EE at UW vs. EE at Umich vs. EE at USC

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I think I've decided that realistically (financially, and where I have a good chance at) I'm either going to Umich or University of Washington (not wisconsin, and pending admission). I'm also considering USC, but thats going to be really expensive and so its really iffy. Although I didn't really consider the idea at first, I'm also thinking that I might get a degree in EE and then go to law school and become a patent lawyer, and since where you get that tech degree matters more than the law school from what I hear, I was wondering what you guys would recommend based on this:</p>

<p>University of Washington:
Pros:
-I'm from Oregon, so its somewhat close to home, but still far away enough so that my parents don't come every weekend (I live in portland btw)
-I know a lot of people going there and a few of my good friends are going there as well. Since I'm not anti-social, but take a while to open up, this could be important because it can help me make friends early on, or at least keep me in touch with people I've known for a long time.
-I'm used to the weather.
-Has great EE department (like 16th or something)
-Not nearly as expensive as other options, since I might go to law school or biz school, that could be important
-In a killer city.
-Can bring car if necessary
-ski resorts nearby (I think, correct me if I'm wrong)
-least competition out of all of them (but still tough of course)
Cons:
-much less prestige than Mich or USC
-Worse sports teams (definately football), but could be on the rise (I LOVE athletics, so this is kinda important to me lol)
-No beaches near by? (I think...correct me if I'm wrong)</p>

<p>UMich
Pros:
-Probably best all around prestige of all
-Excellent football team (LOL, but again, thats kinda important to me)
-Near big city (detroit)
Cons:
-No beach
-Horrible weather
-Totally different area (midwest vs west coast)
-Really expensive for a public
-Nobody I know will go there.
-Probably will be very competitive since a lot of the top international students go there</p>

<p>USC:
pros:
-Amazing in engineering, and esp electrical engineering
-Hot girls :p
-Amazing football team with basketball on the rise
-California...enough said
-Get to bash UCLA!!
-should be a few people going there that I know
cons:
-Uber expensive
-Somewhat pretentious atmosphere from what I hear (no rhyme intended)
-Bad surroundings
-Overrated according to some people
-probably less competitive than michigan, but still might be harder for me to succeed there because I'm only barely above average according to the admitted students profile.</p>

<p>any ideas as to what you would do?</p>

2

<p>there are beaches relatively close in west seattle but they are pretty cold all year round (alki beach )
alot of my friends go to uw and say cars basically are a big pain. thats why uw gives u a free bus pass. traffic rivals LA sometimes lol/no parking space</p>

<p>imo seattle is a uber liberal/traffic infested city that trys to be "different" like ppl in HS, but being from portland your probably used to it lol. uw campus is really really nice though</p>

<p>i believe the sports are really good surpassing usc as a whole but not umich</p>

<p>of course usc has better football but baseball volleyball and even basketball at uw is better imo judging from the last few years</p>

<p>skiing-crystal mt and stevens are a hour or so outside the city</p>

3

<p>I chose UW over UMich for money, cause I was in state at UW. I liked UM alright, but ehhh, the midwest is kinda boring. Seattle is awesome, Seahawks and husky football, then husky basketball, maybe even mariners for sports. I got into CoE at Michigan. I thought it was really nice, but i didn't think it was worth all that extra money.</p>

4

<p>There's also Golden Gardens park/beach past Ballard (about 30-35 minutes from UW campus). It reminded me a lot of the Bay Area when I went in late-May.</p>

<p>Cars can be a pain at UW. Parking is ridiculously expensive (if you park on campus). Free parking isn't a safe bet. It's still nice to have a car around though. On the other hand, the bus is extremely accessible. (Correction: UW doesn't give you a free bus pass. You pay $44 a quarter for a U-Pass, but you can return it and get a refund at the beginning of the quarter if you don't want it).</p>

<p>While we're not USC in football, there's plenty of upside in the next few years. There's plenty of potential sports success at UW. </p>

<p>I grew up in Portland, and my parents live 4 and a half hours away now. That's a pretty good distance, and Seattle is a great city. You can't go wrong with UW.</p>