<p>I'm OOS and was recently accepted. No one knows about UW where I live so I don't know much either. Are people friendly? Are classes hard? I've also heard that it's somewhat of a commuter campus, is this true? Are financial aid awards generous? Etc. etc. I'd just like to know as much as possible before making a decision, since visiting is nigh impossible.</p>
<p>yeah I’m just gonna bump this real quick</p>
<p>bump 10 char</p>
<p>noomle, did u get my message? it got sent to your email.</p>
<p>No, financial aid awards are not generous for out-of-state students - more like non-existent (except for loans). </p>
<p>UW is more of a “suitcase” school than a commuter school. So many students are from Western Washington that a lot of people do leave during the weekend - either to go home or to do something away from the campus. The fraternities have many of their parties on Thursday nights, instead of the weekend, for this reason. There are still football games etc. on the weekends, but the dorms may be pretty empty.</p>
<p>UW is an enormous university. There are always people around, including the weekends. Many commute, many live near campus, many live on campus. Some people are nice, some people aren’t. Some classes are hard. Some classes aren’t. These questions are just way too generic for such a large university. There will be a myriad of experiences, because there are 40,000+ people a day on campus.</p>
<p>Not really “campus atmosphere” but since both UW Mad and UDub are big state schools, are the campuses very spread out? This could be problematic if there’s a lot of snow on the ground most of the year.</p>
<p>Also, can one see the mountains from the campus of UDub? Can you see Mt. Rainier on a clear day? </p>
<p>I have heard that UW Mad has a beautiful lake on campus, but never been to that area, so don’t know.</p>
<p>I have visited Seattle/Washington State and love the area, and Son, a boy from the Deep South, is hoping to attend there for grad school. Glad to hear the climate is not as bad as we thought. It rains a lot in Alabama, where he’s currently going to undergrad, as well as our hometown of New Orleans, so I don’t think the rain will bother him. He likes a little snow, but I don’t think he’d like temperatures under 20 degrees for long!</p>
<p>Yes, you can see Mount Rainer from campus. One of the best viewing spots is at the Drumheller Fountain. Here’s a link to a picture of it: <a href=“http://www.loydheath.com/UniversityofWashington/Rainier-Vista/i-pMDDrLh/4/L/9506003%20Fountain%20and%20Mountain-L.jpg[/url]”>http://www.loydheath.com/UniversityofWashington/Rainier-Vista/i-pMDDrLh/4/L/9506003%20Fountain%20and%20Mountain-L.jpg</a></p>
![http://www.loydheath.com/UniversityofWashington/Rainier-Vista/i-pMDDrLh/4/L/9506003%20Fountain%20and%20Mountain-L.jpg[/url]](http://www.loydheath.com/UniversityofWashington/Rainier-Vista/i-pMDDrLh/4/L/9506003%20Fountain%20and%20Mountain-L.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>The cherry blossoms are also beautiful. They’re in bloom right now. Here’s a pic of that: <a href=“http://faculty.washington.edu/paymana/images/photos/uw/blossoms4.gif[/url]”>http://faculty.washington.edu/paymana/images/photos/uw/blossoms4.gif</a> (The Quad is usually much more crowded than what is depicted in the picture. It’s a tourist attraction when the cherry blossoms bloom.)</p>
![http://faculty.washington.edu/paymana/images/photos/uw/blossoms4.gif[/url]](http://faculty.washington.edu/paymana/images/photos/uw/blossoms4.gif%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>As for the main questions of the thread: as someone else said, every person has a different experience. It’s a large enough campus that you can make of it what you will. Some people will be friendly, some won’t. Some classes will be hard, some won’t. The answers to these questions also depend on your perception: What do you consider to be friendly, and what do you consider to be hard? It’s difficult to answer such broad questions.</p>
<p>I personally love the school and recommend it.</p>
<p>@ twoemotions I did get your message, I also replied to the email you indicated… was my message not received?</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who replied. I realize my questions were generic; I just don’t know enough about UW to ask specific questions. </p>
<p>Also if anyone seeing this thread attends UW’s College of the Environment (or knows a lot about it) and is willing to discuss the school, please email me. I’d love to get the perspective of someone there.</p>
<p>@noomle, i never got an email from you. maybe email me once more.</p>