Located in the Oakland neighborhood, Pitts campus is a 3-mile trip from bustling downtown Pittsburgh. The city is home to powerhouse professional sports teams, such as the Steelers and Penguins, and dozens of unique cultural centers, like the Andy Warhol Museum and the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Pitt students get free admission to these and other select museums throughout the school year. Because Pittsburgh is bordered by three rivers, kayaking, sailing and fishing opportunities are plentiful. City buses stop every 10 to 15 minutes on campus, and students can ride public transportation into the city for free with school ID. Freshmen do not have to live on campus. Pitt has a sizable Greek community of nearly 40 fraternities and sororities. Students in Arts and Sciences majors can earn hands-on credits in internships, research and teaching with the help of the universitys Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity. The Pittsburgh Panthers sports teams compete in the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference. Pitt students are notorious for their avid support at sporting events, particularly for forming a riotous cheering section known as the Oakland Zoo at basketball games. Students who attend the most home sporting events get priority purchasing when game tickets are in high demand through the schools Loyalty Points system.The university earns national accolades for its highly ranked School of Medicine, School of Education and Swanson School of Engineering. The School of Medicine is particularly well regarded for its research, working in conjunction with the highly ranked University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and the institution receives one of the highest amounts of funding from the National Institutes of Health. The university is well known for its focus on going green, too. Students and faculty work toward environmentally friendly neighborhood solutions at the schools Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation. There are notable University of Pittsburgh alumni in almost every professional sector; some are famed football personalities Mike Ditka and Dan Marino; former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon; and Roscoe Robinson Jr., the first African-American four-star general in the U.S. Army.

Located north of downtown Seattle, the University of Washington is one of the oldest public universities on the West Coast. It is also a cutting-edge research institution, receiving significant yearly federal funding, and hosting an annual undergraduate research symposium for students to present their work to the community. The university has a highly ranked School of Medicine, College of Engineering and Michael G. Foster School of Business. Known as a commuter school, the university does not require freshmen to live on campus, but it encourages students who do to conserve energy and recycle. Students can join one of the 950-plus student organizations on campus, including about 70 sororities and fraternities. Nearly three-fourths of UW graduates remain in the state post-graduation.Beyond UWs main campus in Seattle, the university has campuses in Bothell and Tacoma, Washington. The university was founded in Seattle in 1861, and the Bothell and Tacoma locations were established in 1990. All three UW campuses offer undergraduate and graduate degree programs.Those looking for an honors program can consider UW's, which gives undergraduate students a chance to attend smaller classes, pursue special projects and have more interaction with UW faculty members. Students can choose between the interdisciplinary and departmental honors tracks. The first is more generally focused, and the latter provides an opportunity for in-depth study within a particular major. Extra ambitious students can pursue both types of honors. Students can apply to the interdisciplinary honors program when they apply to UW or during the end of their freshman year. Students submit departmental honors applications after they choose their major.