Ask a Barrett Student/Why I Love Barrett. Learn a lot!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Arizona State University
1

<p>Hi everyone, I am a current Barrett Freshman that has simply been amazed at the opportunities that ASU has to offer. My major, Supply Chain Management, is 4th in the nation and I have plans to pair it with Finance. Double majoring in the business school is so doable that there is absolutely no reason not to do it! As a non-drinker/non-smoker, I have still found amazing friends in the Barrett community and great extracurricular activities to further career goals at ASU. This thread will address the following concerning ASU: the dormitory situation, the Barrett Dining Hall, opportunities solely for Barrett students, class quality, and social life. My goal is to open up more eyes on College Confidential as to the quality of Barrett, The Honors college. It is definitely a program on the rise.</p>

<p>Dormitory Situation: Barrett is now requiring freshman to live on campus for TWO YEARS. For me, this is not an issue, but many people argue they want to go off campus and live elsewhere. The dorms in Barrett cost 6,400 for a roommate+two suitemates+bathroom and 6,900 for a suitemate+bathroom. I am a huge advocate of the latter of these options, as I find the individual room spacious, you have your own side of the bathroom, and you can study when needed. It is a huge negative if you get a bad roommate (some people had empty rooms and got morons from Manzanita this semester… Trying to get your room switched is a hell like process). Having my own room does not effect my social life, I still hang out with friends late at night and everyone is always in each other’s rooms. Sophomore year, you can get a 4 bedroom apartment on the other side of Barrett that has a living room+kitchen and two bathrooms. Many Barrett students do this with their close friends that they meet Freshman year. We recently chose the specific room we want and it was all in all a very easy/efficient process. The rooms are great quality and I love how nice and new they are!</p>

<p>Barrett Dining Hall: As a food junkie, I have found the food to be mediocre. I highly recommend trying to pull some strings and getting the 150 meals per semester with 350 M&G plan ($1,637 per semester, versus the two Freshman plans which are around $2,600 per semester). You will be paying on average $8-$10 per meal you eat in the dining hall. The two freshman plans are 14 meals per semester with $150 M&G or unlimited with $100 M&G, with the latter being around $125 more expensive per semester. M&G stands for Maroon and Gold Dollars, you can use it at nearly anywhere on campus and it is very convenient! Most of mine goes to Jamba Juice or a sushi place in the MU. Consistent food in the Barrett dining hall consists of: pizza, cereal, hamburgers, fries, wraps, stir fry, and fruit. Once to twice per week, we have sushi. We have different types of steak (flank steak, roast beef, new york strip, Brazilian steak) 4 times per week. Baked Potatoes once to twice per week. Different types of chicken (not a fan of chicken, so don’t know which types) 4 times a week as well. They also occasionally have shrimp and lobster, but these are rare occasions. The soft drinks offerred range from orange juice to Mr. Pip, the dining hall serves Coke products. While I am not a fan of the food, I am a huge advocate of the social experience the dining hall offers. I nearly always have at least one friend eating in the dining hall at a given time and it is a great time to just wind back and relax. The convenience is definitely very nice. Keep in mind that I am a food junkie as well, many people are fans of the food in the dining hall. </p>

<p>Opportunities Solely for Barrett Students: First off and most importantly, we register for classes FIRST with athletes and handicapped students! Simply put, you will get the class you want. With the teacher you want. At the time you want. This registration system is simply awesome for us. For Barrett students, there is Honors Advising and for the business school, we have two Honors Advisors. Barrett students (as well as Business Honors students) get free printing as well in the Business Honors lounge. Only Barrett kids may sign up for Honors classes, which are capped at 25 students. You may take as many honors credits as you want (if you don’t want to take honors classes, you can do honors contracts with your professor which typically are papers of around 3-10 pages). You also will be paying a $500 per semester Barrett fee, which you can get some of it back. This fee is used to “buy” classes from other colleges, as other colleges need a way to be able to afford using their resources to teach such small classes. You can also use the fee towards your honors thesis (up to $1000 back I believe), use $500 to go on a trip related to school, and there was another place you can use $500 somewhere that I forgot. </p>

<p>Class Quality: Classes are great, especially when you take Honors Only Courses! Everyone is able to study together as we all live together. It is a great concept. There are even general education classes, such as psychology 101 or macroeconomics/microeconomics, that offer honors only courses! The amount of honors classes are typically much higher than I thought there would be. The Human Event is a great seminar and for me, it isn’t too challenging. It does test your writing and it sets you up to learn how to be a structured writer. </p>

