of pre-health advising, professors more focused on research, overly competitive students (to the point of students stealing work from each other!) and an academic rigor that's overwhelming for many students. These comments scare me, and I want to know if this really is the best choice for pre-meds. Can anyone verify?

And yes, please all tell of your personal experiences there, as well as what you like most and dislike

Thanks so much!

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[trimethylpurine]

Currently an undergrad at UW.

I don't know what other schools are like, but I'll give my opinions on the premed courses here. I actually don't need see much cut throat competition here, but doing well in the pre reqs are tough. We have a 0-4.0 grading scale here, no letter grades. Average GPA in pre reqs is usually 2.6-2.8 (not sure what it is at other schools), so it can be pretty tough, but definitely doable if you remain focused. Research is a huge focus here and is pretty easy to get into undergrad research. Pre-health advising isn't the best to be honest.

 

[Hospitalized]

Currently an undergrad at UW.

I don't know what other schools are like, but I'll give my opinions on the premed courses here. I actually don't need see much cut throat competition here, but doing well in the pre reqs are tough. We have a 0-4.0 grading scale here, no letter grades. Average GPA in pre reqs is usually 2.6-2.8 (not sure what it is at other schools), so it can be pretty tough, but definitely doable if you remain focused. Research is a huge focus here and is pretty easy to get into undergrad research. Pre-health advising isn't the best to be honest.

Interesting. So you can get a 3.5 in a class?

 

[blackroses]

Be aware going in that UW has ENORMOUS class sizes - several hundred students in general biology classes. I personally wanted nothing to do with classes that size and chose instead to attend a no-name state school with a relatively highly ranked science program and tiny class sizes.

 

[trimethylpurine]

Interesting. So you can get a 3.5 in a class?

Definitely. You just have to be better than most other premeds.

Be aware going in that UW has ENORMOUS class sizes - several hundred students in general biology classes. I personally wanted nothing to do with classes that size and chose instead to attend a no-name state school with a relatively highly ranked science program and tiny class sizes.

Very true. Several hundred is actually on the low end - 600+ for my intro bio series and 700+ for my biochem classes. It gets down to 30-40 in upper division classes though. And it seems like since the quality of undergraduate institution doesn't matter, that wouldn't be a bad choice.

 

[blackroses]

Very true. Several hundred is actually on the low end - 600+ for my intro bio series and 700+ for my biochem classes. It gets down to 30-40 in upper division classes though. And it seems like since the quality of undergraduate institution doesn't matter, that wouldn't be a bad choice.

For me, it came down to knowing that being in a class with hundreds of other students would not set me up for success - better to go to a no-name school where I could be successful than go to a well-known school that I didn't feel would set me up to get the best grades possible. (Of course, this isn't true for everyone, this is just my personal feeling on the matter)

 

[Atmosphere123]

I graduated from UW but spent the first 2 years at a branch campus of WSU, so I have some context for comparison. I'll address a couple of your concerns individually:

Pre-health advising: Terrible. The problem is that a HUGE percentage of freshman at UW want to go to medical school so it really takes some demonstrated interest and good grades to be taken seriously by advisers.
Competitiveness: The pre-medical community at UW is very competitive. Your peers will constantly attempt to out do you in extracurricular activities.
Classes: Large class sizes. Low curves (Average ~2.8). Considering that you need have 3.5+ cumulative GPA to competitive for medical school admissions, you will need to be in the top ~20% of a group of very intelligent students.

Overall: UW is trial by fire for medical school. They will try to weed you out. Only a small percentage of people that enter UW as pre-med actually stay pre-med and go to medical school. Despite this, I loved UW. Beautiful campus. Smart people from all over the world. Stimulating academics and great extracurricular opportunities.

My recommendation for success: Grades first. Everything else second. No matter how many clubs you join or missions trips you go on or research you do, it will all be for nothing if you don't have the grades.

GO HUSKIES!

 

[y3nd0]

Dental student here. I occasionally drift over to pre-allo because the conversations are much more lively on this side!

I did my undergrad at the UW so I thought I'd chime in.

