The term "University of Washington" usually refers to the University of Washington in Seattle, founded in 1861. However, in the U S. In the top 100 list of News comprehensive universities, there are two other universities named "Washington University". They are:
Washington University in St. Louis, located in Missouri, was founded in 1853; George Washington University, located in the center of Washington, D.C., was founded in 1821. Therefore, in terms of historical depth, George Washington University (GWU) has the longest history, followed by Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), and Washington University Seattle Campus (UW) is the latest of the three.
However, the actual situation is more complicated, and there are significant differences among the three schools.
Which of the three Washington universities is the best?
First of all, the University of Washington (UW) is located in Seattle, a city in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and is famous for its outstanding scientific research and academic level. It has outstanding performance in a wide range of disciplines, especially in computer science, engineering, medicine and other fields. Its Seattle campus also provides students with a rich and colorful urban life experience.
Secondly, Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), located in St. Louis, Missouri, is famous for its excellent undergraduate education and medical research. The school emphasizes the close combination of small class teaching and academic research, providing students with in-depth academic exploration opportunities. In addition, the medical school of WUSTL is also one of its important advantages.
Finally, George Washington University (GWU) is located in the core area of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, providing students with opportunities to closely contact with politics and international affairs. The school has an outstanding reputation in international relations, political science, law and other fields. Its geographical location makes it a popular institution for political and international affairs enthusiasts.
University of Washington
University of Washington Often abbreviated as UW, it was built in 1861 and is one of the earliest universities on the west coast of the United States. It is also the largest university in the northwest of the United States. Its main campus is located in the center of Seattle. There are also two smaller campuses, Bothell and Tacoma, which are also much less difficult to enroll than Seattle, and most of them are local students.
As the flagship university of Washington State, Washington University has made remarkable achievements in the fields of medicine, engineering and science. Among many majors, computer science and computer engineering are particularly outstanding. According to U S. According to News's nationwide ranking, the former ranked fifth, while the latter ranked tenth. Students who are interested in applying for these two majors must take them as the "first professional volunteer" in the application system.
At the same time, the University of Washington has also worked closely with many important enterprises in the state, including Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, Nintendo, Nordstorm, Expedia and Costco.
In particular, Microsoft, whose founders, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, established close cooperation with Washington University in the early days of Microsoft.
The University of Washington is proud of its outstanding alumni and faculty. 21 graduates or faculty members have won the Nobel Prize, and there are many Pulitzer Prize winners. These achievements highlight the outstanding contributions of the university in academic research and innovation.
This university, often referred to as Wash U or WUSTL, is a private research university located in St. Louis, Missouri. Its history can be traced back to 1853, when a doctor from Missouri and Nobel Prize winner T S. Eliot's grandfather founded the school. In the second year of founding the university, the board of directors of the university changed the name of the university to "Washington College" in memory of George Washington, the first president of the United States.
In 1976, in order to distinguish the university from more than 20 other universities with the words "Washington", the university added the city "in St. Louis" as the suffix after the name of the university.
Wash U has 7 graduate and undergraduate schools covering most academic fields. Its medical school enjoys a worldwide reputation, ranking among the top five in the United States, and is as famous as Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University. In addition, the school also has outstanding strength in science and engineering, commerce, law, literature and other fields.
In history, 25 teachers and students related to Wash U have won the Nobel Prize, which further demonstrates the outstanding position of the school in the field of academic research.
George Washington University
George Washington University, founded in 1821, is a private comprehensive university. It was named after George Washington, the father of the country. The main campus is located in the center of Washington, D.C., next to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, etc.
Because of its excellent geographical location in the center of American power - the center of Washington, the university has greatly improved its political sensitivity. Since its establishment, it has continuously injected new blood into the White House, the State Council and other government agencies, as well as important international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and is also known as the "cradle of politicians".