<p>Social Life: At ASU and in Barrett, there is a group for you. Want to chill and go out to eat and watch movies? You’ll have friends. Want to play a sport? You’ll have friends. Want to work on homework all weekend? You’ll have friends. Want to go drink/get high? You’ll have friends. My best recommendation for social life is to just be yourself. You will find your niche and you’ll be making more friends than you have ever had before. </p>

<p>If you have any questions about this post, please feel free to ask! If you have not applied for Barrett yet, then I highly recommend getting in your application soon. Applications are up 50% over last year and last year, they took only 45%-50% of their applicants. I have found the quality of Barrett students to be very high, so feel free to ask me to chance you and I’ll give my best input.</p>

2

<p>Great post! I’m really looking forward to hearing back from them soon.<br>
Do you know any Barrett students at campuses other than Tempe? My major is only offered at the Polytechnic campus, and I’m trying to see if being a Barrett student there would benefit me much. I’m especially sad that I’ll be missing out on that awesome new residential hall!</p>

3

<p>Hi WackoWasko, I only know two people on Polytechnic campus and I am do not believe they are in Barrett. I would highly recommend trying to live here for the first year and getting general education credits out of the way. I know Human Event is offerred on Polytechnic campus (only one or two classes of it though, versus 40 or so for Tempe?), but the Honors presence there is very small. Tempe is the place to be; no matter who you are. This is where the college life occurs. You will have much more difficulty getting involved in clubs, organizations, greek life, etc. if you do not live in Tempe. </p>

<p>That being said, there is also a bus that goes between Polytechnic Campus and Tempe Campus.</p>

4

<p>Ah yes I was afraid of that, but if I go I would be part of the WUE program, so Tempe would be out of the question unfortunately. </p>

<p>Do you remember how you were accepted to Barrett? I don’t want to speak to soon, but I think I may have just gotten in! On my portal in the “My Programs” box, it lists my major (Operations Management Technology (BS) | Polytechnic) with a link to the College of Technology and Innovation, and then under it is listed “Honors” with a link to the Barrett website. “Honors” wasn’t there the last time I checked, and I sent in my application around December 15th, but I haven’t gotten any emails or anything in the mail. Do you think it’s a sign of something to come, or just that I’m being evaluated for the program?</p>

5

<p>If it says honors under your major and school, then you have been accepted. Congrats!!! (BTW expect a letter in the mail soon!)</p>

6

<p>ASUAdvocate - does Barrett make it easy for students to change majors or do they need to apply after so many hours are completed?
How is the academic advising? How do students find out the details about classes and proffs?</p>

7

<p>ASUAdvocate, are you from instate or out-of-state? Can you give me an idea of how many of your fellow Barrett students are from east of the Mississippi, especially New England?</p>

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<p>Plenty, Barrett really has little to do with your major of choice. ASU makes it easy to change majors. In fact, I believe that you aren’t even a “permanent” major until you hit a certain number of credits and declare it. Even then it is quick and easy to switch.</p>

<p>Academic advising is broken into honors advisers and major advisers (some majors have honors advisers as well). Professors information is usually via word of mouth (easy since you have a small community of honors scholars around you) or by websites like ratemyprofessors.com.</p>

9

<p>PlentyQuestions-As a Barrett student, you can change majors just as easily as any other student. It is very easy to switch majors from any school, as you can typically put Freshman courses as electives if they do not fit your current pre reqs (if you switch from engineering to film, for example). </p>

<p>Academic advising is great, especially if you are a business student. There are two separate advisors just for Business Honors students. For Honors advising, it is available, but I do not know many people that use it. I have found that the best advisers tend to be older friends that you make as well as teachers.</p>

<p>Laxtaxi-I am from In-State, as are many Barrett students. That being said, out of state kids find it very easy to make friends and I have many out of state friends. I do not have any numbers from how many are from New England area. A lot of my friends are from California/Washington. I do have friends from areas such as Michigan, Chicago, and more. I think this is more dependent on the incoming class, as Barrett is trying hard to recruit in new areas right now.</p>

10

<p>Also, WackoWasko, I’d advise looking at the pre reqs you need and see if you can get general credits out of the way during the first year. I’m sure you can. I got accepted to Barrett in the first batch of students, it was just a letter I believe. My mom called me and told me.</p>

11

<p>ASUAdvocate, Can you please explain the dining options (below)? If my son was able to get the 150 meals per semester with the 350 M&G plan do you feel that would cover all of his meals then and we wouldn’t need to spend the full $2,600? We would love to save $1000, but want to make sure he has enough to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday… thanks in advance for explaining this!</p>