Atmosphere123 had it pretty much right that the class sizes are huge. Fall gen bio courses have~ 700 students (I believe this is the maximum class size as the biggest room on campus can only house 700 students). Getting personal with your professors is very hard to do unless you visit office hours often. More often than not, the professor will redirect you to the multiple course TA's. A tip is to take the popular pre-req's in the off quarter. I took gen bio 1 during summer quarter and had only about 150 students and fall gen bio 2 had 400 students. Class sizes diminish as you go up in levels. My P-chem class had only 60-70 students. Some classes (especially electives) have 30-40.

Curves in the large classes are set at around 2.8 as the average (very few classes have the curve at 3.0+). Since there are so many pre-health students taking these courses, the pre-reqs are indeed designed to weed out students. If you have the "proper stuff" to become a med student, you'll be able to outdo the majority of the class and get decent grades (i.e. not the dreaded 2.8).

Lots of EC opportunities, lots of research opportunities, lots of medically related volunteer opportunities. Very knowledgeable professors at the head of their respective fields that know their stuff (teaching abilities come into question for some). Without a doubt, you'll get an awesome education.

Main campus is gorgeous, but the health sciences building where the medical school is located (and where you will take some upper level courses) is the worst building on the planet. You can spend hours wandering around the building and still not know the ins and outs. I still get lost to this day.

 

[Alejandro]

Graduated in 2010, yeah, its a competitive school, but honestly, I never subscribed to it. As a college student you need to figure out A) if medicine is for you, and B) getting involved in things you are most passionate about. And yeah, theres some degree of trial by fire, but believe me, the rest of your life as a physician and its training will all be like that to some extent, so whatever. You just can't lose who you are as a person as you go through the process.

 

[toothy97]

So would you all say the courseload is manageable? How many hours per day/week did you spend on homework? And even though it's competitive, would you say it's a very stress environment? I go to a top ranked high school in the nation right now, and trust me... I know what stress and competition feels like and it's not fun. I spend a lot of time just studying (like average for our school is studying at least 6 hours a day)

 

[Alejandro]

I wouldn't think about that. Because every school is going to be inundated with work. If you're already thinking about that, you're nuts. College is an experience in the broadest of strokes. So honestly, just go with where you want to go (where do you want to live?). A school will not determine what your odds are for med school.

Here's something for you to think about.
Some undergrads BOAST that their premeds mostly get into med school, and give some corny percentage. However, do you ever look at what they need to get in? They have to win over the premed panel. Some people really think this is great.
...
In my opinion, wrong. Because a lot of premed panels do not focus on the wholistic nature of the applicant, and they often just want the student to be advised mainly by premed advisers...oh WAIT WHO MOSTLY NEITHER HAVE NOT BEEN TO MED SCHOOL, NOR HAVE THEY APPLIED. Not to mention, if your premed adviser doesn't like you, you're sunk. And the committee too (where your advisor will likely sit on) will be against you too. You're DONE. And i know, for a high schooler, you probably think you're hot stuff because you got all A's and did a gazillion AP/IB courses, but truth is, you'll find a whole new cohort of smart people in college, so i wouldn't start thinking that your gpa is already going to be 6.7 or something nuts. (yeah, 6.7 gpa. haven't you ever heard? lol)
...
If you go out into the real world, aka...graduating and getting a job, you'll find that you don't need an 'advisor,' you need a mentor. the UW has TONS of them. They're called med students. They're called residents. They're called attendings. They've written those #*&@'in essays, they've taken the stupid mcat, they've gotten the LORs, etc.

I didn't have the best gpa, and the premed adviser at uw was like, meh, chances don't look good. also, it didn't help that i didn't see her throughout all of college (wait, you're going to penalize me because medicine is a late decision...LOL WTF WHAT? Last time i checked, its a life choice, and its not a race. Thanks premed adviser!). So, because we didn't have an explicit premed council or panel that we had to go through like other undergrads, i applied without a premed adviser's blessing. And instead of some premed adviser who thinks they know something who's willing to flame all over me despite the fact i've paid my dues in work, long hours, and helping others equal or better than my peers, I had the support of med students, residents, attendings who believed in what I could accomplish. So choose who you want as your ally.

So don't choose a school based on premed advising, or even the premed coursework. Choose what fancies you.

Go Huskies!