The school has many people who have influenced the world history, including Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State of the United States, Lee Seung wan, the founding president of South Korea, 20 US governors, and 118 members of the United States Congress; In addition, it is also rich in a large number of business leaders, such as Lee Kun hee, president of Samsung Group in South Korea.
The Eliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University is quite famous. Diplomats, talents in foreign affairs and members of the royal family from the United States and many other countries have graduated here. Its law school is the first law school established in Washington, D.C., and its history is better than Georgetown University.
Comparison of basic information
Ranking comparison
You should also find that, compared with UW and WUSTL, they are both ranked by USNews. Perhaps you have noticed that there are significant differences between UW and WUSTL, two schools with the same ranking. Although they are similar in the ranking of American Universities in USNews, the gap between them is quite obvious in the ranking of the United States and the world.
In terms of the comprehensive ranking of the United States, UW ranked 55, while WUSTL ranked 15, 40 places apart.
However, when we turned to the USNews World University Rankings, UW ranked in the top ten of the world with outstanding results, ranking sixth. In contrast, WUSTL ranks 32nd in this ranking, with a gap of 26.
Combining the four world university rankings, the average world ranking of UW is about 28.5, while the average world ranking of WUSTL is about 66.5.
Through this comparison, people may feel confused and do not know how to make a choice. In fact, this phenomenon is mainly due to the difference between undergraduate and graduate stages.
From the perspective of undergraduate education, WUSTL is widely regarded as a private elite university, known as "Little Harvard in Central China". Its strict enrollment standards make it one of the top universities. In contrast, UW is the flagship public university in Washington State. Due to its large enrollment scale, its undergraduate education experience is relatively inferior to that of small-scale elite private schools, so it lags behind in the local rankings.
However, the world university rankings generally focus on the research level of schools. It is worth mentioning that UW has long been in the forefront of the world in terms of R&D funds, even surpassing Harvard, Stanford, MIT and other well-known universities. As one of the public universities with the largest R&D funds invested by the U.S. federal government, UW also benefited from the generous donations of giants from all walks of life (such as Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, etc.). Such huge capital injection has made UW achieve many remarkable achievements in the academic research field and cultivated many outstanding talents in the political, commercial and scientific fields, thus ranking top in the academic research level.
The ranking of WUSTL is slightly lower, mainly because its disciplines are relatively more liberal arts. As mentioned above, WUSTL is praised as the "cradle of politicians", and its liberal arts education is excellent, which leads to the relatively inadequate comprehensive performance of the school.
To sum up, if the university is selected at the undergraduate stage, WUSTL is slightly better, followed by UW, and finally GWU; However, UW performed better in selecting schools at the graduate stage, followed by WUSTL, and GWU ranked slightly behind.
UW's comprehensive ranking in the United States is 55, while WUSTL is 15th, with a difference of 40.
However, if you look at the USNews World University Ranking, UW's World University Ranking directly entered the top 10 in the world, ranking sixth. At this time, WUSTL ranked 32, 26 places behind.
Combined with the ranking of four authoritative world universities, the UW average world university ranking is # 28.5, and the WUSTL average world university ranking is # 66.5.
After this comparison, I guess we don't know how to choose. In fact, the main reason for this phenomenon lies in the difference between undergraduate and graduate students.
As far as undergraduate education is concerned, WUSTL is recognized as a private school boutique, known as "Little Harvard in Central China", and it is a top university with strict enrollment requirements. UW is the flagship public university in Washington State, and the large number of enrollments has led to the fact that UW's undergraduate learning experience is not as good as that of small elite private schools, and the local ranking is also lagging behind.
However, the ranking of world universities generally attaches importance to the research level of the university. You should know that the total R&D funds of UW have been among the top three universities in the world for a long time, higher than that of Harvard, Stanford and MIT! UW is the public university that receives the most R&D funds from the US federal government (none of them), as well as donations from leading enterprises from all walks of life, such as Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon and other enterprises. Together, the funding is not comparable to that of small private universities.
