So my dream school is the university of Washington in Seattle and I was wondering if anyone has any tips to get in? Or just general knowledge of what really puts your application ahead when you’re out of state?
From our experience, UW is more stats focused than other colleges. It doesn’t even ask for recommendation letters. So make sure your GPA and SAT/ACT are within range, and write some good essays.
Being out of state, I would think it’s also important to show that you can pay the full OOS tuition. UW gives a “purple and gold” scholarship to OOS students, but no other financial aid. I don’t think UW is need-blind.
Washington is need blind in admissions.
According to the Common Data Set, these factors are “very important” in the UW’s admission decisions:
Academic GPA
Application essay
Rigor of secondary school record
These factors are “important”:
Extracurricular activities
First generation college student
Standardized test scores
Talent/ability
Volunteer work
Work experience
These factors are “considered”:
Character/personal qualities
State residency
This page contains information about scholarships that are available to nonresidents:
https://www.washington.edu/financialaid/types-of-aid/scholarships/undergraduate-scholarships/
The following aren’t listed but also important:
- available space in your major Some majors are highly competitive. Before you ask: Don’t apply to an easy major and think it will be easy to change to a constrained one because it won’t be.
- diversity (not race, as they are not allowed to consider that, but getting students from all parts of the state, not just the Seattle area, and other types of diversity besides just “first generation”)
Check out the subreddit for UW. There’s a lot of helpful information there