Hi there!
I would most like to hear from current UWSeattle undergraduate students. Someone strongly recommended University of Washington at Seattle to me, but I am unfamiliar with some aspects of the school.
First, I’ve never seen a “quarter system” before. We use semesters. I’ve looked at the Academic Calendar, so I know they are about 10 weeks long, but what are the classes like? Does the average class meet once a week for an hour, or once a week for three hours (or more)? Or, does it meet several times a week? Is there a page at Washington.edu which describes this? I’ve tried to look at individual classes, but it doesn’t seem possible until you’re a student.
Second, how many of these classes does a student usually take?
Third, the recommender told me that the first two years, the classes would be “large”. How large is a “large class” for freshmen and sophomores? (I imagine small classes for seniors can be as small as five.)
Fourth, are there classes everyone takes? Like history or english classes?
Thank you for any help. The quarter system is confusing to me!
@LittleBrownDove
To start off, the quarter system is better in many ways. You can experience a lot more and explore your field and others in more depth.
Secondly, most classes meet every day or four times a week for an hour. But you can do classes that meet twice a week for a few hours, etc… It is really up to you and how you want your schedule to look.
Thirdly, classes can be HUGE. The biggest class is 500-700 students (uncommon but happens). The average in your freshmen year would be around 100ish. But as you dwindle into junior and senior year they shrink down to around 50 or less on average.
Fourth, a full time student would take 15 credits a quarter, or three classes.
Fifth, of course there are classes everyone takes. Your must complete the core curriculum before entering your major.
UW is ranked among the top schools in the country in MANY different degrees. They are ranked top 10 in many of there programs and are always ranked in the top 10 for best overall school. I hope your choose to come here! You won’t regret it and will be given TONS of opportunities. Seattle has the highest job growth rate in the country right now.
@Loganmr97 I read on the UW website that a full time student needs a ‘minimum’ of 180 credits to graduate with an undergrad degree. In the quarter system, if a student takes 3 classes per quarter (15 credits as you mentioned), then wouldn’t they complete 15x4 = 60 credits per year? That’s a third of the minimum, and would, therefore, take that student only 3 years to graduate? Is this how it works, or am I misunderstanding something here?
Most people complete 45 credits a year as they take summer quarter off! If they really want to graduate early, I’m sure they can go that route, though.
Schools on the quarter system might move through material at a faster pace, but remember that students are usually focusing on only 3 classes at a time. Semesters take more time but students juggle more classes, perhaps 4-6. Plus if you really don’t like a class, it’s over in only 10 weeks on the quarter system!
@Loganmr97 So if it requires 180 credits to graduate with an undergrad degree with a single major, how many extra credits would it take to graduate with a minor or a double major. Since i’m a senior in the British education system, UW lets us transfer our courses and my total comes to 45 credits, so i basically have an entire year off and would like to do a major/minor instead in that optional 4th year.
I am a senior that is a double major with a minor, and yes, they do allow some overlapping. Technically, instead of 180 for a single major you get to go up to 220-225 credits for a second major. If you were to triple major they would add an another 45 credits to allow you the extra time to graduate. That being said, with the overlapping that is allowed it is only taking me an additional quarter, maybe two if I want to stretch it out. Don’t be intimidated by the idea of double majoring with or without a minor. I have three kids, take classes year round, participate in undergraduate research, and have maintained a 3.9 throughout. If I can do it, any of you can do it too.
so if it takes 180 for a single major and up to 220-225 for a double major, how many will it take for a ‘double degree’? e.g a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science
15 quarter credits doesn't necessarily mean 3 classes. Each class can be worth anywhere from 1-5 credits, but an average class will be worth 5 credits. You are considered a "full time student" if you take 12+ credits.
Typically, each class will either meet 5 times a week for 50 minutes each, or twice a week for approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes.
If the class is "large" (100-200 people on average, up to 700), it will most likely require "quiz sections" or labs. It's basically a smaller version of the class---the large class of 100+ is divided into 20-30 students per quiz section. It's taught by TAs and you work on lab/assignments, practice questions, take quizzes, and ask questions.
-Small classes in general consist of 20-30 students
If you are decided on a major, then I would suggest that you look at the departmental admission requirements (each major will require different numbers of each areas of study). You can find this info by Googling "UW undergraduate majors". If you're already a student, then you can just run a "Degree Aduit" (DARS) with your intended major on MyUW. It will show you what classes you need to take in detail.
My experience with the quarter class scheduling system at SCAD.
I attended SCAD from 2001 to 2004 studying architecture in the Master of Architecture program. Since I was a student with an undergraduate degree in a related discipline, I needed to go for 3 years to meet the requirements. For anyone considering to go to SCAD I can provide some first hand experience that can help anyone make their own decisions of where to go to college. I am going to list the major things that someone should consider before going to SCAD.
SCAD has the quarter scheduling system. A quarter system class scheduling system is a lot different than a semester system class schedule. A quarter system academic year is three quarters: fall, winter, spring. A full time class schedule is 3 classes. This sounds reasonable but each class is 2.5 hours long. Studio classes are 5.5 hours long. If you schedule a studio class and a regular class back to back you are in class all day. In architecture studio classes. we spent a lot of time discussing our own projects or other students projects with the class which limits your own time of getting your own projects completed.
To make up the time, students have to spend long hours into the night to get their projects complete. Eichberg Hall where the architecture department is located at SCAD was open 24/7 when I was there. Students had to do a lot of all nighters because the quarter system class periods are too long.
I personally did at least 100 all nighters in 3 years while attending SCAD. I look back and consider that torture. I would never go to a quarter system college again. All nighters become a very painful experience after a while. I still suffer from all of the sleep deprivation. I did not waste time going to parties. I worked on my projects as much as I needed to do to do my best considering the time constraints of the quarter system. I managed to get straight 'A’s my last year and my GPA was over 3.7.
Another downfall of the quarter system is that professors have difficulty maintaining a class for 2.5 hours. I had some professors at SCAD cancel class after about 1 hour of teaching. But I paid for 2.5 hours of class time. SCAD is very expensive.
I also think the quarter system is not flexible. You cannot take extra classes over full time like you can a semester system.
I went to a semester system college for my undergraduate degree. Class periods are only 50 minutes long 3 times a week or 1.5 hours long 2 times a week. Since the class times are shorter I had much more time after class to do my work. I only needed to do 1 all nighter and that was because I was taking extra classes over full time. I was able to take 1 or 2 classes over full time each semester in order to study business classes outside of my major and complete the required elective classes for my major.
Quarter systems are designed to prevent you from taking free classes like at a semester system. At a semester system, you pay for a full class load of 12 credits. Since the class times are shorter, you can easily take an extra class a semester. Since you only pay for 12 credits, that extra class is free. The quarter system at SCAD is virtually impossibly to take an extra class. So, no free classes. I paid for my own college education. I greatly appreciate being able to take an extra class a semester at the semester system college.
The scope of classes at SCAD is limited compared to a college such as Penn State University. Do your research on what classes a college offers before choosing a college.
To any student considering going to college, I highly recommend going to a semester system college.
Since I graduated from SCAD, I have finished the Architecture Registration Exams and became registered. I passed all of the exams one the first attempt. Most importantly, I have not experienced an all nighter since 2004. I do not miss the all nighter life at all. I would never ever consider going to a quarter system college again. If I take any college courses in the future, I will certainly go to a semester system college.