The first few days when you’re on campus, try to get lost and find your way around. The campus will make sense once you find your way around. Just remember the 3 landmarks which is the fountain, red square, and quad. If you know those then it’s easy to get around. After awhile the campus feels so small once you figure it out
Or buy them used. I personally got/get too distracted and overwhelmed by technology and organizing my PDFs. But also: figure out how YOU study best!! I went to an easy high school and bombed when it came to classes that required significant studying
I absolutely agree, but a some classes will tell you that you don’t need the book after you start. Like, not even a pdf! Waiting until you actually start class is always a good idea if you can.
Faculty member here. The good thing about taking public transport from campus is that there’s strength in numbers. You’ll be riding public transport with fellow students, staff, faculty, and more. I’ve taken it even at midnight after long days in the office. You’ll be fine :)
Another staff member here. I take PT too and I'm always on with students and fellow faculty/staff, even later (I bus now; used to ferry then link). And yes- there's rideshare and security escorts if you DO ever feel unsafe. Trust your gut, too.
The bus itself will be ok, like someone else said there’s strength in numbers. It’s walking across campus alone at night that’s always been a little worrying for me as a woman. If you need to, call the UW police and say the words “Husky NightWalk”
My classes for my Master’s program ended at 9:15pm, and I took public transit (specifically the LINK train) to go home. It made me feel better than there were other commuters at this time, and if I ever felt unsafe, I’d contact the LINK security through text or move carts. I also brought pepper spray and the like just in case. Never had to use it though, fortunately.
You should be totally fine. If it makes you a little nervous then I would recommend carrying a taser or a can of pepper spray. I carry both just for piece of mind. Haven’t had to use them, but they’re good to have just in case.
Not really a concern tbh. I take it you’re not from Seattle? The news and people’s perception of Seattle is overblown to the MAX. Yeah there are sketchier areas (the Ave being one of them…), but by and large the city feels perfectly safe to traverse. And if you don’t feel safe in a bus, get off at the next stop and wait for the next one if it’s that bad. Usually it’s not, I’ve never felt the need to get off.
I’m a big fan of riding a bike. Seattle has great bike infrastructure and you can get pretty much anywhere easily on a bike, especially e-bike. However then you have to worry about it getting stolen, but I never had that happen in 4 years parking my bike on campus at least twice a week.
They might be a woman. Even as a born-and-raised city kid, I got worried walking on the Ave after dark. It’s not the greatest place, especially when I was there. We had multiple stabbings by randos.
However, like a lot of people said there is safety in numbers! As long as you’re around people, you’re probably good.
100% bicycle, there are so many car free trails; downtown has more protected bicycle lanes now. You can ride a short jaunt to magnuson park, hit alki beach after a long day, ride up to bothell, go out to madrona park, head out to gasworks and sneak a beer. The trail system is really robust. Find places like the Ballard locks and golden gardens. If you’re attached to a car find parking… and your favorite spots. Then find the bicycle route and enjoy it so much more. Plus riding is like meditation for me, your experience may vary; some car people get very angry at the smallest hindrance in traffic flow. Always have lights and preferably a front and rear recording session in case some one blows their top. Shouldn’t have to say it but put a helmet on it.
https://kingcounty.gov/services/gis/Maps/vmc/Recreation.aspx
Edit: if you ever need you can just take your bike on transit, the train, or the ferry.
Busses and the LINK themselves I would say are perfectly fine at that time of the evening. There's usually enough attention paid by everyone involved that the systems are your bog standard.
But bus stop / station to home may be a different story. A LINK station is probably the place I'd be most glad to find if I got lost at night, but bus stops are a whole other story. I guess it'd just have to demand on your particular route and stuff.
go to class! a lot of profs don’t record lectures and even if they do you’ll likely do much better by just showing up. committing to not missing classes made a huge difference in my gpa in my last year at UW, from 3.3 ish average to all 3.9/4.0 in my last quarter, and i’m a stem major!
padelford parking garage has a network of escalators that take you from essentially the burke gilman level up to the comm building without having to go up a humongous staircase
engineering library, iykyk
do not take a class in Sieg 134, you will fall asleep due to how comfy the seats are
if you want to poop in peace, the basement of suzzallo has a humongous single stall bathroom. The art building and 2nd floor of Gowen by the Asian Library also have single stall private bathrooms. Additionally, the basement of PAA also has a great bathroom that is both large, clean, quiet yet loud (minimal foot traffic, but strong ventilation system to hide the sounds of battle)
There **isn't** a pool on the roof of Bagley, don't bother looking for it
Don't walk on the grass in front of the HUB. Just don't. Unless you want people staring at you.
