Dear the incoming UW freshmen class,
I get it.
I went to an all-girls Catholic high school with a graduating class of 135. And I chose the large, public out-of-state university. Clearly, this was a big jump.
I remember spending the entire summer excited for the amount of freedom I would be able to experience, but also worried about the uncertainties regarding finding friends, surviving classes, and feeling like I would be more than just a number. Spoiler: two years in, I have found my lifelong friends, I’m thriving academically, and now I transitioned into the role of the typical campus tour guide telling nervous students – like you! – how to also be more than just a number.
So, I understand your apprehension associated with adjusting to college life. I hear those concerns every week from freshmen and their parents in the same boat as you. On those tours, I always finish my spiel off with advice (wise guy over here, amirite?): college is what you make of it. It’s a restaurant buffet; there are endless possibilities for students to succeed. But, it’s up to the student to get up from their metaphoric table and take advantage of the resources and networking opportunities that exist on the University of Washington campus. This is the UW challenge, and if you are up for this, you will learn discipline, independence, self-motivation, and grow into the leader you were meant to be. So, UW Class of 2027, here’s even more advice on how to approach this challenge, and ultimately thrive.
School
- Don’t take 8:30s. Unless you absolutely have to. 8:30 a.m. in college is much different than 8:30 a.m. in high school.
- Weed-out classes are real, but don’t let them define your intelligence. It can be challenging to realize that you are no longer top of the class anymore. Go to lectures and quiz sections, talk to your professors, start study groups, and actively study course content.
- There is no need to have everything figured out your freshman year. Your life ambitions will change drastically.
- More libraries exist beyond Suzzallo and Odegaard. Also, the Ode study rooms are not soundproof. Learned that one the hard way.
- Take a First-Year Interest Group (FIG). FIGs are 1 or 2-credit classes during autumn quarter just for freshmen and transfer students. Those in this class with you will also be in your larger lecture halls, so you can have some familiar faces before the first day of classes. My FIG had roughly 20 freshmen who were also in my Sociology of Sport and Gender & Sport lectures.
Campus
- No umbrellas.
- Find a friend with a car. And, if you are the friend with the car, parking on campus will be your worst nightmare.
- Cherry Blossom season is a doozy, and that is an understatement.
- Your dorm laundry day should be any day but Sunday.
- UW has roughly 31,000 undergraduate students, but after a few months, it will start to feel much smaller. You will see the same 500 or so faces everyday, which makes campus feel a little more like home the longer you are here. My friends like to name our personal campus celebrities as our “Sims.”
- Go to Dawg Daze in September. As a tour guide, it’s my responsibility to hype up every single activity on campus. But, this is one of the activities that I truly believe is worth it for everyone. Mariner’s games, a Late Night Carnival, and school-sponsored trips to other Seattle neighborhoods all make up one of the largest college welcome weeks across the country.
- Take advantage of the prime location. There is such a strong sense of community with the college town atmosphere in U-District, but you aren’t just limited to campus. There’s more to explore in downtown Seattle, in the national parks, or along the coast.
Food
- Latin Bowl Tuesdays. Center Table. Dub Grub your order earlier in the day, skip the lines.
- Motosurf tofu in the HUB. I will never figure out what magic they put in that tofu, white rice, cabbage combo, but this lunch hits every single time.
- Drink water.
- Aladdin’s is open until 2:30AM. There is no match for the amount of serotonin I get when my second family calls my receipt number alongside my falafel sandwich. I am on a first name basis there.
Social life
- Leave your dorm door open the first few weeks. We took Polaroids of every new person to come into our room, and some of those people are still some of my best friends who just waltzed into our dorm to say hello.
- Roommates are the most eye-opening experience. I thought having a brother would prepare me for what was to come, but I was wrong. Other 18 year-olds have very different lifestyles that you might be used to.
- Call your people. High school best friends, parents, the cousin you only see at Thanksgiving. They all want to hear about how you are doing.
- Speaking of high school, no past high school relationships in college. End of story.
- If the weather is over 55°, Denny Field is the place to be.
- Saturdays are for football and Husky purple.
- Plan your Halloween costumes ASAP.
- Find your niche on campus. Get involved in something you are passionate about where you can network with other students who have similar interests. It can be easy to get lost in the crowd if you choose not to put yourself out there.
- With less than 15% Greek life population at UW, sororities and fraternities are not a huge part of campus culture. However, everyone can tell who lives near 17th Ave & 45th St in classes or just walking around.
- If you want to party, you will find a party. Simple.
Last, and most importantly, make sure you zip your backpack before walking in Red Square on the first day of freshman year (that would NEVER happen to me, at all). Take advantage of your freshman year because you will be nostalgic. It’s weird, new, and can be very bizarre. Be a delinquent freshman. And GO DAWGS always.
XOXO,
Maggie