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List of the Best American Universities

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Washington 

Washington University

University of Washington (UW) – The University of Washington is one of the oldest and largest public universities on the West Coast, a multidisciplinary university with three campuses in the United States, as well as with a representative office in Leon (Spain). The university is world famous for its achievements in the field of medicine. Despite the fact that the University of Washington is public (state), it has quite a lot of foreign students: about 10 percent of the total number of students.

History of the University of Washington

UW officially opened on November 4, 1861 as the Territorial University of Washington. The new educational institution was designed to strengthen the prestige of Seattle: in those years, several cities fought among themselves for the title of the main city in Washington territory. The first campus of the educational institution was located in the city center, unfortunately, only a few Ionic columns have survived from the most beautiful university buildings, which are now located on the territory of the Sylvan Theater and Columns in Seattle. After its founding, the university experienced difficult times: it opened and closed several times until it acquired a new campus.

In 1909 Seattle hosted the Alaska, Yukon, and Pacific Achievement Exposition, once the exposition ended, the original exposition center became the campus of the University of Washington. The post-war years were a time of rapid growth for the educational institution. In 1946, the medical school of the university opened, which later developed into a separate medical center.

In the 1940s, Japanese Americans were expelled from the university in connection with the attack on Pearl Harbor. On May 18, 2008, they were awarded diplomas from the University of Washington.

The 1960s and 1970s went down in the history of the university as the “golden age of the university”: a strong teaching staff appeared here, the university received serious funds for its research (by the way, to this day UW is one of the main recipients of federal funds for research) . Students were politically active: in the late 1960s, anti-war protests against the Vietnam War were held within the walls of the university.

The university opened branches in Bothell and Tacoma in 1990, originally only teaching two-year undergraduate programs for those with an associate’s degree. Both campuses were upgraded to four years of study in 2006. In addition, master’s programs have also begun to be implemented here. In 2009, the university opened its representative office in the Spanish city of León in cooperation with the local university.

Building the University of Washington

In 2011, Slate Travel + Leisure named the Seattle campus of the University of Washington one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States. The campus is located on the bay, the university buildings overlook the mountains. In the immediate vicinity is the Botanical Garden and four large parks and squares. There are lakes, sports grounds on the campus. There is also a large medical center University of Washington Medical Center.

The university has 16 colleges and schools, laboratories and research centers. Student houses are located in the university village. The university has the Henry Gallery and the Burke Museum of Natural History. The Neo-Gothic Suzallo Library is considered one of the largest university libraries in the United States.

The campus of the university in Bothell is relatively new, it is located 12 miles from Seattle. This is where most of the technical training takes place. The university’s Tacoma campus is 31 miles from Seattle. The campus is located on the shores of the picturesque Puget Sound.

Scientific achievements of the University of Washington

  • The University of Washington is conducting promising research in the field of cancer control, in particular, it is developing a vaccine against breast cancer.
  • Neurons were discovered at the university, allowing you to perceive new sounds.
  • Within the walls of the educational institution, work is underway to create bionic contact lenses that project an image right in front of the eyes. Its prototype has already been demonstrated.
  • A vertical occipital bundle of the brain was discovered at the university, which had previously gone unnoticed by scientists.
  • Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a camera capable of capturing images at up to 100 billion frames per second.
  • The university found that breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer by 20 percent.
  • Here it was proved that the human eye is able to see infrared light.
  • The University of Washington is working on a fusion reactor.

Why should you go to the University of Washington?

  • The university’s research is funded primarily by federal sources, with UW receiving more funds for this purpose than any other public university in the country. Students are involved in research projects.
  • The University of Washington campus has been referred to as a “city within a city” and is one of the most beautiful and well-designed campuses in the United States. It has everything for comfortable learning and living: recreation areas, galleries, cafes, squares, houses and residences, laboratories and research centers.
  • The university has four large medical clinics where university research is conducted.
  • Six Nobel Prize winners are affiliated with the university. At the same time, since 1990, five university employees have received five awards in the field of medicine.
  • Let’s not forget that the Pacific Northwest of the United States is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, and university campuses are a great starting point for travelers. Around the “city of rains” and its suburbs there are several national parks, many lakes, mountains. Seattle is a major transport hub, from here you can go to any city in the United States and beyond.

