<p>Hello!
I am a Washington state resident trying to decide between attending University of Washington Seattle or Seattle Pacific University next year. I plan on going into something chemistry-related. I received academic and a music scholarship from SPU that makes it a bit cheaper than UW. I was leaning towards SPU because I felt like I would get more opportunities for internships and build up a better network of people because I would definitely be one of the smarter students at SPU (3.9 GPA, 2210 SAT). However, I was accepted into the UW Honors program so now the decision is really tough for me. I have heard that UW Honors can be a waste of time for science majors (with the required liberal arts classes), but I have also heard that the honors science classes are a lot smaller than the normal science classes, so there is a better chance to get to know your profs. I would love to hear from anyone with experience with UW honors. Anyway, I would appreciate your thoughts, thanks!</p>
<p>I think UW is better suited for your interests. Plus, there are probably more research based internships at UW especially since it’s the largest research university. I know a couple people that already have acclaimed research positions while being freshmen. SPU would probably have smaller class sizes and would allow you to have more contact with your teachers. Not as well known though</p>
<p>UW is a much better school for sciences. It’s a whole research facility pretty much!</p>
<p>I also heard that UW honors is more liberal arts based. I’m also a hard-science person and didn’t bother applying to the honors program for that reason–more time for research, volunteering, social, etc. </p>
<p>SPU consistently sends students to medical school, so if that’s the route you’re going, you may want to check them out especially if it’s less money. I believe that you would have good opportunities at both universities, but UW is bigger and does have more resources because of that. If you’re looking for smaller classes, SPU is the way to go. I have no doubt that either would provide a solid education in the sciences–especially SPU if you want to go into environmental science/marine chemistry.</p>
<p>The UW honors math and science courses have been around far longer than the Interdisciplinary Honors program, and these courses are available to all students, i.e. you don’t have to be in the honors program to take honors math or science, but these courses do fulfill part of the Interdisciplinary Honors core requirement. The UW math and science honors courses are more rigorous (in the case of chem 145/155/165 and math 134/135/136 <em>much</em> more rigorous) versions of the regular UW intro math and science courses.</p>
<p>There is also Departmental Honors, which is available to qualifying students in many departments once you are in a major. Departmental Honors generally involves research and/or a more involved senior paper than what is normally required for a degree. You don’t have to be accepted into or participate in Interdisciplinary Honors in order to participate in Departmental Honors.</p>
<p>So at UW, you would have the opportunity for more rigorous study than at SPU, particularly if you chose the honors math/science and/or Departmental Honors options.</p>
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<p>What types of internships are you looking for? If it’s any position that isn’t SPU student only, take into consideration that employers will be receiving applications from students from other schools, like UW, or even local students who go out of state for the school year. Depending on what you’re looking for, employers may be more inclined to hire students from other schools.</p>
<p>For example - for a software engineering internship position, students from schools with less reputable cs departments (ie. Seattle U, Yale) have to go through additional phone screens compared to students from UW, Stanford, CMU, etc… There’s more barriers and more opportunities for someone to slip up and make a mistake in an interview, which can lead to a no hire.</p>