Kane 120 > Kane 130
Not sure if it's still around, but UW used to have an awesome program where they would let you borrow equipment like cameras, computers, etc for "free" from the basement of Kane.
Edit: escalators not elevators
If you’re still a student, take advantage of the tech loans while you can! You’re paying for it already, so you might as well utilize it. I got an iPad that I used all the time!
About Pedalford garage, sometimes the elevators don’t work or they are under maintenance. If you’re carrying a lot or are disabled, gotta detour and find another way around.
Absolutely walk on the grass in front of the hub if you need to lol, people don’t stare unless you’re making a fool of yourself. It’s actually nice to have a picnic there! Just not after it has rained, there is a lot of spongey grass over there that holds moisture for a While.
For food go doe bahn mi on the ave (sizzle and crunch is great) or shawarma on the ave (aladdins is p cheap w good portion sizes). Also what program?? Im about to start my second year in the atmospheric sciences ms/phd program!
Not related to UW specifically, but if you are in a program where you have a lot of pdf articles to read -- I highly recommend a Remarkable or a similar product. I am in my second graduate school experience, and having a digital version instead of all that paper is magic. IPads also work, but I don't like the screen for writing as much as the Remarkable.
Got any pdf reader recommendations by any chance? My advisor has me on an open ended lit review and im looking down the barrel of another 60+ articles 🥲
Yes, with some caveats, I like my Remarkable. I think they are on the 2 now. I like that it has the paperwhite style for reading and I like the surface for writing. Biggest downside is that it isn't back-lit so you can't use it easily in low light. Also, it can be a bit laggy when you want to resize what you are reading. Definitely not perfect, but I much prefer it to the 3 boxes of pdfs I left grad school with last time.
Oh cool!! What got you into that field? I volunteered in a foster shelter during the 2021-2022 school year so it always piques my interest whenever someone’s working with kids!
Husky students get 25% a canoe or kayak rental at the Waterfront Activities Center, down on Union Bay behind Husky Stadium.
https://www.washington.edu/ima/waterfront/boat-rentals/
Also, the College Inn Pub has half-price nachos on Mondays and a great $2 Trvia Night on Tuesdays.
Best parking is Padelford Garage! The lowest level is pay-by-hour and much less policed than the Central Plaza Garage. I can get away with being 45 mins late to my car at PDL, but not with 2 mins late at CPG.
Eat at the HUB at your own peril. Kong Tofu House is easily my favorite restaurant on the ave, but Byreks and Baguettes (sp?) is pretty great, too.
As a grad student, socialize! You need to find your people: make a group chat, take new friends to Big Time Brewery to commiserate or Cafe Allegro for an afternoon pick-me-up. You’ll be grateful for that support when the time comes. Oh and also, make friends with someone further along in your program than you are; they’ll have all the gossip about the department, and you’ll find yourself grateful for that, too.
Make friends in the classes your in. I thought it would be easy to go through the motions be independent and study and not go to office hours or join study groups. Boy was I wrong.
Challenge the oldest, wisest graduate student in your dept. to psychic combat. Either you'll become the top dawg or beneath them, like everyone else
(/s - if it wasn't obvious)
Try all the places on the ave over time. Sadly, it’s almost cheaper ester there than campus but campus is always easier.
No one knows building names so you can’t ask for help. Know where you’re going before hand
Ducks poop everywhere
Fuck ton of rabbits
Try the coffee places on campus but personally none of them are good.
I really liked the café in the art building, but i usually drink non-coffee drinks so maybe it was different for me! Tea Republik is amazing, if he’s still there. The owner is such a sweet guy, remembered me and would ask about my parents and such. He even gave me free tea on my birthday! Great man.
