Hello everyone!
I’m a high school senior from Seattle and I’ve very nearly decided to attend Arizona State next fall. I’m looking to study biomedical engineering and attain my masters in 5 years with their accelerated program. But lately I’ve been thinking I’m not making a great decision for my future. I continue to see plenty of post on how ASU is a horrible school and it makes me ponder after every post I read if I am making a good decision. Anybody have any insight??
ASU is a great school that offers tremendous opportunities, professors, and facilities for students to take advantage of. The 5-year master’s degree in engineering, fully ABET-accredited, is a great opportunity. Tempe is a marvelous place to go to school. Are you attending Barrett Honors College as well BME program? Barrett enjoys a great reputation as well, largely because of being a top Fulbright scholar producing university. You will have to focus and work to excel in the 5-year program, and sometimes it is hard for others to understand why ASU has been changing the paradigm of education–offering opportunities to include those who want opportunity, but once you’re in, you have to seek and engage all the opportunities and scale of the school. Plenty of research opportunities as well. Being #1 in the country for innovation–evaluated by its peer institutions–is testament to what can happen when you want to change the way people learn and have access to opportunities. Congratulations! Be ambitious!
Hey thanks for the advice ConcertoinD! No I decided the honors college is not in my best interest because I also plan to play lacrosse. I sent the coach my highlights from last year and he wants me to try out for the team. Thanks again!
Lacrosse! How about that! Congratulations!
ASU gets a bad reputation for it being a party school, but I honestly have no trouble with it. I mean Tempe might not have the best crime statistics, but what big city in Arizona does? I have had no problems with ASU, (I commute) but I have a friend (Barrett) that hasn’t been affected by the party scene either. For me it is strictly academics and I think ASU offers great academic advantages. But as always there are things you definitely need to consider before deciding (below), also remember to rate their importance to get a real idea if it is right for you.
1- Party atmosphere
2- Accelerated program
3- what if you change your major?
4- on campus or off campus housing?
4- Location
-distance to family (or ease of travel)
-safety
-landscape (desert living)
5- where your specific program rates nationally (ex: school of whatever at asu is raked #_ in the nation)
6- costs
Hope this helps and good luck choosing!!!
If people say ASU is horrible, they’re probably from U of A. LOL.
Seriously though, it’s a great school. Good professors and a beautiful campus. It has a reputation as a party school, but that will only affect you to the extent you want it to. Nobody ever forced me to go to a party I didn’t want to!
I got a solid education there and would recommend it.
ASU’s Barrett is one of the top honors programs in the nation! It’s highly ranked and recognized and a great environment (from what I’ve heard). ASU as a whole has a party atmosphere but you will for sure find students that match you and also care about school (especially in Barrett).
I lived near ASU and I wouldn’t go there in a million years. Arizona is a lovely state, but as an aggregate, ASU is a terrible school. It accepts basically anyone who has a wallet and a pulse.
We have a joke in AZ, “How do you get into ASU? You walk through the door.”
I’m not saying this from some sort of school rivalry either (UofA is terrible too, I wouldn’t go there either), with a ~77 percent acceptance rate of UofA, and an ~84% for ASU, a degree for there is pretty meaningless. You have a good GPA, and should really consider going somewhere more competitive.
^^This is ridiculous. A degree from either ASU or UA is in no way meaningless. Both have some very well respected programs.
This is a prime example of the attitude of some local Arizona residents who don’t have a clue what they have in their own backyard.
Two examples from my experience.
As an engineer at a highly respected national engineering research lab, I have worked with really good people from both ASU and UofA at all levels, including student interns, technical staff members, and managers. I also know a UofA undergraduate on a team of optical engineering undergraduates who won top prize at a national competition this year competing against graduate students – the first time ever a team of all undergraduates has won first place.