Allen School Peer Advising
Our Mission: Allen School Peer Advisers work under the direction of the Allen School Academic Advising Team to assist current and prospective students navigate their undergraduate experience.
Allen School Peer Advisers support students pursuing or majoring in Computer Science and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington by
- Providing academic and career advice grounded in their experiences as a current Allen School student
- Connecting students to academic support services at UW including campus resources as well as professional academic and career advisers
- Educating students on degree requirements, admissions processes, and important policies and procedures
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Connect with a Peer Adviser
The Allen School Peer Adviser team meets with current CSE students and current UW students who are considering applying to the Allen School. Peer Advisers can talk about Allen School admissions, personal statement feedback, course planning, internship prep, connecting with research, and general tips for being a successful student, getting involved at the Allen School and UW, and so much more.
In an effort to support prospective current UW students who are applying to the Allen School, we are excited to offer the following resources:
Peer Adviser Advising Appointments
Peer Advising Appointment Policies
In an attempt to equitably support as many prospective and current Allen School students as we can, we ask that students adhere to the following appointment policies:
Maximum Number of Appointments: A student may only schedule a maximum of three peer advising appointments per quarter. Additionally, students may schedule no more than one appointment in any 14 day period (2 week period). Please note that our peer advisers are not available for appointments during finals week of each quarter in addition to winter break, spring break, and summer break.
New appointments are available to book up to 3 weeks in advance. If you are seeing no available meetings please check back for more availability regularly as students reschedule/cancel appointments and that can make new appointments available that were previously not showing as options.
If you can’t find an appointment and need to talk about an immediate problem, current and prospective Allen School students can attend our Quick Questions (drop-in advising hours) to talk with a staff adviser. Quick Questions are available M-F during the academic year. You can also contact our Peer Advisers via email: peer-adviser@cs.washington.edu.
Personal Statement Review Appointment Guidelines: Prospective Allen School students applying via the Current UW admissions pathway can have their personal statement reviewed by a Peer Adviser twice per application cycle.
Late, Cancellation, & No-Show Policy: We understand that life happens, technology is imperfect, and that we’re all generally doing the best we can. However, advising appointments are in high demand and can be difficult to schedule, and it is important to be considerate of both the peer advisers’ and other students’ time. Missing meetings deprives another student the opportunity to meet with a peer adviser and takes away from peer advisers’ time to assist students.
Late Policy: If you are more than 10 minutes late to your scheduled advising appointment, your appointment will be canceled, marked as a “no-show”, and you will be asked to reschedule.
Canceling Appointments: If you need to cancel a scheduled appointment, please give 24 hours advance notice if possible, and cancel the appointment using the confirmation email you were sent after booking. Even if you can’t give 24 hours notice, emailing us to let us know you can’t make it as soon as you can is greatly appreciated.
No-Shows: No-shows without prior notification are logged in our scheduling system. Repeat no-shows could result in a student being prevented from scheduling future appointments.
Resume Lab
For current Allen School CSE majors, peer advisers are available to meet during weekly resume labs to provide feedback on your resume and/or LinkedIn. The virtual resume lab will potentially have a small group of other Allen School students, and a Peer Adviser will rotate between each student to review and provide suggestions for roughly 10-15 mins/student. You will be required to share your screen with your resume. Appointments are required for the Resume Lab and can be booked 3 weeks in advance on our website.
Personal Statement Review
For applicants applying to the Allen School through the current UW student admissions pathway, peer advisers can provide personal statement review. Personal statement review is not available for the ENGRUD Placement personal statement prompt since it is a separate admissions pathway through the College of Engineering or the BS/MS program. Please note that Allen School academic advisers are unable to provide personal statement review. During your appointment, a peer adviser will review your rough draft and provide suggestions and edits based on their knowledge of the current UW student admissions pathway to the Allen School. Please note that personal statement review is only available for current UW students and is not available for prospective high school or transfer students. Peer advisers only work during the fall, winter, and spring quarters. Personal statement review is not available during the summer.
Personal Statement Review Resources
In an effort to support prospective current UW students who are applying to the Allen School, we are excited to offer the following resources:
- In-person or virtual 1:1 personal statement review appointments (RSVP required, space is limited)
- A Presentation for you to view that provides best practices and suggestions for how to write a strong personal statement for your application
20 min in-person or virtual 1:1 Peer Adviser Appointments
If you would like to schedule a 1:1 review appointment (in-person or virtual) click here. All in-person appointments will be held in the Bill & Melinda Gates Center building (CSE 2), in the undergraduate student services suite on the first floor.
Additional Questions & Support
If you would like to discuss course planning or have other admission questions, please book an appointment to meet with a Peer Adviser, or attend Quick Questions to chat with an Allen School Academic Adviser (held M-F). More information about course prerequisites, the personal statement prompt, and the application process can be found on this page. Additionally, all prospective students are highly encouraged to attend a current UW student information session, held on the second Tuesday of each month via Zoom.
Please reach out to peer-adviser@cs.washington.edu if you have any questions.
