U101: Understanding College and College Life
University of Washington · View on Coursera ↗
Taught by Dr. Matt McGarrity, First Year Programs
Social SciencesPersonal Development
About the course
College can be confusing and intimidating, but U101 can help. If you were just admitted to college and are nervous about what the next step in life might look like, this course is for you. If you are the parent of a newly admitted college student and curious about what college life is like, this course is also for you. While your specific college will, no doubt, provide additional orientation material, we wanted to give some basic information about what life might be like at a large American U
The consensus
1 of the 20 reviews we read rated it 3★ or lower, but none of them wrote a comment. This is the most-upvoted review (8 votes).
“Amazing course. It helps you understand college life and how college works. And gives you tips on how to get the most out of college. Definitely recommend it, specially for international students.”
Coursera's 4.6 comes from 511 ratings. Of those, 3.3% are 1–2★.
Starisk reads the reviews learners voted most helpful, and weights each by the square root of its votes: a review with 80 upvotes counts about five times one with 2. Unvoted reviews are not skipped out of laziness — by this model they carry no evidence that other students endorsed them.
That measures what the most-endorsed reviews say, not “true quality.” The rating distribution above is the whole population, so you can see the sample next to it.
Reviews read on 23 Oct 2026.Read them on Coursera ↗