<p>Barrett Dining Hall: As a food junkie, I have found the food to be mediocre. I highly recommend trying to pull some strings and getting the 150 meals per semester with 350 M&G plan ($1,637 per semester, versus the two Freshman plans which are around $2,600 per semester). You will be paying on average $8-$10 per meal you eat in the dining hall. The two freshman plans are 14 meals per semester with $150 M&G or unlimited with $100 M&G, with the latter being around $125 more expensive per semester. M&G stands for Maroon and Gold Dollars, you can use it at nearly anywhere on campus and it is very convenient! Most of mine goes to Jamba Juice or a sushi place in the MU.</p>

12

<p>Hi mominaz, I am not sure if your son has a car or not, but if you can get him the 150 meals per semester (which is a feat in itself), I would recommend buying him a parking permit. There are approximately 15 weeks in the first semester, it comes out to 10 meals per week or so. I don’t tend to eat breakfast (or I just grab a banana…), so there goes that meal for me. On top of this, I eat out on the weekends and sometimes during the week. If you want your son eating 21 meals at Barrett 7 days a week, then Unlimited is the way to go. I just am an advocate of the 150 meal as a way to get diversity in your system and eat at different places in Tempe, as I only eat around 5-6 things from the actual dining hall.</p>

13

<p>Thanks for the info. I am sure you are right that unlimited meals are not really fully utilized at Barrett. I can see not having time for breakfast on alot of days. I called the housing dept and the person on the phone told me that Barrett Freshman students can only choose the two options they offer. One is the unlimited and the other I can’t remember how many meals you get, but it wasn’t that much less than the unlimited. So assuming she is correct then we are captives of the expensive dining options for at least Freshman year. I am going to definitely keep your advice in mind for the next three years when it comes to time to work out those plans. It is good to have an actual student let you know how things really work! Thanks</p>

14

<p>Hi ASUAdvocate.
Our D is choosing between Barrett and various CA schools (SCU, USD, …). Would you mind giving a rundown on your specific classes and the number of students in each for your freshman year, along with any personal comments about non-honors classes’ quality and professor-accessibility based on your own and your friends’ experiences so far? We understand that HON classes have capped enrollment, but she is worried that her non-honors classes will be be huge. She is weighing the benefits of the private schools’ smaller classes against ASU/Barrett’s larger number of majors (she is totally undecided on her major). The private schools really stress their smaller class sizes and sense of community, and our D wonders if she would ever feel part of a “community” at a school as large as ASU. She is not much of a partier, more into fitness and healthy lifestyle.
Thanks.</p>

15

<p>Mominaz, try to think of an excuse to get a doctor/religious advisor to get the exemption. They can’t really argue with that. ;)</p>

<p>2015cgeg-Of my 34 credits in my first two semesters, 22 of them have been honors classes. These classes are capped at 25 (40 in the business school) and are often smaller. Human Event is required for all Barrett students and is capped at 19! My non-honors classes are bigger lecture halls typically (except for english), but you learn to live. These classes tend to just be teaching the essentials for you. I’d recommend doing these online if there is not an honors version of it.</p>

<p>Barrett definitely has a sense of community. It is quite unique in ASU because of that. I find ASU to be the world’s biggest small campus. I’m a fairly social person and I barely ever walk anywhere without saying hi to someone I know. There are definitely people into fitness and a healthy lifestyle as well here! </p>

<p>In my opinion, Barrett provides a private school environment at a public school price. I thought Dean Jacobs was kidding when he said kids turn down Ivys and other top 15 schools for Barrett. The thing is, they do. A lot of it has to do with money, but it just goes to show the level of intellect that many Barrett students possess.</p>

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<p>Hi ASUAdvocate.
Thank you for your reply as well as your excellent and informative original post. While further researching the honors course curriculum and actual ASU on-line class directory, I see what you mean about the availability of honors-only courses, as well as their relatively small class sizes. I even noticed a Biology 181 lecture course this spring with only 13 students, which is remarkable. The following links should help anyone looking for ASU honors-course details:</p>

<p>[Barrett</a>, The Honors College Schedule of Honors Courses](<a href=“http://barretthonors.asu.edu/academics/requirements-courses-and-contracts/honors-courses/schedule/]Barrett”>http://barretthonors.asu.edu/academics/requirements-courses-and-contracts/honors-courses/schedule/)</p>

