I know the admissions rate overall for UW is around 45%. I heard that the CS Program has an admissions rate that is significantly lower, on par with Ivy Leagues. Why is that?
Microsoft and Amazon. Directly or indirectly.
Washington has been a top computer science and engineering program for decades, and the demand to enter the CS major exceeds the department’s capacity.
http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc41.html#area29
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-computer
http://csrankings.org/#/fromyear/2017/toyear/2018/index?all
The low admission rate you mentioned is for “direct admission” to the CS major. For example, last year, the CS website stated, “For 2017, over 5,000 freshmen applicants indicated Computer Science or Computer Engineering as their first choice major. Of these applicants, around 150 students were offered direct admission. These admits have an average unweighted gpa of 3.97 and are mostly Washington state residents. Average test scores are: ACT 34, SAT math 764, SAT verbal 758."
This year, the CS website states, “For 2018, fewer than 5% of UW freshman applicants who listed Computer Science as their first-choice major were offered Direct Admission. These students had incredibly high grades, took the most rigorous curricula offered in their schools, showed meaningful extracurricular experiences, and submitted strong personal statements.”
Entering students who were not offered direct admission to the CS major may apply later for “regular admission,” which is the usual admission pathway. In recent years, the “regular admission” rate has been around 35 to 45%. The UW is continuing to grow the CS department’s capacity and will open a second CS building in January 2019:
https://www.cs.washington.edu/supportcse/cse2/background
These pages contain information about admission to the CS major and related majors and minors:
https://www.cs.washington.edu/academics/ugrad/admissions
https://www.cs.washington.edu/academics/ugrad/admissions/freshmen
https://www.cs.washington.edu/academics/ugrad/admissions/regular
Worth noting that for Fall of 2019, the admission process will be changing, and most admissions into CS will be direct admit freshman.
@uwcse2020 , where did you get that news from?
@bogeyorpar the deputy director of the department
I like that. Give people a definitive answer, so that they can make a better decision.
Hot off the press:
https://www.cs.washington.edu/academics/ugrad/admissions/dtm
@UWfromCA , you should probably start a new thread with this news. New 2019 applicants need to know.
Bill Gates
Actually Gates didn’t donate that much to UW or other Seattle local causes. Paul Allen is way more generous in local donations. The first CS building is Allen building and the CS school is named Allen School. The second CS building (the one being finished now) was mostly donated by corporate sponsors. They were 10 million (or 20 million?) short. Bill Gates filled the gap and got the building named after him.
When will Bezos donate the third CS building?
Information on donations of over $1.25 billion from Gates Foundation to the UW:
Information on naming of new CS building and gift from group calling themselves “Friends of Bill & Melinda”:
I think many Washington residents can clearly see the high paying tech jobs that have been a huge driver of Seattle’s growth in recent years. Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Expedia, and a host of other companies are very large tech employers in the Seattle area. It is pretty obvious to any student applying to college in Washington that there are great career opportunities close to home for CS grads.