Meet the Peer Advisers
Riva Gore
Lead Peer Adviser
Name Pronunciation: Ree-va
Pronouns: she/her
Why did you decide to become a peer adviser? I decided to become a peer adviser because I’ve always enjoyed helping others, particularly in academics and career development. Over the past two years, I’ve benefited a lot from the advice and support of friends and classmates in the Allen School, and I wanted to pay that forward by helping fellow students succeed. I also love connecting with new people, and this role felt like the perfect opportunity to do that while making a meaningful impact!
CSE Classes Taken: CSE 142, CSE 143, CSE 311, CSE 312, CSE 331, CSE 332, CSE 333, CSE 344, CSE 351, CSE 390Z, CSE 391, CSE 492J, CSE 492L, CSE 492P1, CSE 446, CSE 447, CSE 452
Favorite Non-CSE Classes: FIN 205 – Personal Finance, EDUC 215 – Resilience and Wellness in College and Beyond, RELIG 202 – Introduction to World Religions: Eastern Traditions
Extracurricular Involvement: CSE 447 Teaching Assistant, NLP Research, CSEED BuildHER Engagement Lead, Women in Computing
Interests: Baking, cooking, reading, hiking, traveling, watching k-dramas
Sehaj Dhillon
Research Peer Adviser
Name Pronunciation: kinda like [sag]ittarius
Pronouns: he/him
Why did you decide to become a peer adviser? I want students to be able to access and be aware of the numerous opportunities available at UW and as students. There are so many resources and sometimes it can be hard to find them. I hope I can direct students to as many resources as possible and support them during their time here at UW, whether it’s course planning, undergraduate research, internship search, or something else.
CSE Classes Taken: 142, 143, 311, 312, 331, 332, 344, 351, 421, 427, 444/544M, 546, 599N
Favorite Non-CSE Classes: AMATH 301, BIOL 130, RELIG 120
Extracurricular Involvement: Undergraduate Research, CSEED, SWECC, Web Impact, ACE
Interests: Music, Photography, Architecture, Movies/TV, Traveling, Exploring the City, Coffee and Cafés
Catherine Rasgaitis
Peer Adviser
Name Pronunciation: kath-run razz-gay-tus
Pronouns: she/her
Why did you decide to become a peer adviser? I wanted to become a peer adviser in order to give back to the Allen School community! My own career and degree plans have constantly been evolving and in the past, I benefited immensely from meeting with academic mentors and advisers. I want to continue this cycle by sharing all the knowledge I have gained to current and prospective students. I really love meeting new students, being a part of their career journeys, and helping people discover their academic passions.
CSE Classes Taken: 311, 312, 331, 332, 333, 351, 442, 446, 478, 480, 490, 493, 599
Favorite Non-CSE Classes: OCEAN 411: Sea-Going Research and Discovery; BIOL: Introduction to Neuroscience; DXARTS 200: Digital Art
Extracurricular Involvement: Synaptech (President); Space (Vice President), LUX Film Production Club, Orsborn Lab (Research Assistant), Noble Lab (Research Assistant), Svoboda Lab at the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics (Research Fellow)
Interests: all things neuro + ai, hackathons (~80 projects!), kpop, valorant, horror films, sushi connoisseur, tech + science blog, paddle boarding
Hannah Lee
Peer Adviser
Name Pronunciation: Hannah
Pronouns: she/her
Why did you decide to become a peer adviser? I love meeting new people and helping wherever I can! A peer advisor really helped me when I was stressed in freshman year, so I just wanted to return the favor to other undergrads here at the Allen School!
CSE Classes Taken:121, 122, 123, 154, 160, 163, 190, 311, 312, 332, 344, 351, 480
Favorite Non-CSE Classes: Korean 203
Extracurricular Involvement: Resident Advisor for Elm
Interests: I like to bake cinnamon rolls and take pilates classes.
Randy He
Peer Adviser
Name Pronunciation: Randy
Pronouns: he/him
Why did you decide to become a peer adviser? When I was transferring into the CS Department, I got lots of help from previous PAs, and now I want to pass this helpful hand to others.
CSE Classes Taken: CSE311, 312, 332, 351, 446, 484
Favorite Non-CSE Classes: CLAS 430
Extracurricular Involvement: Badminton
Interests: Science and technology studies: CSE researches
Sanjana Singh
Peer Adviser
Name Pronunciation: Sun-juh-nah
Pronouns: she/her
Why did you decide to become a peer adviser? I became a peer adviser because I want to assist current and prospective Allen School students in their academic journey. Many students might not be aware of the numerous resources available and I want to bridge that gap—ultimately guiding students toward opportunities that can help them grow both academically and professionally. I am excited to support students in planning their courses, polishing up their resume, applying for internships, or pursuing research opportunities.
CSE Classes Taken: 311, 312, 331, 332, 333, 344, 351, 421, 446, 473, 484, 490
Favorite Non-CSE Classes: ACCTG 219, CMS 272, DRAMA 101
Extracurricular Involvement: Society of Women Engineers, SEAL Undergraduate Research, CSE Peer Adviser
Interests: Café hopping, thrifting, playing the guitar, hiking, reading, escape rooms, baking
Email a Peer Adviser
peer-adviser@cs.washington.edu
Email the peer advisers for answers to simple, close-ended questions. For more complex questions, please plan to speak with a peer adviser at an appointment.