Most kids in high school spend hours filling out college applications, practicing for their SATs, and spending huge amounts of money to travel the nation and visit colleges. That’s not what I did. I applied to UW – not to any other university. If I did not get into UW, I wasn’t planning on going to college. But that’s an extreme decision at 18 years old. Picking not to go to college can shape your future negatively. And yes, there are successful people who did not go to college, like Bill Gates, but not everyone is Bill Gates. But why did I choose to go to UW or not at all?

First off, I grew up in Seattle and I love the area. There are so many unique restaurants, coffee shops, and gift shops that are not chains. Small businesses really thrive in Seattle, and going to those not so mainstream shops and restaurants truly makes me appreciate the community. Seattle also has some of the biggest events: like Bumbershoot, the Bite of Seattle, the Gay Pride Parade, and the Fremont Oktoberfest. The community is so large, accepting, and involved, that I didn’t think I would feel comfortable anywhere else. I could also go and visit my dog whenever I wanted since I lived so close! I knew that I would not have survived being far away from Seattle, I’m definitely a homebody.

Second, UW is a great school. Not only is it located in a great community, but also UW has great programs for business, the arts, research, and pre-med. The University of Washington was ranked the second highest medical school in the nation behind USFC and was ranked number one for primary care. UW is ranked number one in research and number 14 in business in the nation. The school is more than qualified to teach us and to hand us our degrees at the end of the year. No, none of these happen to be my major, but this really sticks out to students in high school, knowing they will be getting the education they deserve.

Third, UW is what you make it. I joined a sorority my freshman year because I knew that’s the kind of community I wanted to be in, and that was how I was going to make connections. Some people don’t choose this route, and there are still other ways to make connections and get involved. UW is shunned because the campus is so big, it’s known as a commuter school, and there are 50,000 students; how are you supposed to meet anyone? Well since UW is a giant school, there are over 700 clubs and organizations that students or teachers have formed at UW. Everyone can join these clubs, and it’s a great way to meet people. UW also has First Year Interests Groups (FIG for short) for incoming freshman that contain a set class schedule of classes that relate towards a certain major. You are paired with 30 other people taking the same classes and meet once a week in your group of 30 to talk about classes, get to know each other, and describe other ways to get involved. I was in a FIG my freshman year and I still talk to the people I met in my FIG. Since UW has a lot of commuters, UW has it’s own luxury commuters lounge. Students can wait for the bus, their parents, or whoever to pick them up, grab a coffee, and do some homework in the lounge. At the beginning of the year, UW also has an event called Dawg Daze, which rallies the students for the new year ahead. Over half of the school turns out for this event, there are concerts, a carnival, food trucks, and free stuff! The students at UW know it’s a big school, and that the only way to meet people, is to actually go out and try to meet people.

UW is an amazing school. I was so grateful to be given the opportunity to go here, and I would not have picked any other school.