<p>With just days to go it looks like my son may chose to go to Barrett. We are from out of state and he is not getting a NM scholarship. So, for those of you already in Barrett what do you like and dislike about this program. I know that many students choose it because of the amazing scholarship. Since this isn’t a factor for us please just let us know why this school is a great choice (or not). He is deciding between UT Austin, liberal arts honors program and Clarmont Mckenna College. He is looking for a strong sense of community within a strong academic environment and presently is aiming for law school.</p>
<p>Unless Claremont McKenna is significantly more expensive, I would pick it. </p>
<p>I was admitted to Barrett, with a national merit scholarship. What I like about the school are the new dorms, the smaller honors classes and the little things that Barrett kids get, such as priority enrollment in classes, an e-mail newsletter for internships, etc. I had pretty much decided that I was going to attend Barrett, not expecting to get into any other great schools. Once I was accepted by Pomona (neighbor school to CMC), Barrett wasn’t even on my radar, scholarship and all.</p>
<p><strong>If money is not a factor</strong> I don’t think there is ANY comparison between a school like Claremont McKenna and Barrett. CMC has much smaller classes than Barrett, far more faculty attention, more internship opportunities, the Ath, a very strong sense of community, and excellent law school placement. While CMC is fairly small, students there can take classes, join clubs etc at the other 5C campuses surrounding it. Even though Barrett is a good option, I still see it as kind of an island in the massive sea of students that ASU is. At Claremont McKenna, all of your son’s peers will be of exceptionally high caliber.</p>
<p>my 2 cents, for what they’re worth</p>
<p>lolcats: Are you HS senior or are you already in Pomona? I’m assuming from your reply that is where you are or where you are going.</p>
<p>As a current Barrett student, I think it’s a great program, but if offered the choice between Claremont McKenna and Barrett, assuming the lack of a scholarship makes the cost differential less, I would choose CMC.</p>
<p>ASU and Barrett are a very good deal for the price, but only if the price is of significance to you.</p>
<p>^ Exactly</p>
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<p>That’s where I’m going (I’m a senior)</p>
<p>I think I need to clarify. The difference in cost between CMC and Barrett is significant and it does matter. We are trying to figure out if there is any way we can afford it and if it is worth the difference in price. It is just that so many people color their description of Barrett as being a great deal because of the NM scholarship which it absolutely is for them. At this point with the scholarship that my son received from ASU the cost of Barrent is a little higher than UT Austin, which is a great school and in some ways seems stronger than ASU. My son however prefers Barrett between the two. What I’m really asking about is the quality of the Barrett program for its own sake because so many times when I hear it described it is with the qualifier of costing next to nothing. I’m also wondering if the price of Claremont justifies the difference in education and experience. More importantly I’m asking if the Barrett education and experience is great on its own and why.</p>
<p>I am not a current student, but I will attend in the fall, and I do have the nm scholarship. You mentioned, however, that your son is receiving some sort of scholarship, and that does make a difference, in terms of cost, and so that changes from the original.
I was accepted at Grinnell College (which, for comparisons sake, on U.S. news is 14 to CMC’s 11), and Mt. Holyoke (27, I believe). I got scholarships at both, so for me, Grinnell would have cost 37,000, and Mt. Holyoke, 30,000. And though your son isn’t getting the nm scholarship is not so much the price but the price difference that matters.
I decided that the difference in education I would receive was not worth the cost, especially since I plan to go law school. With law school, while CMC may have better placement, if you work hard and are smart, you can still get into a top school, and after that, your undergrad doesn’t really matter.
My impression of Barrett is that there is a great sense of community, though sadly, I came on a Sunday night, and it was kind of dead. I did think that the much praised Human Event class I went to was lacking, not in teaching but in discussion. But those vary wildly, I believe. I have a friend who just visited, and she loved the one she saw (on Bioethics). I really liked the professors I met, one history and one economics. I already have my schedule, and I am being forced into a couple of really dumb classes (major requirements), but, well, I’ll live. And there’s a lot of things to do, activities and whatnot. For example, I plan on doing either band or orchestra next year, and exploring other options.
