University of Washington-Seattle Campus Top Questions

I spent a year living in India, and upon my acceptance to the University of Washington, I tried to get involved in the Indian cultural events. However, unfortunately I find it hard. It seems that to be truly welcome, you need to be Indian, and when I tried to join their mailing list to get more information on events hosted, I was rejected. Maybe this is only my experience, and I do not want to jump to judge the campus Indian community groups. Someone who is "country" would not be very welcome, or rather, may feel out of place. I come from an area of my valley that is more rural and traditional in thinking and dress. I found when I came to campus that people were even bold enough to call me out on it, and would comment to others. I felt very uncomfortable and unwelcome. As in line with my previous comment in a previous question, the students are very active, though I feel it may not be for the rights reasons, or it is only the idea of being active, but not actually helping the cause, but rather associating with it because it is the "cause of the hour". Most students I see in class are actually very well dressed, or they are in "workout clothes". I find this a nice change from High School in the respect that I always found it odd that people thought that it was acceptable to wear their pajamas to class. However, the work out clothes, are normally uggs, tights, and a North face jacket, and do not actually come with the intention of working out. I am not sure where this fashion started, or when tights became a form of pants acceptable on their own.

The most wonderful thing about the students on this campus is that they are entirely varied! Every group of any kind has a home here at UW. I honestly think the only type of student who would feel out of place here would be someone who needs to be coddled and can't succeed alone - someone who is not comfortable with independence. However, that being said, even those students can find some kind of support group! This campus is very laid back in the way that everyone is welcome. This is a very safe (emotionally, physically, and intellectually) campus! Everyone interacts with everyone else, and everyone's opinions matter!

They are busy, friendly and hard-working.

The school as a whole is very diverse, but living situations on campus are not nearly as diverse. For example, the Greek System is predominantly all-white, straight students, with maybe 10-20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} asian students. This varies vastly from the dorms, where there are probably 50-70{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} asian students. Oftentimes different libraries will have greek system (mainly all-white) attendance and others (usually the ones closer to the dorms) will have almost all international (mainly asian) students. For some reason, there are not as many African-Americans that attend the University of Washington compared to other public schools I've visited such as University of Oregon, Oregon State University and University of Michigan. The vast majority of students are from the state of Washington (probably 75{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}). Out of these students, most of those are from the Seattle area, with Tacoma, Vancouver, Spokane, Wenatche-area and Bellingham following that. The state with the second most students at UW is California. There are quite a few Southern California students and Bay Area students as well. It is rare to meet a student from the Midwest, East Coast, or Southern part of the US, although I have met a few over the past few years. There seem to be a lot of International students on campus as well, they always seem to be hanging out with each other and speaking languages different from English. The majority of students in the Greek System are from Eastside Seattle and upper-middle class.

Classmates are optimistic, bright individuals who are competing against you for getting into graduate school.

The UW is a very diverse campus, in fact my essay on my application for admittance was on the topic of diversity. Just like seattle the UW is a place that really emphasizes equal human rights for everyone, no matter what their background. On occasion I have a lesbian or gay teacher, as was the case in my photography class. They are treated just like any one else. The type of student that may feel out of place with this school is any kind of religious conservative. While UW is a secular school, religion is a common topic on campus and students are very opinionated. A person who does not want to have their beliefs challenged or wishes to learn in an atmosphere that's conducive to religious people may want to consider other schools. Like the majority of seattle, this school is very liberal and NO topic is off limits. That being said, the students are open to any kind of person as long as you are open to them. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated by the school or the students. If there were four tables of students in the dining hall they would be as follows: Jocks Asians Dorm kids Greek System kids Many of the students are local, but a large minority of them are from foreign countries. The largest majority of the foreign born students are from china, japan, and korea. These student are often quite wealthy due to the fact that there parents had to have enough money to send them to school in the United States. The foreign born students tend to stick together and stay to themselves. It's one of the few groups on campus that seems to be racially homogenous.

Friendly, willing to help with homework or forming study groups, and considerate of everyone in the classroom.

My classmates at the University of Washington are very supportive. Most of them are capable and ambitious in their chosen fields. They speak highly of their professors and intends to make a diffence for humanity. At first, I was intimidated to be in a class with many extraordinary individuals. However, most of the students that I met were very friendly and accepting.

I honestly do not have a lot of direct, first-hand experiences with other racial, religious, LGBT, socio-economic and/or other groups on campus. Really, the only times that I see these types of groups is when they set up booths at Red Square and do "tabling" which is where they advertise for their clubs or perhaps a certain event or cause that they're sponsoring. I honestly think that all students can find their place at school. UW has over 600 clubs for students to join and find their niche, and these clubs include ethnical, religious, sexual orientations, academics, athletics, and various other interests. There are a lot of programs and sessions for scholarships for students who feel the strain of tuition, and although budget cuts are taking a lot of things away, I think the UW is trying to do its best to cater to as many students as possible. Seattle is often a cold, blustery place, so North Face is everywhere-- vests, jackets, raincoats, backpacks, you name it. It's everywhere and it's worth it, so invest in one. I have three coats and a backpack myself. Jeans and Ugg boots are popular as well amongst girls, and jeans and sneakers are what guys wear. Frat and sorority members are more obvious on campus since they all dress alike-- "bros" wear basketball shorts, crewneck sweatshirts, backwards caps, and socks with slippers--even when it's raining. You might see them wear suits as well since a lot of them try and go into the business school. Sorority girls tend to wear crewneck sweatshirts with lululemon yoga pants tucked into Uggs with their make-up done but hair up in a bun held back by a headband. These might sound scarily specific but that's really how alike they all seem. This is a generalization, but it's about 75{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} true. There's always an exception, but I wouldn't know since they probably look like everyone else. I would say different types of students interact. This isn't high school anymore. Granted, I feel that the Greeks tend to keep to themselves, but otherwise, people are more interested in actually maintaining a meaningful conversation rather than being friends with "cool" kids. Considering the fact that UW has a student population of 40-something thousand, no one is considered popular. Sure, we know our athletes names, but honestly, I walked by Chris Polk yesterday and had no clue until my boyfriend told me. So there you go. A lot of students are in-state, but increasingly we've been getting a lot more international students-- China, Korea, Japan, Australia, England, Germany, all over-- and more students from out-of-state as well: particularly from California, but also some from the east coast as well. A few mid-westerners, but mostly people from Oregon and California. In terms of what financial backgrounds are most prevalent, there is a wide variety, although I don't know the exact background. What UW is great about is that it acknowledges all financial backgrounds--it has a program called the Husky Promise in which it gives full scholarships to students who qualify, for all four years. It's a great program that was started by our previous President, and the program does a great job at getting its name out there and being visible for people to contribute to. Students are politically aware but I don't know about active. We've certainly tried to be, especially when it comes to lobbying Olympia. Our ASUW is great about encouraging participation. Most people at UW are predominantly left-- Seattle in general is fairly liberal-- but the campus is respectful of people's beliefs regardless. We have an active UW Republican club, and the Republican and Democrat clubs enjoy getting together to debate.

Frankly, you get a lot of diversity looking around campus here at UW. Whether it be international exchange students chattering in different languages or protesters supporting the latest cause or even light-up hula hoopers swaying to a calming tune in the middle of the walkway, you're sure to find a group to hang with. Conversations will vary wildly from the latest sports game to what tactics to use when approached by passionate missionaries. Nothing's looked down on. I hear we even have a club supporting the rights of campus squirrels.