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I am a current UW pre-engineering student, most of the way through my sophmore 'year;' here is my take on everything. CU way the other school I was really considering.
How is the campus?
Both are on a great campus. They are different however. I really like UW's campus but it is pretty big, It can take 30 min to get from point A to point B. It does have a nice modern academic feel to it. Buildings are mostly 'collegite gothic' style, with a couple ugly exceptions (although one, the business school is being replaced), which gives it a good feel. The campus is right next to the University district, which allows you to cross the street for a whole variety of small (and really good) places to eat. UW's campus is distinctly seperated from downtown seattle (about 5-6 miles away), however if you go to the U district you will see the signs of being in a city, i.e lots of homeless people, crackheads, meth heads, hipsters, pickpockets, panhandlers, and other undesirables, with these people comes crime. The U district sees a pretty high rate of violent crime. When your on campus you are generally safe though (keep in mind 3 of the dorms are next to the campus rather then 'on it;' a guy was shot right outside one last spring. Generally not a great idea to walk through the U district alone at night though. U district is probably on of the easiest places to score drugs in the country though if you care. Weed is practically leagal in Seattle if that matters to you.
The Libraries at UW blow CU's out of the water (something that is very important)
One thing to keep in mind is that Seattle does not see near as much sun as Boulder does, we have a much more mild climate here, as well as more rain. Its called gortex and it works.
The advantage of the milder climate however is it takes less heat to get girls to start sheding cloths. First 60degree sunny day in the spring and they won't be able to take off their cloths fast enough. But it does not happen as offten. You can go 6 months with nothing but rain in the city.
There is nothing beter in the world then a warm spring day on the UW campus, the quad is awesome with the chery trees, grass is green,
How is the "vibe" (a lot of snotty kids or a lot of chill kids etc...)?
Pretty much every culture in the world is represented on the UW campus. as such you can find plenty of snotty kids, plenty of chill kids, plenty of whomever, an excess of Koreans. There are tons of groups for interacting with whom you chose too. If dressing up and pretending your a vimpire is your thing there is a club for that, they meat at 0200 in the underground parking garage. Like every college campus it tends to leen pretty far to the left. One thing though is that (with the exception of Democracy Insurgant) everyone on campus is very accepting of other peoples differences. So in that regard it is a pretty chill place.
No idea on CU vibe since I have not spent a ton of time there, but I liked it when I vistied. Seemed pretty laid back.
How is the dorm life/parties/bars?
Dorm life at UW can either suck balls or be really awesome. If you do go, don't check the engineering housing box. I did that and my hall was pretty anti social. Up untill the last month I had a pretty shity dorm experience. But I know people who have had great dorm experience. Its what you make of it.
There are plenty of parties, usually more then a handfull in the dorms each weekend (except engineering housing). Every greek house goes off every Thrusday night, there are plenty friday and saturday night as well.
For bars there is a handful in the U district, but for real night life you hop the bus to down town and go to either Bell Town, Pioneer Square, or Capital Hill (there are others too) each of those have more nightclubs / bars then all of boulder does. They are also all less then a 30 min bus ride away (buses run all night).
How is the skiing?
First off this should be the least important question you ask. But.... skiing around UW blows the CU skiing out of the water. No competition. The cascades are steeper, they get way more snow, and have way better terrain, plus you don't have to deal with nearly as bad of trafic on the way to/from the hill. Unless you really only care abotu park skiing then CU will offer more the anything in WA.
The rest is my answer to the question(s) you should be asking. This is the perspective of a current pre-engineer student.
One thing to keep in mind is that when going to the UW is that you are only admitted to the UW, you are not admitted to the program you want to major in. This creates another hurdle you have to jump through. When I was accepted to CU, I was offered spots in their engineering programs. This is not true at UW, you have to compete against every other UW pre-engineering student for a spot in one of the engineering programs two or three years down the road. These programs are very competitive and you are competing against very smart and very motivated people.
@ UW classes are hard to get into, especially your first year or two. If you want to go into engineering there really is not a lot of room for electives your first few years (or ever really), this means that you are trying to fill your schedule with core classes. Thes same core classes that everyone else in your year is trying to sign up for. If you end up at the back fo the pecking order you will not get into the classes you need. This can easily add another year. Not many people graduate from UW in 4 years.
The UW grades on a curve in almost every undergraduate class, especially all of the ones you will need to take (I know because I am or have taken them). They set the curve to 2.7 for most classes. This means that no matter how well people actually do 1/2 of the class with get a 2.7 or less. To get the kind of grades you need for engineering, you need to be doing better then atleast 2/3 to 3/4 of the people in your class. These people are generally very smart and very motivated to sucssed. It can be hard to get a good grad. It is not uncommon for 1/5 of a class to get a 0.0 in a class, even if they worked hard. To sucseed at UW you need to be busting your ass 100% of the time. I skied to much last year and it shows, my grades are not what I want them to be.
The UW is a big place, a very big place. It is also underfunded There are aprox. 60,000 people on campus, 40,000 are students. You are no more special then any of those other 40,000. and chances are the few professors and TA's we have less have much better things to do then wory about you. You have to be motivated to go to them, because no one is gonna come to you. If you are motivated there are tons of options out there for help. Lots of good study centers (go to these even if you don't need to). If you approach them, the TA's and Profesors are very smart people and will help you. If you are not self motivated you will get fucked. The system will bend you over and fuck you up the ass. So make study groups, go to the study centers, talk to the TA's and stay focused.
Now that that is all over, UW can be a great place, if you are willing to stay focused and work hard, motivate yourself everyday, and maintain a good work ethic it will reward you very well. An engineering degree from UW qualifies you just as well as that same degree from any other school would.
allways keep in mind: YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SCHOOL TO SKI.
