ASU Barrett

[Anonymous]

DD wants warm, but doesn't like humidity. California schools are too $$. Not a partier. Loves AZ. Seems like her stats would put her in range for the honors college at ASU, and get some merit $$, but not sure it's a great fit for her? Tell me all you know!

[Anonymous]

We are more familiar with UA honors college, though still very new to the school. In case that might help, I'll share what I know. Both AZ schools offer rolling admissions, which is a great boost to a senior who is just starting to apply to schools (kinda gets you that one safety 'under your belt.') UA offers ridiculous merit aid for high honors students, almost covering full tuition for OOS. The honors college is relatively new and goes hand in hand with the honors dorm, which last year required at least a 3.8 GPA to be matched with (plus it's an amazing dorm). It costs about $500 a semester to be in the honors college, which allows for some smaller classes and access to events with professors and such. Again, still getting our feet wet with this school, but so far my DD is very happy to have this smaller peer group at such a large school, while benefiting from all the $ these AZ state schools seem to be flush with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are more familiar with UA honors college, though still very new to the school. In case that might help, I'll share what I know. Both AZ schools offer rolling admissions, which is a great boost to a senior who is just starting to apply to schools (kinda gets you that one safety 'under your belt.') UA offers ridiculous merit aid for high honors students, almost covering full tuition for OOS. The honors college is relatively new and goes hand in hand with the honors dorm, which last year required at least a 3.8 GPA to be matched with (plus it's an amazing dorm). It costs about $500 a semester to be in the honors college, which allows for some smaller classes and access to events with professors and such. Again, still getting our feet wet with this school, but so far my DD is very happy to have this smaller peer group at such a large school, while benefiting from all the $ these AZ state schools seem to be flush with.

We also know of a high achieving student (not from DMV) who took this route at AU - incredible merit $ and honors college/dorm allowed them to go out of state. The child was initially feeling like they were underperforming in college attendance but arrived to discover honors college classmates are of the valedictorian-ilk and nothing to sneeze at. And, they are loving the weather of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are more familiar with UA honors college, though still very new to the school. In case that might help, I'll share what I know. Both AZ schools offer rolling admissions, which is a great boost to a senior who is just starting to apply to schools (kinda gets you that one safety 'under your belt.') UA offers ridiculous merit aid for high honors students, almost covering full tuition for OOS. The honors college is relatively new and goes hand in hand with the honors dorm, which last year required at least a 3.8 GPA to be matched with (plus it's an amazing dorm). It costs about $500 a semester to be in the honors college, which allows for some smaller classes and access to events with professors and such. Again, still getting our feet wet with this school, but so far my DD is very happy to have this smaller peer group at such a large school, while benefiting from all the $ these AZ state schools seem to be flush with.

The Honors College is not relatively new, I was in it 30+ years ago.

[Anonymous]

The Honors Colleges at both U Arizona & at ASU are solid even though the basic admissions requirements for both universities are minimal.

A couple of years ago, I spoke with a student rep for University of Arizona Honors College as a relative qualified for full tuition scholarships at both ASU Barrett & at UA Honors College. The UA Honors College student was not sharp. This left a poor impression of the non-Honors College students at UA.

The point is that you really need to visit & determine how many classes will be honors courses during one's first year or two in order to avoid the lesser qualified students in non-honors classes. The difference is significant.

FWIW Used to be an issue at the University of Alabama Honors College, but the number of Honors College students at U Alabama is now fluctuating between 7,200 and over 7,900 out of about 40,000 undergraduate students. High number of honors college students means high number of honors courses should be offered.

Regarding ASU Barrett:

https://barretthonors.asu.edu/facts-figures

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are more familiar with UA honors college, though still very new to the school. In case that might help, I'll share what I know. Both AZ schools offer rolling admissions, which is a great boost to a senior who is just starting to apply to schools (kinda gets you that one safety 'under your belt.') UA offers ridiculous merit aid for high honors students, almost covering full tuition for OOS. The honors college is relatively new and goes hand in hand with the honors dorm, which last year required at least a 3.8 GPA to be matched with (plus it's an amazing dorm). It costs about $500 a semester to be in the honors college, which allows for some smaller classes and access to events with professors and such. Again, still getting our feet wet with this school, but so far my DD is very happy to have this smaller peer group at such a large school, while benefiting from all the $ these AZ state schools seem to be flush with.

The Honors College is not relatively new, I was in it 30+ years ago.

Yeah, the dorm and fee are new.

[Anonymous]

A relative is a current student at ASU Barrett.
It’s been overall a pretty positive experience. In-state, got excellent merit aid. The dorm is pretty nice. Students get priority for dorm choices, and priority for class registration. Lots of advantages, and it helps to have a smaller group of kids to get to know on such a big campus.

[Anonymous]

Wow. The profile for the average Barrett student is much less impressive than that of a non-honors UVA student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. The profile for the average Barrett student is much less impressive than that of a non-honors UVA student.

Correct.

The University of Georgia Honors College has numbers superior or equal to that of several Ivy League schools.

The average (non-honors) student at the University of Georgia:

https://admissions.uga.edu/admissions/admission-statistics/

[Anonymous]

I have heard some not great things about the UA Honors College, that it is not as robust as Barrett. I know of a kid who just transferred from UA Honors to Barrett.

I have several young relatives who are at Barrett now or recent grads. They are happy with it. They get very good dorms and better food, is my understanding. You are not always in Honors student only classes. If you are in a class with the masses, you can do extra work if you want, but being in these classes does not sound ideal to me. But the majority of your existence would be pretty segregated.

Tempe is very hopping and I would say is more crowded and urban-feeling than it used to be. UA is probably more of a traditional college setting, more sleepy, although Tucson is also a large city.

Yeah, the average student at Barrett would not measure up to the average UVA student.