Howdy! I’m trying to choose between ASU at Tempe and UMN at the Twin CIties. Both are out-of-state, but I get in-state reciprocity or prices at both. I’m not certain on my major, but I think I’d like to do a BS in Psychology, or major in bioengineering or biotechnology.
At ASU, I would be in ASU’s honors college, Barrett. It is the cheaper option for me due to the scholarships they’ve offered me.
At Minnesota, I would not be in the honors program, but it’s about the same price considering fees and dorms and stuff as ASU.
Those are two completely different climates! Have you lived in a northern climate before?
How far away is each school from your home, and how would you travel home? If flying, are there direct flights? Travel costs can add up quickly unless you plan to stay on campus and not go home for holidays like Thanksgiving.
@chercheur Yes, I live in Wisconsin and am used to cold climates. The heat at ASU intimidates me, though.
My parents plan to move to AZ but the rest of my family is in WI. At ASU I could drive to my parents house, while at Minnesota I could stay with my grandparents. Thank you–I’ll have to factor in travel costs.
It’s not about prestige. You’re right. The average person has never heard of Barrett, the honors college within ASU. What is important is that it does an excellent job as an honors college, meaning you’ll essentially be getting a rigorous, private-type education within the much larger university structure. You’ll be in smaller classes, taught by full professors, and you’ll enjoy other perks. In the long run, the difference between someone who has received a rigorous education and someone who has simply done the minimum in order to get that piece of paper (the degree) is important. It might not seem to pay immediate dividends (someone who hires you because you went to Barrett), but it will pay off in the long run. When you enter the work world, for instance, you’ll be stunned to see how many supposedly “educated” adults cannot write well, think critically, or speak with skill.
The students I know at ASU Barrett Honors College are often in a lot of really huge classes with many different ability students. . Not every class you take at ASU
will be small and just the honors students. With that, i do think you get more attention with the Barrett Honors College and guidance towards research projects, and help with grad school applications and applications for scholarships like the Goldwater, if that interests you.
U of Minnesota though is very strong, higher ranked university for most fields and especially engineering, I would choose Minnesota, if you may want to go to graduate school in engineering or science.
AZ local here. When people fret about the heat in Tempe, AZ, keep in mind that the weather is actually very pleasant from October-April, which covers most of the school year. Today’s high in Tempe was 73, in Minneapolis 29.
Also, to clarify the point made by @Coloradomama about Barrett students being in large lecture classes: Barrett students are required to have a certain number of honors credits each year. Those can be earned one of two ways. One way is by taking a regular class but entering into an honors enrichment contract with the professor and doing extra work. https://barretthonors.asu.edu/academics/honors-courses-and-contracts/honors-enrichment-contracts. The other way is to take an Honors Only section of a class. A list of the classes with Honors Only sections for Fall 2018 is here: https://barretthonors.asu.edu/sites/default/files/honors_courses_fall_2018.pdf. So for example there are honors only sections of many common introductory classes such as biology, calculus, psychology, economics. Those sections will be small and (obviously) only honors students.
When D toured the ASU Fulton School of Engineering, one of our tour guides was a Barrett student. She described the honors options and gave an example. She said that she felt that Chemistry was not her strong suit. So she took a regular Chemistry class with an honors contract instead of taking the Honors Only section of Chemistry. But that was her choice for that particular class.
We live in Minnesota and my daughter goes to ASU/Barrett.
Would you be flying into/out of MSP? Travel costs are actually very cheap, with widely available nonstops at under $100 one way. (This is due to competition from SunCountry and Southwest, along with having Delta and AA in the market too.) We’ve never paid more than $250 round trip. Her Christmas trip home cost $74. (I often book one way because it’s just that easy and flexible)
So, if you’re flying from MSP, this is actually faster and cheaper (nonstops just over 3 hours) than many other college options that are “closer.”
My D (a junior in the Cronkite School — so downtown Phoenix) — found Barrett stuff OK, not absolutely stellar or irreplaceable… but she is downtown and I think Tempe dorms, dining and academic pluses might be more thorough on the main campus.
That said, UMinn is a very good school. I’d honestly pick based on strength of your intended major, while factoring in family, cost etc.
Sounds like you have great choices!
ASU is one of the top colleges for her major (journalism), and she also got scholarships that made it cheaper than UMinn. So, for her that easily tipped the scales. She likes it.
(Only August/September are brutal for heat. School ends first week of May.)
“at ASU Barrett Honors College are often in a lot of really huge classes with many different ability students.”
That’s true, though the alternative here is UMN, not Swarthmore. He’ll get that at UMN, too.
The ASU network will be stronger out west for summer jobs and such, but there are amazing places around the state and region to work in the summer that aren’t 120 degrees.