University of Washington-Freshmen Information Sessions & Campus Tour

The University of Washington is one of the best Universities to attend in the North West for Undergraduate,Graduate,and post Graduate studies and Research. Locally in Seattle theUn iversity of

Washington, is called the UW, pronounced U-Dub. My youngest sister Arrianna,came up from Los Angeles,CA for a visit a few weeks ago to take the University of Washington Freshmen Information Sessions.

She plans on studying Anthropology,one of the reasons that attracted her to the University of Washington was the fact that the UW is one of the top research institutions in the nation. She signed up for one of their weekly freshmen information sessions, called the Programs for Prospective Freshmen and a 90 minute guided tour. This was a special program created to give potential freshmen and their families an inside look at their admissions process and what the University of Washington has to offer. For incoming freshmen the UW offers a very unique program just for freshmen. It is called the Earl y Fall Start program. It gives incoming freshman a chance to make the transition to college early, meet other incoming freshmen, and learn their way around the very large campus at the UW.During that month before the Autumn quarter starts, freshmen can participate in one of 25 Discovery Seminars, which are small classes just for freshman; that cover a range of topics such as art, music, geology, literature, history, philosophy,cultural studies,etc. They are 5 credit, 4 week courses designed to give freshman a taste of what is to come during the regular school year.

Another program that is available only for freshmen is called the Freshme n Int e rest Group, otherwise known on campus as FIG. FIG is basically a small cluster of freshmen (20-25) that share the same academic interests and share the same cluster of 3 or 4 courses their first quarter at the UW. It is unique because it creates a social support network and a learning community for freshmen since they are new and may not have too many friends. The UW offers more than 160 FIGs in the autumn, which covers a rangeof interests and topics.Other programs offered are Freshman Seminars, University Honors Program, and Phi Eta Sigma.

Overall the Program for Prospective Freshmen was informative, and the campus tour not only introduced parents and potential students to the beautiful campus, it offered a heads up on all of the opportunities for freshmen.From experience, starting a big University, can be very overwhelming and scary, especially since your parents, friends and family will not be around.

The University of W ashington offers unparalleled support for their freshmen and think ahead with these unique programs.My sister sent in her application before she left and we will be anticipating an acceptance letter this spring.

A few facts:The UW is the number one public institution for attracting the most federal research dollars, for their research programs.At the UW students can have access to and take advantage of their large array of academic opportunities.From picking a major, to student research, to finding a great job opportunity, or if a student was looking for challenging courses, or if they were interested in studying abroad.The University of Washington offers many resources that can help students take advantage of a variety of opportunities from one of the nation's top Universities.

The UW Vision Statement:

The University of Washington educates a diverse student body to become responsible global citizens and future leaders through a challenging learning environment informed by cutting-edge scholarship.Discovery is at the heart of our University.We discover timely solutions to the world's most complex problems and enrich the lives of people throughout our community, the state of Washington, the nation, and the World.