CSE Building University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering
 Visiting our Department
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 Setting up your visit
 Designated visit days
 Renegade visit days
 Getting here
 Lodging
 Getting around
 Reimbursements
 Local contacts
   

Welcome! This page is designed to walk (and bus and shuttle) you through your visit to the UW computer science department.

Setting up the Visit

To help us schedule your visit, we'd like you to let Lindsay Michimoto know you're coming at least two weeks before you come, if you can.You can either visit on the official visit day or arrange another day to visit. If you can make the official visit day, we strongly recommend doing so. The faculty, students, and staff you want to talk to will strive to be available on those days, there will be special accomodations made to make your visit smoother on those days. Otherwise, we will try to set up the best visit we can for you at another time.

Designated Visiting Day

We have one two-day official visit this year:

The first day will have a short welcome and departmental overview in the morning. Throughout the rest of the day, there will be research overviews presented by different groups. We will also schedule you to meet individually with professors and graduate students in the department (and we'll try to schedule a breather, too!). Then there's a reception, followed by dinner. We'll also have happening social activities that evening.  There will be additional opportunities to talk to faculty and students in the morning of the second day.  In the afternoon and evening, each research group will be planning an activity around Seattle.  Stay tuned.

Although the formal activities are scheduled for two days only, we encourage you to stick around longer to get a better idea of what our department and Seattle as a whole have to offer.

Solo Visit Days

If you'd rather come on another day, for any reason, you're welcome to do so. There won't be any of the group activities just mentioned, which will give you more time to meet with people in the department, but be aware that the people you want to meet will likely have less time set aside for meetings. Moral? Communicate with us and them.

When you schedule time to come here, keep in mind that our quarter break is March 22-30, so many of us may not be in town that week (and the weekends on either end).

Getting Here

You are responsible for setting up travel arrangements to Seattle. If you're flying, you should fly into Sea-Tac International Airport (SEA). Please see the schedules or contact us if you're unsure of when to arrive and leave. We will reimburse you for at least a portion of your travel expenses. See the section on reimbursements for more details.

Sea-Tac is about twenty miles from the University. Unless you have a graduate student host or friend in town who suggests otherwise, you should take Shuttle Express from Sea-Tac to your accomodations. Talk to Lindsay about getting a Shuttle Express voucher. You can also call Shuttle Express for more information:

  • Seattle or outside of the US: +1-425.981.7000
  • Elsewhere in US (and maybe Canada): +1-800-487-7433

If you're feeling brave, you can also take local transit. It's quite easy to get from the airport to campus during the day (before 6:30 pm), and not too bad at other times. Getting to other areas varies. Ask the person you're staying with or your Prospective Student Committee contact for more information, particularly which bus line(s) from downtown serve their home or your hotel.

The department also has driving directions available.

You might have some time to explore the beautiful city of Seattle outside of the University. We have included a page of interesting Seattle sites for your perusal and enjoyment.

What to Bring

Casual clothing is fine; you won't need to dress up for any of the visit day events. Remember that Seattle can be rainy and a bit chilly at this time of year.

Lodging

After you contact Lindsay, we will set you up with lodging. If possible (and if you want to), we'll try to set you up with a grad student host who will put you up for the night and regale you with tales of the Rolly Chair Races and the Madness of Lazowska. Otherwise, we'll set you up at hotel -- mostly likely the following:

Visitors on the official visit day will be lodged with grad students or at the Silver Cloud Inn.

Getting Around Campus

The campus itself is small enough to walk around. Here are some handy maps:

Show Me the Money

Travel expenses can be rough at these times. Here's our current info on what you can expect from us in terms of reimbursement. However, please contact Lindsay Michimoto for more up-to-date info or if you have special needs.

We will reimburse up to $500 for cost of travel. Bring travel receipts when you visit! Reimbursements will be mailed to you after the visit. We will separately provide travel vouchers on Shuttle Express to get to and from the airport. We will also pay all lodging expenses for up to 3 nights or put you up for free with a grad student host <joke>who will be released from his or her pen for one hour and fed two extra pounds of gruel as compensation</joke>.

Local Contacts

If you need information, help, or just a friendly Seattle voice/emoticon, feel free to contact any of the following members of the Prospective Student Committee:

Craig Prince (co-chair), Tyler Robison (co-chair).

CSE logo Computer Science & Engineering
University of Washington
Box 352350
Seattle, WA  98195-2350
(206) 543-1695 voice, (206) 543-2969 FAX
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