<p><a href=“http://barretthonors.asu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/spring-2011-honors-courses.pdf[/url]”>http://barretthonors.asu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/spring-2011-honors-courses.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I’m going to be a horrible naysayer, just in hopes of giving a more balanced view. I want to state that I do like Barrett and ASU well enough, but just want to offer another opinion against the overwhelmingly positive view of ASUAdvocate.
First, the number of honors courses, unless you are a business major, is somewhat exaggerated. For HON courses, I’ve taken human event and a course called The Legal Process taught by a law professor, both of which were amazing. And for honors sections, I’ve had MAT 270 (Calc 1), ENG 102 (the really dumb intro English course they make you take), and ASB 222 (which is Intro to Archaeology). While all of these (except ENG 102, which was silly and pointless), were a great experience, they hardly make up the majority of my coursework. Something course-wise that I do really like is Project Excellence, which allows Barrett students to take actual law courses. Starting after spring break, I’m taking The Birth of English Common Law with a visiting professor from Oxford, which is super awesome.
I am a history major. While there are certainly intro courses that are honors available to everyone, very few majors (business being the exception, not the rule) have upper division courses that are honors, or even very many lower division ones. All of the people I know (I don’t really know any business majors) take the vast majority of their classes non-honors. In terms of class size, it really, really depends on your major. Most of my classes have been relatively small. The biggest was ASB 102 (Intro to Anthro), which had about 275 people. The next largest was a math class with 60. After that, most of my classes were 40 people or less, with the smallest being a 400 level history course with about 9 people, 4 of whom were grad students. But this is also self-selection to some extent, as I don’t take lower division history courses, or really any courses lower division. Those courses are much larger. Also, science majors generally have very large lecture courses, and my friend who is a biochem major has multiple horror stories about terrible lab partners. She has often had to do her labs entirely by herself, fixing her lab partners substandard work. On another note, the Spanish department is frankly terrible, and if you wish to major in Spanish I would seriously caution against attending ASU. My SPA 325 course was actually good, but was taught by a grad student who has since ditched ASU for greener pastures (like Ivy league ones), and he was frankly disgusted with the department. My 400 level Spanish lit class it kind of boring; we just go over plot and never really discuss anything. My AP Spanish Lit class in high school was much better.</p>

<p>In terms of the meal plan, I definitely agree, get the 150. I have no trouble eating on it without spending a lot of extra money, but how much you are going to spend depends on the person. Remember, it also comes with $350 flex money per semester, which you can use at the markets or in the union to supplement it. And the food gets really old, really fast. But they do have gelato! Which is pretty amazing. And the stir fry is a nice feature, as it is make your own stir fry, so you get to choose what is in it and what sauce(s) to use. The rooms are frankly over priced and over hyped. They were started falling apart last year, the first year the complex was open. My friend’s shower had serious water damage because the head wasn’t on right, and I know that in Sage North, the hot water didn’t work. But they could really be much, much worse (like the old Barrett dorms…). They’re fine for now.</p>

<p>In terms of meeting people and getting the small community feel, well yes. But it will always, always depend on the individual. Certainly it helps, but if you are shy, you’re not going to suddenly become less shy. And the really outgoing people are always going to have the best social experience.</p>

<p>In terms of academic levels of other students, I have the most disillusionment and reservations. Yeah, people turned down Ivy leagues, but almost exclusively for money. I have a friend who turned down Stanford, and while she’s fine here, she still would’ve rather gone there. Also, this is not the trend. Most people here never had a hope of getting into an Ivy league school. The average ACT score is around 28. That isn’t even close to what you need to get into super exclusive schools. I’ve met very smart people, but a lot more that were…less so. Generally I feel the out-of-state students are smarter, as they are more picky about those applicants. I sometimes am incredibly frustrated by the levels of discussion in certain honors classes. And there was some frankly terrible writing in my ENG 102 class. </p>

<p>To sum, this is all my opinion, which I am offering because it is different. You may very well disagree. This is good. </p>

<p>*Also, to note, I am a sophomore history major from Wisconsin here on the National Merit scholarship.</p>

18

<p>I’m an admitted Barrett student, and when I toured ASU and Barrett I was quite impressed. However, I don’t want to live at a “party school”/“party dorm”. So my question is … are there any quiet floors at Barrett, and are there students who are more laid back and less into partying?</p>

19

<p>^Me!!! I’m more laid back and not into partying :slight_smile: There’s so many people at ASU that I’m sure I’ll find plenty of friends who are also not really into partying</p>

20

<p>Hi anxiousenior. To be frank, nearly every floor except the business floors are non-partying floors. I’m on a business floor and still find it fun without being a partier. It isn’t something to worry about if you are going to live in Barrett!</p>