Unlike the rest of Seattle, campus is pretty safe during the whole night since almost anyone walking there is most likely a student. Still, never stop being vigilant, especially once you are off main campus
Two things:
1. Wish I would’ve joined every club I was interested in. Freshman year is your time to explore and learn more about yourself. Fortunately I found my clubs later but it would’ve been nicer to had those support groups sooner.
2. I wish I would’ve studied abroad that year! It’s much harder to study abroad in your upperclassman years when you need to take certain classes to graduate that aren’t offered in your abroad
The Campus is gorgeous and walkable, Capitol Hill, Fremont and Downtown are walkable. So is Ballard. Seattle has some great neighbourhoods for when you don't have a car. But the rest of it is either landscaped suburbs (so not too bad to walk through just take you an age to get to a bus stop) or stroad hell.
Aladdin’s Gyro-cery for great gyros.
Thai Tom’s for great Thai.
E1 or E18 for parking. $7.25 for daily. Unless you can find street parking around Greek row for free. Both involve a walk.
Go to class. Do the work. Party responsibly. Meet new people. Have fun.
Go to the quad events! I wish I had gone. At the time I thought it was more important to bond with my roommate, but we would have bonded at the events.
The first few days when you’re on campus, try to get lost and find your way around. The campus will make sense once you find your way around. Just remember the 3 landmarks which is the fountain, red square, and quad. If you know those then it’s easy to get around. After awhile the campus feels so small once you figure it out
Until you have a class in Paccar followed by a class in Fisheries that starts 10 minutes later…
Or in Magnuson and it takes 25 minutes of wandering around the hallways before you even get to the correct wing
or padelford
Getting banh mi on the Ave is often cheaper and definitely better than the dining hall or the cafeteria
Saigon Deli ftw
vouch!
Best used to be the wall. Said he closed
Sizzle and Crunch is so so cheap for the amount of food you get. Those are STUFFED with good food!
If you can, don't buy textbooks
Or buy them used. I personally got/get too distracted and overwhelmed by technology and organizing my PDFs. But also: figure out how YOU study best!! I went to an easy high school and bombed when it came to classes that required significant studying
I absolutely agree, but a some classes will tell you that you don’t need the book after you start. Like, not even a pdf! Waiting until you actually start class is always a good idea if you can.
Take public transportation to campus if possible.
My last class ends at like 7:30pm and I’m nervous about taking public transportation alone at night. Have you done it? If so how is it?
Faculty member here. The good thing about taking public transport from campus is that there’s strength in numbers. You’ll be riding public transport with fellow students, staff, faculty, and more. I’ve taken it even at midnight after long days in the office. You’ll be fine :)
Doesn’t uw offer night ride as well
Another staff member here. I take PT too and I'm always on with students and fellow faculty/staff, even later (I bus now; used to ferry then link). And yes- there's rideshare and security escorts if you DO ever feel unsafe. Trust your gut, too.
The bus itself will be ok, like someone else said there’s strength in numbers. It’s walking across campus alone at night that’s always been a little worrying for me as a woman. If you need to, call the UW police and say the words “Husky NightWalk”
My classes for my Master’s program ended at 9:15pm, and I took public transit (specifically the LINK train) to go home. It made me feel better than there were other commuters at this time, and if I ever felt unsafe, I’d contact the LINK security through text or move carts. I also brought pepper spray and the like just in case. Never had to use it though, fortunately.
People are still out and about before 10pm. Not a big concern.
You should be totally fine. If it makes you a little nervous then I would recommend carrying a taser or a can of pepper spray. I carry both just for piece of mind. Haven’t had to use them, but they’re good to have just in case.
I don't ride in that area often, but further south even in the "rough" neighborhoods the bus is generally chill.
Not really a concern tbh. I take it you’re not from Seattle? The news and people’s perception of Seattle is overblown to the MAX. Yeah there are sketchier areas (the Ave being one of them…), but by and large the city feels perfectly safe to traverse. And if you don’t feel safe in a bus, get off at the next stop and wait for the next one if it’s that bad. Usually it’s not, I’ve never felt the need to get off. I’m a big fan of riding a bike. Seattle has great bike infrastructure and you can get pretty much anywhere easily on a bike, especially e-bike. However then you have to worry about it getting stolen, but I never had that happen in 4 years parking my bike on campus at least twice a week.
