3/2 Program with Whitman College and the University of Washington
It’s nice to see the small liberal arts side and sense of community while you’re still figuring out who you are. There’s also the nice thing about coming to UW, where there’s more opportunity in terms of academic growth with research opportunities, lab work, and internships, there’s so much going on here.
Interview conducted by Nicole Reynolds, UW Oceanography Class of 2024
In early April, I sat down with Zach Poyen (he/him), and Zachary Levitan (he/him) to learn more about their experiences in the 3/2 Program at Whitman College.
What are your backgrounds and what made you interested in oceanography with geology/ biology?
Poyen: I was born in Eastern Washington, lived there for seven years then moved to California, lived there for twelve years then moved back to Washington after my sister got into Western [Washington University]. I really like microbiology, especially astrobiology, and environmental microbiology, and UW Oceanography piqued my interest due to the astrobiology program connection. From that connection, I’ve been able to take some cool micro[biology] classes.
Levitan: I grew up in San Francisco, and there was this spot on the coast I’d hike to with my dogs a ton. I came to the conclusion I wanted a place like this to be my office. I decided to go to Whitman [college] for the 3/2 program. For west coast oceanography schools, you only get like six options, and UW Oceanography was the most appealing to me, especially with the 3/2 program. Overall, the 3/2 program seemed really interesting to me.
How did you find out about the 3/2 program?
Levitan: The College Board website. I searched for Oceanography and I looked into it a little more and saw the 3/2 program. I visited Whitman when I was a senior in high school on admitted students day, I tracked down the advisor about it. They said that no one’s done it in twenty years, but if you want to we can make it happen (shoutout Prof. Bader). I reached out to Michelle Townsend that year as well.
Poyen: I went into Whitman thinking about doing a 3:2 with engineering, but I did not like Calculus 3, so I went into biology and economics double major. Then I discovered the 3:2 program with UW Oceanography in my junior year with very short notice. In January or February, then four months later I was going to UW. By pure happenstance I’d been taking summer courses and happened to meet my requirements to actually transfer. It was also cheaper for me to go to UW for two years than to stay at Whitman for another year because it’s a private liberal arts college.
What made you pick your discipline and how did you decide UW Oceanography specifically?
Levitan: At Whitman, I knew I was going to do the oceanography program, and I knew I was only going to be there for three years. Geology was an option, and it seemed pretty cool. I didn’t know I liked geology as much as I did but I'm forever grateful for the memories that I made and the people I met. I was going to minor in Anthropology at Whitman because it fit right into the distribution requirements (like A&H at UW) I was missing. When I was transferring to UW, Michelle said that I could easily take more classes and make it another major. So, in total, the B.A in Geology is from Whitman, and the B.S. in Oceanography and B.A. in Anthropology are from UW.
Poyen: I started out as pure biology, but I knew I wanted to double major in something. After taking different classes like physics, history, and economics, I realized I enjoyed economics and decided to double major. To fill out my general education requirements I continued taking economics classes and eventually had enough credits to easily add a double major. Economics was a nice backup to biology, and relaxing in a sense because it was very different from my organic chemistry and hard biology classes. After taking a microbiology class at Whitman and learning more about marine biology from a professor, I got interested in the marine sphere and heard about the 3/2 program from [Zachary Levitan]. I didn’t want to look at wheat fields anymore and managed to find it, fulfill the requirements, and got the transfer process started.
What was your time at Whitman like compared to UW?
Levitan: Freshman year at Whitman I was very much not out of my shell, however, once I joined the fraternity, I was able to be more outgoing. And then COVID happened, but we still had our meetings on Zoom. Even though I was in California, I still felt the community. That really helped, and when we were able to go back, we all lived in the house together. UW is a lot bigger so I’m glad I was able to spend time in the quiet familiar environment that Whitman became for me. For example, when walking between the oceanography and anthropology buildings, I’ll hardly recognize anyone I see at UW, they’re all nameless faces. Whereas at Whitman, I’d recognize people while walking either from extracurriculars, mutual friends or roommates or through classes. Coming to UW Oceanography I felt that familiar feeling again. Through the OCEAN 220 field trip and the senior cruise, I was able to get close with my cohort and I felt like I found a little bit of familiarity in the sea of chaos that is UW sometimes.
Poyen: At Whitman, it was a lot smaller, and we could approach our professors a lot easier. For example, my organic chemistry class had like 40 people in it, compared to UW which would have hundreds. I joined a frat, which I probably wouldn’t have joined at any other college or university. It’s definitely harder to find community at UW, which I found through the Rugby team. I was worried about finding people here, but the School of Oceanography has such a small community it was easy to find people.
What do you think you got out of the 3/2 program and what would you recommend to students interested in the 3/2 program?
Poyen: The combined network from the two schools is very nice because you can interact with people from different schools. The order of small school to big university is really nice, you can get personal growth at a small school and meet people, then get research opportunities at the bigger school.
Every class you take has a specific purpose, so even if there’s a vague possibility you might do it, work the classes into your schedule. As long as you meet the GPA requirements and complete the prerequisites, you’ll be able to transfer.
Levitan: It’s nice to see the small liberal arts side and sense of community while you’re still figuring out who you are. There’s also the nice thing about coming to UW, where there’s more opportunity in terms of academic growth with research opportunities, lab work, and internships, there’s so much going on here.
If you’re thinking about doing it, you have to decide freshman year because there are so many prerequisites to complete based on the specific path you decide to do but it’s well worth it once you get the ball rolling.
It’s nice to see the small liberal arts side and sense of community while you’re still figuring out who you are. There’s also the nice thing about coming to UW, where there’s more opportunity in terms of academic growth with research opportunities, lab work, and internships, there’s so much going on here.
