This evening I got back from a very short trip to Seattle to visit UW. (I left Portland yesterday morning at 8:15 and got back into town at 5:00.) Although the weather wasn't very nice (it was cloudy yesterday and today and rained on the way home) I had a great time. I stayed with my friend Lauren and her husband and had some much needed catch-up/girl time with her.
Yesterday afternoon I met with a professor who bought me tea at Starbucks and then gave me a tour of Eagleson Hall (administrative/professors' offices), the Speech and Hearing Clinic, and the Social Work building (where I'll have class). Eagleson Hall and the Social Work building are old, but the Speech and Hearing Clinic looks quite new and sleek. The professors of both speech and audiology have amazing labs and research projects that involve topics of interest to me.
Early this morning Lauren took me to a Starbucks in Alki. I absolutely loved it. The view of the water from the Starbucks was amazing. I can totally picture myself studying there all the time (if only it were close to UW and where I would live). There are great walking paths and a ton of park benches around the water. It would be so much fun to go for walks and runs along the water. It's a great little "beach" town (I put beach in quotes because some people might not consider it a real beach town since there isn't actually a beach - no sand). I wish I had my camera. I'll be back in a few weeks and will take pictures then.
This morning I took a tour of the campus. It was geared mainly toward freshman and transfer students, but I still learned a bit of helpful information for grad school. The campus wasn't as beautiful as I remember it when I was a senior in high school, and it's not a pretty as the University of Portland (my undergrad), but I still like it. This reading room is amazing. I love the architecture.
The courtyard looks like a bigger version of UP's, which made me feel at home. I absolutely love UP.
This fountain is beautiful.
This afternoon I met three third-year grad students for lunch at Shultzy's Sausage, which was delicious. Next time you visit Seattle, you should definitely go there. I asked them a lot of questions about UW and got a pretty good sense of the pros and cons of attending school there. I still have a lot more exploring to do of other schools and will compare each of them once I learn more. As of now a few big pros for UW are proximity to friends in Portland and Seattle and family in California, pediatric focus, nice clinic, and tons of top-ranked hospitals nearby for off-campus clinics (I want to work in a hospital, but am also looking into private practice). There are only a few programs that have a pediatric focus, so the fact that UW has a pediatric focus is a big plus. I also like the size of Seattle. I come from a big town in California, and Seattle is a nice happy medium between my hometown and Portland. A big con is the tuition rate. So far, it's the most expensive grad school I have found that I want to attend, and it will take years to pay off. Despite this major con, I still really enjoyed the experience and am definitely considering attending UW (if I get accepted and can find enough financial aid, work study, and scholarships to make tuition affordable). Next week I'll visit UNC and will visit SDSU/UCSD in November. Perhaps I'll find that I like those schools more.