This was all kind of rambley, sorry. But generally, what I would say, that for me, the cost difference between Barrett and a liberal arts college was not worth it. It may be cliche, but college is really what you make of it. As long as you’re determined and driven, you can get the experience you want. And I do think that Barrett, though certainly not comparable, is good enough the make up for the difference in quality with cost.
So, were I in your sons position (w/ significant cost difference), I’d probably go to Barrett, especially with the economy the way it is.</p>
<p>We just visited Barrett for two days, and here’s some of what we came away with:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>With the typical scholarships OOS kids get with a 2000-2100 SAT, ASU turns out to be a bit less than our in-state flagship. Barrett has a little extra cost (both in fees, dorm & meal charges) so we called that a wash.</p></li>
<li><p>What Barrett seems to offer is a chance to take some of your classes in the small LAC environment with great professors, and priority enrollment (at the time the athletes register) for regular ASU classes. What we heard – from several different students – is that they were able to get into every non-Barrett ASU course with the specific section and professor they wanted. That’s a cherry-picking opportunity that’s rare unless you’re a recruited athlete, IMO. Again, student feedback was that regular ASU faculty like Barrett’s kids and willingly set up honors contracts. There were also a number of comments (at different times, from different students) that finding internship and research opportunities was very, very easy for Barrett’s students.</p></li>
<li><p>The Barrett philosophy seems to encourage high achievement and inter-disciplinary work, and many of the Barrett’s students we met had double majors, or a major and a minor and a certificate program. The school’s attitude seems to be, “come talk and let us know what we can do to help you reach your goals.” The university’s office that supports students seeking national and international scholarships (Rhodes, Marshall, Fullbright, Goldwater,…) is located in Barrett, and there seems to be both significant support for students in terms of helping them plan for these opportunities, and significant success in helping students put together applications that are successful.</p></li>
<li><p>The kids we met seemed to be both nerdy and neat. D felt that they seemed to be the kind of people with whom she’d enjoy spending time. Barrett faculty and administration is in the same residential complex as the Barrett dorms, and the interactions I saw between students and faculty looked warm and collegial. The new Barrett campus (opening in August) will be larger, but I hope it will keep the same feel. Enough upperclassmen signed up to stay in the new dorms to completely fill all the single and suite rooms, and I think that’s probably an indication of the community feel of the school. Thursday midnight capture the flag seems to be popular. The dean seems to be well-known by the students and very, very respected. (Though they laugh a bit at his penchant for botanical names for the new dorms.) Kids interested in sustainability put together a persuasive enough argument that one of the new dorms was built with a green roof, and the whole new complex is LEED certified.</p></li>
<li><p>ASU is the largest college in the country, but in two days of walking around I never felt like there was a huge mass of humanity. Probably different than football game days, but the ASU feel was a lot quieter than UCLA, IMO. But because ASU is the largest campus, they have a rather breathtaking set of course offerings – everything from Arabic to Urdu on the language front, to a sustainability program with fascinating interdisciplinary courses.</p></li>
<li><p>And on the money issue: with Barrett coming in (for us) at about the price of our in-state flagship, it is about $10-15K a year less for us than the great LACs to which D was admitted. That’s the difference for her being able to to do summer language intensives or internships vs. absolutely needing to find a paying job, and ending undergraduate school debt-free rather than a minimum of $20-25K in debt. </p></li>
<li><p>The weather and the beautiful campus didn’t hurt, but it does help that Phoenix is served by Southwest, which makes for relatively inexpensive transportation.</p></li>
<li><p>Barrett had a more balanced male/female enrollment than any of the LACs D considered. (49% male, 51% female.)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Juniors and Seniors at Barrett are able to take classes at the law school at ASU. As far as I know, there is no other program at any college that lets you do this. Just something to think about.</p>