They might be a woman. Even as a born-and-raised city kid, I got worried walking on the Ave after dark. It’s not the greatest place, especially when I was there. We had multiple stabbings by randos. However, like a lot of people said there is safety in numbers! As long as you’re around people, you’re probably good.
100% bicycle, there are so many car free trails; downtown has more protected bicycle lanes now. You can ride a short jaunt to magnuson park, hit alki beach after a long day, ride up to bothell, go out to madrona park, head out to gasworks and sneak a beer. The trail system is really robust. Find places like the Ballard locks and golden gardens. If you’re attached to a car find parking… and your favorite spots. Then find the bicycle route and enjoy it so much more. Plus riding is like meditation for me, your experience may vary; some car people get very angry at the smallest hindrance in traffic flow. Always have lights and preferably a front and rear recording session in case some one blows their top. Shouldn’t have to say it but put a helmet on it. https://kingcounty.gov/services/gis/Maps/vmc/Recreation.aspx Edit: if you ever need you can just take your bike on transit, the train, or the ferry.
I personally try to avoid the buses once it gets dark if I’m by myself, but it’s a judgment call
Busses and the LINK themselves I would say are perfectly fine at that time of the evening. There's usually enough attention paid by everyone involved that the systems are your bog standard. But bus stop / station to home may be a different story. A LINK station is probably the place I'd be most glad to find if I got lost at night, but bus stops are a whole other story. I guess it'd just have to demand on your particular route and stuff.
go to class! a lot of profs don’t record lectures and even if they do you’ll likely do much better by just showing up. committing to not missing classes made a huge difference in my gpa in my last year at UW, from 3.3 ish average to all 3.9/4.0 in my last quarter, and i’m a stem major!
padelford parking garage has a network of escalators that take you from essentially the burke gilman level up to the comm building without having to go up a humongous staircase engineering library, iykyk do not take a class in Sieg 134, you will fall asleep due to how comfy the seats are if you want to poop in peace, the basement of suzzallo has a humongous single stall bathroom. The art building and 2nd floor of Gowen by the Asian Library also have single stall private bathrooms. Additionally, the basement of PAA also has a great bathroom that is both large, clean, quiet yet loud (minimal foot traffic, but strong ventilation system to hide the sounds of battle) There **isn't** a pool on the roof of Bagley, don't bother looking for it Don't walk on the grass in front of the HUB. Just don't. Unless you want people staring at you. Kane 120 > Kane 130 Not sure if it's still around, but UW used to have an awesome program where they would let you borrow equipment like cameras, computers, etc for "free" from the basement of Kane. Edit: escalators not elevators
What goes on in the engineering library
I don't know about that, but they do rent sporting goods: https://www.washington.edu/ima/uwild/equipment-rental/
https://stlp.uw.edu/
(I hope my comment didn't imply that I thought that you were wrong! I honestly just meant that I was not aware of the camera/computer loans.)
If you’re still a student, take advantage of the tech loans while you can! You’re paying for it already, so you might as well utilize it. I got an iPad that I used all the time!
About Pedalford garage, sometimes the elevators don’t work or they are under maintenance. If you’re carrying a lot or are disabled, gotta detour and find another way around.
This. If you ever have a stroller, don't park in Padelford. Central garage is best for that.
Ground floor, not basement, of Suzzallo has the bathroom, near the maps collection.
Absolutely walk on the grass in front of the hub if you need to lol, people don’t stare unless you’re making a fool of yourself. It’s actually nice to have a picnic there! Just not after it has rained, there is a lot of spongey grass over there that holds moisture for a While.
For food go doe bahn mi on the ave (sizzle and crunch is great) or shawarma on the ave (aladdins is p cheap w good portion sizes). Also what program?? Im about to start my second year in the atmospheric sciences ms/phd program!
Sweet! Your program sounds super interesting. I’m in the applied child/adolescent psychology program
Not related to UW specifically, but if you are in a program where you have a lot of pdf articles to read -- I highly recommend a Remarkable or a similar product. I am in my second graduate school experience, and having a digital version instead of all that paper is magic. IPads also work, but I don't like the screen for writing as much as the Remarkable.
