Here’s a little more detail on impressions from our visit:
Barrett is its own little world in its own corner of campus. You can’t even enter some of the buildings without a Barrett ID. The Dean talked about how students can sally forth into the larger ASU campus as much as they like, but they always have Barrett to come back to when they want a quieter, more serious atmosphere. One fact I found interesting is that he said they spend 1/10 the national average to repair Barrett dorms after every school year because the students are so much easier on them.
The Barrett students are sought after by faculty when they are looking for students to do research, work for them, etc.
There are about 200 National Scholars each year - this includes about 120 NM & 80 National Hispanic.
Study abroad is a big deal - we saw flyers up all over Barrett advertising the various countries & their application deadlines. The scholarship provides a one-time $1000 stipend toward travel. They also have a program called “Great American Cities” where during summer or a break they visit one or two great cities. Last year they did Boston and Chicago, prior to that it was Honolulu and a west coast city (Seattle, maybe?), but you can use your stipend toward this as well.
Barrett students are required to do a senior thesis, but it can be on any topic, totally unrelated to your major if you like. One student who enjoys baking is baking a series of wedding cakes as they would have been made during different eras. All the faculty wanted to advise on that one!
Barrett has its own choir & a capella (this is a big deal to my D!) groups
D says I have to mention that Michael Phelps is an assistant swim coach & can occasionally be spotted around campus.
Since ASU is the only university in the Phoenix area, they get all the resources in terms of local bigwigs who want to be involved in adjunct teaching.
Over 350 majors & 1000+ clubs - this is what you get with the single largest campus in North America.
All Barrett freshmen take a class called “The Human Event” where they read & discuss great books - classrooms for this are on the bottom floor of the freshman dorm.
That’s all I can think of at the moment - I’ll be happy to answer any other questions if I can.
@GertrudeMcFuzz Wow! ASU Barrett sounds like an amazing opportunity! Especially their focus on study abroad, something I’m really looking forward to! Would you happen to know how much their scholarship covers(tuition, room/board)? I can’t seem to find it on their website.
Sure - it is full tuition (in or out of state), plus $1000 toward study abroad (one-time) and $1500 toward any academic activity (one-time; most students use this toward their thesis). It does not cover fees which run about $3K per year (including $1500 K for Barrett). So you’re looking at paying $3K in fees plus room & board, and then books & transportation. Probably pretty close to $20K per year for most students.
@LMHS73
We forwarded our flight itinerary, including the receipt, to the correct person at Barrett. She said that they will reimburse us $250 after our trip. Be sure to communicate with a rep at Barrett before booking your flight, as there are stipulations like you cannot use FF miles, etc.
Just returned from a USC admissions event in San Diego, where we were told by both an admissions officer and a Viterbi school admin that if our D is accepted to USC and is a NMF, the 1/2 tuition Presidential scholarship is guaranteed. It was a great event, especially the engineering breakout session where they had 8-10 current Viterbi students answering questions and sharing their expereriences.
Gertrude McFuzz did a great job covering what Barrett has to offer. I don’t really have much to add after our big day on campus. D really appreciates Barrett, but I think it will not be one of her final choices, assuming she is admitted to some of her match schools. D is having a hard time with the climate (as I always do–I’m not a desert person, but I’ve been trying hard to not let my biases show). It gets hot back home in OK but it feels very different, and the unrelenting bright sun here is bothering D. Add in the fact that ASU doesn’t really have the full spectrum of what D thinks she might want to study, and it doesn’t seem to make sense for her.
OU would be a good fit for my D, except that it’s our state flagship and too close to home. She wants to use this opportunity to take a risk and experience someplace new and different.
We have nothing but great things to say about OU, though.
I posted earlier in the NMS FAQ thread, but realize now that it does not see much traffic. I apologize for the cross thread, but this question may be of interest to other NMSF’s.
I’ve read the NM FAQ and am confused about timing for designating a first choice of schools on the NM website.
My D17 is a NMSF, and has submitted her NMF application with “Undecided” as her first choice. From what I’ve read here, NMSC will not share this information with schools until Mar 1 at the earliest, and she is able to change her top choice of schools up until the May 1 deadline.
She is applying to several schools that offer NMF scholarships, and will likely be admitted to some schools before the Mar 1 date when they will know what her first choice is. USC for example, has a Dec 1 deadline if you want to be considered for the Presidential scholarship. Acceptance letters are sent at the end of January, and by most accounts the acceptance letter is accompanied with scholarship notification.
So my question for people who have been through this before is whether she can stay undecided and sit back and see what she is offered? It seems that to be safe, she would need to lock this down by March 1 and commit to a school, but I’m curious what strategies others have employed to maximize their school choice options.
Other schools she is applying to that offer scholarships based on NMF status are Baylor, University of Arizona, and Texas A&M.
@kcheves , yes that is what we did with USC for our D15. We kept it undecided until she decided to accept with USC in April, then we switched her NMF desigation to USC. It probably took about two months for NMC to send that to USC, and for USC then to note the scholarship on the FA account for my daughter.
Thanks for the reply @vistajay. When your daughter received her acceptance letter to USC, did it include an offer of the Presidential scholarship, or did that come later?
My D really likes USC, but it’s the most expensive of the options she’s looking at, and admission into Viterbi is very competitive.
@kcheves I am afraid I cannot remember if the initial letter contained the NMF Presidential. But somehow, either from a letter or from calling them, we knew once she was admitted that she automatically got the NMF Presidential. I think what happened was we got the financial aid letter a few days later, which contained a smaller University scholarship but no Presidential. I called USC FA and they confirmed that as soon as they got the 1st choice notification from NMC, they would put the Presidential scholarship on her account. They also confirmed she would keep the University scholarship.
My understanding is a little different, so hopefully @vistajay or someone else can clarify.
I understand that the majority of USC decisions come out in late March. Only those invited to compete for the full tuition scholarships (over Scholarship Weekend, in early March?) get their acceptance in late January. Some NMFs are invited to this scholarship weekend and some are not, as the NMF award is automatic once you designate USC as your first choice with NMSC.
@ShrimpBurrito , unless it has changed in the last few years, if you are NMF and apply to USC by Dec 1 scholarship deadline, if you are accepted you will find out in January even if you are not invited to the competitive scholarship weekend. It’s a bit confusing because if you get the NMF automatic scholarship you are a Presidential Scholar, but there are other, non-NMF Presidential Scholars who are awarded that after attending the scholarship weekend. It is even possible that your NMF kid could be invited to the scholarship weekend, but still only receive the Presidential (which she/he was going to get anyway). Have I confused you?
Thanks @vistajay and @ShrimpBurrito. The twist to this is that no one who applies on 12/1,will be a NMF, since NMF’s aren’t announced until February. So USC appears to be tentatively awarding the Presidential Scholarship to presumed finalists. Of course they have the students’ full academic records, so they are in a good position to assess whether they will make NMF.
Hey @traveler98 is the $178,000 estimate for NMF supposed to cover the full cost of attendance? Their website seems to say the COA for OOS is $50,000 a year.
She wants to use this opportunity to take a risk and experience someplace new and different.