Youth Should Never Be A Barrier To Learning.
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The Early Entrance Experience
Testimonials From Those Who Have Lived It
This page contains observations and remarks regarding the
UW Academy for Young Scholars
Comments below are sorted with most recent submissions first.
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So, I am currently a 16 year old freshman at the University of Washington, through the UW Academy program. Essentially, I'm given a lot of freedom by the Robinson Center. While students will have to take two classes and 8 credits (one, the writing link, isn't any more work than the Sociology course taught by Paul LePore) in their first quarter, and a 2 credit course in their second quarter, they are then free to do pretty much whatever they want to do in the next few years, with the added benefits of automatic entrance to the honors program, automatic entrance to an engineering department (if they put that engineering field as their prospective major in their application), and additional advising (with advisors who really know who you are).
Students often hang out with other Academy students during their first quarter at the UW, but then start getting friends from outside of the program as they start getting into their specific departments and declaring majors. It suffices to say that this program is well-suited for some people, and not so-well suited for others. It's essentially the same as going to college two years earlier. If you think you're ready for the University of Washington two years earlier than normal, and believe that you are mature enough for the experience, then go do it. Sure, you do miss the high school experience and the prom, but really, you're going to leave your high school friends two years later anyways. As for the prom, you could still arrange with the school to go to the prom as a university student (I know an Academy student who did that). Some people just jump right into the college experience, extremely enthusiastic and motivated, and benefit hugely from the vast amount of resources and opportunities that the university offers. It's not a prestigious school, sure, but it's a hell of a lot more than high school, and it's among the top research universities in the world. It's large and impersonal, sure, but the Robinson Center will help make it seem smaller to you. Of course though, the high school-college transition can be particularly tricky for some people, but for others, it's very smooth. A lot of it has to do with your study habits and your independence. I'm extremely independent and was highly enthusiastic and expected to jump right in and do wonders, but then I finally discovered that I had very very poor work ethics, which really hurt my GPA during my first year. Most people end up doing better than I did - I'm just a detached analytical person who's extremely INTP (and mildly autistic and ADD), so I'm extremely unrepresentative of the rest of the Academy kids. You might hear of some other Academy students who just didn't take advantage of the university's resources. But as I said before, the Academy's a program for early entrance - some people just aren't so suited for it (there are after all, the types who just wanted to escape high school and gain independence). The average GPA of students is well above the average GPA of the UW freshman, and the majority make the Dean's List. The transition also changed my paradigm - I changed from grade and status-obsessed to relativistic and more laid-back and apathetic. Furthermore, while 2 years might not seem like a lot, it actually is a lot if you want to make the most out of your young creative years. And as I said, you have A LOT of freedom to do what you want to do. Take 13 credits and take the first year easy? Go ahead. Jump right in your department and do research? That's perfectly fine as well. If you've made a lot of mistakes like I did - it's not such a big deal - employers and graduate schools like to see improving trends, and are not as statistics-obsessed as college admissions is. You can also think of the net gain per year - I'm definitely learning more than what I would have learned had I stayed in high school, even if my GPA isn't all that great. As per the social community of the Academy program, it's actually pretty diverse (diverse in major selection, not in race, which tends to be overwhelmingly White and Asian). There are majors in many different fields and most people aren't stereotypical nerds. Finally, it doesn't hurt to just send in an application, so just apply. If you get accepted, you can get hooked up with a current Academy student who you can then meet up on campus for a day to explore the campus. Furthermore, don't hesitate to contact the Robinson Center even before you're accepted - they're willing to hook you up with a current student in the program. |
- Alex (Simfish) Chen, Student (Class of 2009) |
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This page was last modified 21:32 Saturday, January 14, 2006