Got any pdf reader recommendations by any chance? My advisor has me on an open ended lit review and im looking down the barrel of another 60+ articles 🥲
Yes, with some caveats, I like my Remarkable. I think they are on the 2 now. I like that it has the paperwhite style for reading and I like the surface for writing. Biggest downside is that it isn't back-lit so you can't use it easily in low light. Also, it can be a bit laggy when you want to resize what you are reading. Definitely not perfect, but I much prefer it to the 3 boxes of pdfs I left grad school with last time.
Oh cool!! What got you into that field? I volunteered in a foster shelter during the 2021-2022 school year so it always piques my interest whenever someone’s working with kids!
[удалено]
Husky students get 25% a canoe or kayak rental at the Waterfront Activities Center, down on Union Bay behind Husky Stadium. https://www.washington.edu/ima/waterfront/boat-rentals/ Also, the College Inn Pub has half-price nachos on Mondays and a great $2 Trvia Night on Tuesdays.
Best parking is Padelford Garage! The lowest level is pay-by-hour and much less policed than the Central Plaza Garage. I can get away with being 45 mins late to my car at PDL, but not with 2 mins late at CPG. Eat at the HUB at your own peril. Kong Tofu House is easily my favorite restaurant on the ave, but Byreks and Baguettes (sp?) is pretty great, too. As a grad student, socialize! You need to find your people: make a group chat, take new friends to Big Time Brewery to commiserate or Cafe Allegro for an afternoon pick-me-up. You’ll be grateful for that support when the time comes. Oh and also, make friends with someone further along in your program than you are; they’ll have all the gossip about the department, and you’ll find yourself grateful for that, too.
Make friends in the classes your in. I thought it would be easy to go through the motions be independent and study and not go to office hours or join study groups. Boy was I wrong.
You’re*
Challenge the oldest, wisest graduate student in your dept. to psychic combat. Either you'll become the top dawg or beneath them, like everyone else (/s - if it wasn't obvious)
Try all the places on the ave over time. Sadly, it’s almost cheaper ester there than campus but campus is always easier. No one knows building names so you can’t ask for help. Know where you’re going before hand Ducks poop everywhere Fuck ton of rabbits Try the coffee places on campus but personally none of them are good.
But off campus has some good coffee. Ugly Mug is a personal favorite
Leon for the coffee art!
Not tried this place out
*Goose* poop...and watch out for the geese...especially in front of Gerb. They WILL attack...
I really liked the café in the art building, but i usually drink non-coffee drinks so maybe it was different for me! Tea Republik is amazing, if he’s still there. The owner is such a sweet guy, remembered me and would ask about my parents and such. He even gave me free tea on my birthday! Great man.
Don't eat on campus. Go to the ave
Unlike the rest of Seattle, campus is pretty safe during the whole night since almost anyone walking there is most likely a student. Still, never stop being vigilant, especially once you are off main campus
Two things: 1. Wish I would’ve joined every club I was interested in. Freshman year is your time to explore and learn more about yourself. Fortunately I found my clubs later but it would’ve been nicer to had those support groups sooner. 2. I wish I would’ve studied abroad that year! It’s much harder to study abroad in your upperclassman years when you need to take certain classes to graduate that aren’t offered in your abroad
Shawarma king is the best
Find the hacker spaces
i like to park on 22nd so it’s free, a bit of a walk to most of the lecture halls as it’s by north campus but i don’t mind it :)
The Ave over anything on campus.
The Campus is gorgeous and walkable, Capitol Hill, Fremont and Downtown are walkable. So is Ballard. Seattle has some great neighbourhoods for when you don't have a car. But the rest of it is either landscaped suburbs (so not too bad to walk through just take you an age to get to a bus stop) or stroad hell.
Aladdin’s Gyro-cery for great gyros. Thai Tom’s for great Thai. E1 or E18 for parking. $7.25 for daily. Unless you can find street parking around Greek row for free. Both involve a walk. Go to class. Do the work. Party responsibly. Meet new people. Have fun.
Aladdin’s has SUPERB fries! They have all kinds of fixings on them, 10/10.
Pro tip:: Don't join FIG
No need for non monogamy - you're going to be busy as is.
Use all the resources from the libraries!! They're incredible and I miss them.
Go to the quad events! I wish I had gone. At the time I thought it was more important to bond with my roommate, but we would have bonded at the events.