<p>Okay, so I have a few quick questions regarding the Barrett Honors College and the Barrett Residential Complex at Arizona State University. These questions are questions that are not on the ASU website.</p>
<p>1) How are the students at Barrett like?
I’ve had a tour of the school before, so I have an idea of what it is like, but I didn’t have much interaction with the actual students. Are they all geniuses? How is the community? I think I am pretty smart (or at the least above average) and am scared that everyone is going to be extremely intelligent (Okay, well being surrounded by smart people sounds nice, but I fear feeling like I’m below everyone.) Are they snobby, nice, funny, weird?</p>
<p>2) How rigorous is the Honors course all freshmen have to take?
It sounds nice - learning to critically think while developing a small network with your class - but I just want to know how Barrett students feel about the class.</p>
<p>3) Are the parents really involved?
My parents (more so my dad) have always been a crucial part of my academic life. They loved to volunteer at my elementary school (K-8) and hope to get re-involved with my academics in college. How involved are the parents? How frequently do they meet up?</p>
<p>Finally 4) How rigorous is Barrett and how many credit hours do you suggest I take with this program?
Some of my friends from prior years have described Barrett as “The hardest thing ever.” and others have said “It’s super easy!” Which one is more accurate? Is 18 credits too much to take in Barrett? With the Honors course it would be 18 credit hours (6 classes - WPC 101, CIS 105, MAT 210, ENG 105, KOR 101, and HON ???). Is this too much of a work load?</p>
<p>Thank you! ^_^</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What you have to understand about colleges is that it hosts a diverse population of students. Therefore, there will be a wide range of students you can choose to be around. All in all, college students are much nicer. They are by no means geniuses, and only slightly better than the average non-honors student. </p></li>
<li><p>It will be one of your most difficult classes freshman year, but trivial compared to your junior/senior level courses. The class involves a lot of reading, reflection on reading, and essay writing. Most of your grade comes from three essays, so depending on how good you are at that, the difficulty will vary.</p></li>
<li><p>No, not at all. The only three days of the year I saw parents was move-in, middle of semester parent day, and move out. </p></li>
<li><p>Different for everybody. Freshman classes were a joke for people who really excelled/worked hard in high school, but were a difficult for those who were used to slacking off and getting As. Let me put it this way, freshman year is the easiest year to take 18 credits. It never gets easier.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The honors class that Barrett students take their first semester is HON 171.</p>
<p>As a business major myself, I can say that CIS 105, WPC 101 and ENG 105 are super simple and should be of no problem to anyone in Barrett. If you’re weak at math, MAT 210 can be a bit challenging (I had no calculus prior to taking 210 and it was a rough time), but the professor you get for MAT 210 really is the defining factor.</p>
<p>I don’t know what your business concentration is, but I don’t think you’ll need that Korean class, and you won’t have much chance (as in, enough credit hours in future semesters) to get much past the second course in the Korean curriculum. Business doesn’t have a language requirement, and you really should be using those credits to take an HU or one of your Psychology/Sociology/Communication requirements. All business majors have to take PSY 101, SOC 101 and a Communication class (either 101, 225, 230 or…there’s another one, I don’t remember the number), and taking them early opens prerequisite doors to much more useful/fun classes in the future.</p>
<p>Source: I’m a CIS senior, and I was a WPC Peer Advisor in 2012</p>