Scholarships and grants at the University of Washington

About 58 percent of UW students receive financial aid. Half of all UW students graduate without student loans or debt. The university is implementing the Husky Promise program. It raises public and private funds to help students who are in some financial difficulty. The program guarantees free education at the University of Washington.

A quarter of students receive federal Pell Grants, which are calculated based on the student’s financial situation.

The University of Washington implements the Rhodes Scholarship, Marshall Scholarship, The Harry S. Truman Scholarship, and Fulbright scholarships, which are awarded for high academic performance, leadership qualities, and community service.

Features of admission to the University of Washington

UW has about 280 programs, summer courses, preparatory programs, English language courses. Online learning is available at the University of Washington.

An application for admission can be submitted on the university website http://admission.wsu.edu/applications or by regular mail (forms can be found at https://admit.washington.edu/Admission/International/Apply/PDF ). Required documents can also be submitted online, followed by paper copies of documents with official translation.

International students must prove their level of English. The minimum for TOEFL Internet-based is 76 points, for TOEFL paper-based – 540. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0. If the applicant demonstrates good knowledge of the English language (92 TOEFL iBT, 580 paper-based TOEFL, 7.0 IELTS), then the foreign student will be exempted from the academic English course in the future.

For admission to the University of Washington, international students are not required to take SAT or ACT tests. However, if the tests are passed, the university recommends submitting grades as additional evidence of the applicant’s academic performance. These results may have a positive impact on the consideration of the application. For comparison: the results of SAT composite among resident applicants who entered UW in 2014 averaged 1830 points out of 2400 possible.

Applicants are required to pay a $75 fee, which is non-refundable.

All applicants must meet the academic requirements of the institution (College Academic Distribution Requirements / CADR). Upon admission, it is necessary to provide documents confirming the level of knowledge and the number of credits (hours) taken in six subject areas. This requirement ensures that prospective students entering the university are properly prepared to study at the University of Washington.

Foreign students must also provide a certificate of completion of school with data on academic performance , proof of financial solvency , a motivation letter (Personal Statement). Letters of recommendation are not required.

International cooperation and exchange programs at the University of Washington

The university participates in the National Student Exchange Program. For a list of universities and colleges where exchange students can study, see [depts.washington.edu/nse/schools.php]. In addition to higher education institutions in the United States, it represents several universities in Canada.

The university cooperates with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany): research is being carried out in the part of the KATRIN experiment (The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino). Within its framework, searches for the mass of neutrinos are underway, scientists from around the world are participating in the experiment.

The University of Washington has opened student exchange programs with King’s College in London (King’s College), Koch University in Istanbul (Koc University), National University of Singapore (National University of Singapore).

Interesting facts about the University of Washington

  • On the territory of the main campus of the University of Washington, the films “War Games” (WarGames), “21 and More” (21 & Over), as well as popular science films were filmed.
  • To combat icing on the roads, the university proposed using the remains of vodka production: instead of salt, university researchers proposed using spent barley, which is considered less harmful to the environment.
  • The university is supported by Bill Gates and Paul Allen: their parents taught at the University of Washington.
  • A team of university researchers have created a formula that helps predict which couples will stay together forever and which ones will break up. Researchers believe their formula works 94 percent of the time.
  • The Burke Museum houses the remains of Kennewick Man, who lived about 9,300 years ago.

Famous alumni of the University of Washington

  • Alpinist Edmund Visturs, who was able to conquer 14 eight-thousanders, is a university graduate. This is the only American who was able to set such a record.
  • Minoru Yamasaki, the author of the World Trade Center project in New York, is a UW alumnus.
  • Baskin-Robbins co-founder Irv Robbins graduated from the University of Washington.
  • At this university, student Bruce Lee met his wife, Linda Emery. Bruce Lee is a graduate of the University of Washington.
  • One of the creators of the social network MySpace Chris De Wolf is a graduate of the University of Washington.
  • Jazz saxophonist Kenny G is another well-known graduate of one of the largest and most successful universities on the West Coast of the United States – the University of Washington.