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Rachel Santika, undergrad student profile

What school did you transfer from? Edmonds College

What is the name of your hometown or city? Jakarta, Indonesia

Tell us about your background – what drew you to apply to UW as a transfer student? I am an international student from Indonesia, I came to the United States when I was 17 years old and since the first time I arrived in Seattle, I fell in love with UW’s beautiful campus. In addition to that, I also hear a lot of good things about UW, it’s programs, events, and guidance for our future career post graduation.

Why did you choose Real Estate as a major? My dad is my inspiration to choose Real Estate as my major. My dad is a real estate developer, and ever since I was just a kid, he always bring me everywhere to his meetings with clients, suppliers, and others and I learned a lot about it and my interest about real estate started growing. Also, I choose Real Estate as my major as I want to learn more in-depth about real estate, and I hope I could apply my knowledge to my dad’s business later when I go back home.

So far, what has been the greatest lesson/s you have taken away from your time at UW as well as with the Real Estate program? That we have to have a good time management in order to be successful and it is okay to fail or get rejected, we should work even harder and try again, do not give up easily!

Now that you are currently studying Real Estate, what would you say is the biggest misconception about the Real Estate Major? That the only career related to real estate is being real estate agents.

How has life at UW been different from your previous institution? What adjustments did you have to make as you transferred from one school into another? Of course the workload is different here at UW.

What advice would you give a prospective student looking to transfer into UW? Work hard on your time at college, also be more active in organizations or volunteering as UW will look at that too and build a lot of connections there. However, don’t forget to have fun too! balance is key.

Where is your favorite go-to spot on campus, to relax, study, hang out, eat, etc? definitely Odegaard to relax and study, and the Hub to hang out with friends and eat!

As you look ahead to your future, post UW, what are some of your career aspirations, and how will your Bachelor of Science in Real Estate, lead you to achieve them? I look forward to working as real estate consultant or jobs that are related to marketing/sales post graduation as my first working experience. After that, I want to go back home to my country and help out my dad’s business. I hope that from what I learn here in UW and from getting my Bachelor of Science in Real Estate I could apply my knowledge and what I learn from all the classes and experience of joining and volunteering in different organizations on campus, I could make his company more successful.