Due to its generous research funds, UW has made many remarkable academic and scientific achievements, and also cultivated numerous political elites, business giants and a large number of world-class scientific giants. Therefore, its academic research level naturally ranks among the top universities in the world.
The reason why GWU ranks so low is that it is too biased. As mentioned above, GWU is known as the "cradle of politicians". The liberal arts professional education is very strong, resulting in a slightly inadequate comprehensive performance of the school.
Therefore, if undergraduate students choose schools, WUSTL> UW> GWU； UW> WUSTL>& gt;GWU。
Admission difficulty
After the above comparison, it is obvious that as far as undergraduate applications are concerned, WUSTL is undoubtedly more difficult. The admission rate of the school is only about 12%, which undoubtedly reflects its highly competitive situation. WUSTL also has an early application admission rate of about 26%, which reminds applicants of the importance of early application, and the earlier the better.
However, the reality is that the computer specialty of the University of Washington, Seattle has always been among the best in the field of computer science in the United States. It is one of the top projects, and also one of the computer science projects with the highest difficulty in admission.
This shows that although WUSTL is difficult in undergraduate application, its reputation and difficulty in computer professional field are also very significant. Its computer science projects enjoy a high reputation throughout the United States, known for its excellent teaching quality and excellent teaching staff. Therefore, although it is difficult to apply for WUSTL, it is also an attractive choice for the applicants in the computer field.
This example further illustrates that when selecting schools and majors, applicants need to consider different factors comprehensively, including the overall reputation of the school, special projects and application difficulty. Different schools and majors may have different advantages in different fields. Applicants should make the most appropriate choice according to their interests, goals and strength.
Taking the enrollment data of last year's undergraduate freshmen as an example, the enrollment difficulty of computer science (CS) and computer engineering (CE) majors is comparable to that of top universities:
Admission rate of Washington resident applicants: 27%
Admission rate of non Washington residents: 3%
Admission rate of international applicants: 4%
Overall admission rate of CS/CE majors: 9%
This low admission rate is less than 10%, which is very similar to the situation of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) (the total admission rate in 2026 is 44.8%, and the CS major admission rate is 6.7%). Therefore, if you want to use this school as an alternative, it is recommended that you determine the major you are interested in before you decide to apply.
On the other hand, compared with the above two schools, the admission difficulty of George Washington University (GWU) is relatively low. If you are interested in liberal arts, you should never miss the opportunity of this school!
Tuition and employment level
As a public university, the tuition and living expenses of the University of Washington (UW) are significantly lower than those of the other two schools, so those students who focus on saving money may consider choosing it.
However, it should be noted that in the long run, the average annual salary of graduates of Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) is about 2300 dollars more than that of UW graduates, and about 17000 dollars more than that of graduates of George Washington University (GWU).
In fact, these three schools have different advantages in employment. On the one hand, the strong professional fields of each school are different, which will directly affect the employment prospects of graduates. On the other hand, geographical location is also an important factor.
WUSTL is located in St. Louis, Missouri, which is one of the important cities in central America. It is not only rich in sports and cultural resources, but also the location of many multimedia organizations, such as Fox News, CBS, NBC, etc.
UW is located in Seattle, which is the headquarters of many well-known enterprises, such as Boeing, Starbucks, Microsoft, Amazon, Costco, etc. This allows students to have many high-quality opportunities in internship and employment.
GWU is located in Washington, D.C., and is famous for its School of International Relations and Law. Many diplomats, practitioners of international affairs and members of the royal family graduated from this school. The geographical location of the SEZ gives students the opportunity to contact international politics and international organizations.
Each school has its own unique characteristics and advantages, but school selection is not only based on rankings or the reputation of a certain major, but also needs to comprehensively consider personal interests, goals and future career planning.
It is very important to know the information about the curriculum, faculty, internship and employment opportunities, campus culture and other aspects of each school for making a wise school selection decision. In addition, communication with seniors, admissions officers and professional consultants can also provide you with more in-depth understanding and advice.
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