congrats, @sdnfjlj87909, on getting in to some great schools. Full disclosure: I’m from Seattle and love UW. My S graduated from Mac and love that school, too. I’m sharing some thoughts on those two below:
UW. It started this thing with “Direct admit” to a major this year, and holy cannoli, is it confusing or what??? We totally missed on doing that track, but D was admitted to honors and pre-sciences. The honors countered the pre-sciences thing, I guess. (She’s not going to UW, but that’s already on another thread). Love the school and STEM majors are excellent.You’ll have to kick some butt to get into the major if you didn’t get a direct admit. Yes, it is competitive, but not quite the same cut-throat vibe as east coast schools.Undergrad research opportunities are highly competitive to get – with 30k students, it understandable why. You’ll have to be pretty self directed for internships, and work with your advisor and dept, but there are many opportunities in the Seattle area and most kids seem to land one if they put effort into it. All the tech companies have offices here – and of course the “big four” in Seattle have lots of opporunities (Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks). With a large school like UW, you’ll have to put more effort into a lot of things the first few years, but it’ll pave the way for success the last two years. For dorms, yes, it’s a big campus. But it’s smaller than U Mich! UW has the Pac12 sports experience, with Football and Basketball getting much attention (but rowing is so cool here!). Seattle is one of the hottest cities in the country for jobs, young people, food, outdoor activities, proximity to mountains and water. Excellent place to live. (it ain’t cheap, however…)
Macalester. I love this school. I’m surprised you found “nothing happening” on campus. Maybe you visited during a break and saw a quiet campus? It is a small school, so the scale of how many students walking between classes is different than a larger uni. Mac has awesome sciences – biology, chem, environmental. CS and data analytics (can’t recall the official name of this major) are growing and the college is investing in the majors “of the future” so graduates can get jobs of the future. Small classes with engaged and approachable professors, who teach the classes. (FYI: UW sciences will be taught by grad students for first few years; the 100 level classes will have 600 kids in it). Wicked smart students – consistently makes the top 25 most intelligent study body list from one of those magazines whose title i can’t recall. Internships are excellent in the Twin Cities – many Fortune 500 companies are based there. Mac has a fantastic career center, study abroad center, student support services. While perhaps this next point isn’t important to you today, parents and alums do care about it… Mac has one of the BEST college presidents in the country. Brian Rosenberg is awesome. He has his priorities straight for what LAC education should be. Mac is a tight community and prides itself on its international student body (90 countries represented), global perspective and excellent professors. It’s in a beautiful part of St. Paul, just blocks away from the Governor’s house and Grand Ave (good restaurants and shops), yet a five minute bus ride takes you to a grittier Midway neighborhood for authentic vietnamese, thai, BBQ or ethiopian food.
IMO, Mac and Tufts will have the most similar students and the most similar kind of campus experience (even though Tufts is bigger).
Hope this helps! Would love to hear what you decide. You can’t go wrong with any of your choices, but I know that you want to make the right choice for yourself. Best of luck!