Barrett Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Arizona State University
1

<p>Hi to all,</p>

<p>Background: I’m a junior at a top Illinois public school. I skipped the second and third grades but went back a grade for athletics when I transferred to a public middle school. My ADHD really affected my freshman and sophomore years as it went untreated, but with medication I’ve really been able to buckle down and get some really good work done.</p>

<p>Ethnicity: My mother’s a second-generation Puerto Rican/Spaniard and my father’s a complete mutt–Eastern European/Russian/Ashkenazi Jew, etc. I guess I then qualify as Hispanic.</p>

<p>Major: Bio/medical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, physics</p>

<p>GPA: (W, since classes were all honors/AP)
Freshman–3.80/5.00 (My freshman year was completely mediocre–see above–with a 3.80/5.00 while in all honors classes. I think that was mostly due to the ADHD, an elongated acclimation period and my immaturity compared to my peers.)
Sophomore–4.05/5.00
Junior–4.90/5.00 (one B, in honors pre-calc)
Senior–at first quarter, 5.00/5.00</p>

<p>Class Rank: 32/630</p>

<p>AP’s: Junior–AP English Lang/Comp (5 on test), APUSH (5 on test)
Senior–AP English Lit, AP US Gov’t, AP Comp Gov’t, AP Psych, AP Physics C, AP Stats, AP Calc BC</p>

<p>EC’s:
-two year class council member
-baseball soph/jun/sen (being recruited to play D1–however, ASU’s a bit out of reach for that, as i don’t exactly throw 95 hahaha)
-club baseball every summer
-swimming frosh
-1st chair alto sax in wind symphony frosh/soph
-1st chair alto sax in jazz band frosh/soph/sen
-writer on school newspaper frosh/soph, production editor jun, co-ed-in-chief sen
-writer for the teen newspaper of the Chicago Tribune (very, very selective) jun/sen
-member of Tri-M music honors society
-Project Lead the Way pre-engineering courses frosh/soph/jun
-captain of/leading scorer for scholastic bowl frosh/soph/jun/sen
-volunteered for Habitat for last two summers
-eucharistic minister for Archdiocese of Chicago
-summer courses at Northwestern University</p>

<p>Standardized Tests:
AP Comp–36
SAT–2380 (800 CR, 800 W, 780 M)
PSAT–236 (National Merit Finalist)
Will take US History, Math II, and Physics SAT II’s</p>

<p>Recommendations:
-Editor for my teen newspaper
-School counselor
-Dean of students, whom I oddly enough know very well</p>

<p>Thanks, everybody!</p>

2

<p>You’re in. Don’t worry. Barrett isn’t that hard to get into. Especially if you’re national merit. I was only better than you in GPA and I got in easy, and there are people way, way less qualified than you here.</p>

3

<p>so you’re there right now? do you like the program? i’m mostly interested because i heard they give fantastic scholarships for nm scholars.</p>

4

<p>They do. I’m here on one. My recommendation is to call and arrange a student experience day for yourself at the honors college. That, more than the scholarship, is what convinced me to come to the school.</p>

<p>I’m a current OOS freshman and, honestly, I love the school. A lot of instate people seem to feel stifled here due to the presence of people from their high schools, but for me its a great school. The honors college really tries to get students involved and the honors classes are challenging, but a lot of fun.</p>

5

<p>How much are NM Finalists in Barrett receiving in scholarships? And while Barrett sounds intriguing, the thought of being one of 44,000 at a huge U with a party reputation is a little off-putting. Merlana, do you feel that Barrett is your primary college affiliation or do you think of yourself as an ASU student who happens to also be in Barrett?</p>

6

<p>DD has been admitted to Barrett for next Fall. We’ll be visiting this weekend. ASU offers NMF a full tuition scholarship equal to the first year’s tuition. It does not change from that amount in years 2-4. Merlana, I am also interested in gadad’s question if Barrett shrinks ASU down so that it doesn’t “seem” as though you are attending a Huge university?</p>

7

<p>Yes, it most certainly does. Barrett tries really hard to foster a sense of community. The fact that is has its own campus and dining hall really helps further this goal. Because you see the other honors students so much in the dining hall and on the honors campus, you begin seeing them all over. It really shrinks ASU down to more the size of a small liberal arts college. There are other students on campus and it is your choice whether to be more involved with that larger campus, but, at the same time, you can just interact with and be a part of the smaller college.</p>

<p>There are many, many events within Barrett for Barrett students throughout the year. While it is not necessary to attend these, it really helps build the sense of smaller community. The human event honors classes also help to do this by throwing together 19 Barrett students for the semester with common goals and assignments.</p>

<p>Honestly, I come from a small high school and was nervous about coming to such a large one, but finding friends and dealing with the size of the university really has not been a problem for me. I’m not a part of the party scene and have not, at any point in my experience here, felt pressure to become part of it. </p>

<p>(sorry, I had not seen gdad’s post before now). I really think of myself as a Barrett student first, but I am proud of the fact that I come from ASU. Despite the party reputation of ASU, the professors are fantastic. Some students may not come to class, but do not mistake this for a lack of intelligence or dedication on the part of the professors. There are some students who party within Barrett, but largely it is a community of dedicated individuals who do their best to succeed. </p>

<p>Barrett gives us priority registration, so it is rare for an honors student to not get the classes they want. The honors contracts give students a reason to speak with and get to know their professors and the professors know and interact with the honors students. I am in two classes over 150 people and have not once felt like I was just another person in the crowd. Between the honors contracts and personal honors advising, I really feel that Barrett tries to make the school smaller for students and, largely succeeds. </p>

<p>I really love the school and am, again, happy to answer any questions I can about it. Sorry it took me so long to get to this one. :D</p>

8

<p>Thanks for your response Merlana - if you see a father/daughter pair touring this weekend, ask if it’s MWPop!</p>

9

<p>I’m registered for ASU and Barretts for Fall 2011 and could not be more happy and excited about my choice!!! Cant wait!!! The visit to campus and information sessions about Barretts and WP Carey during the Sun Devil day I went to completely blew my socks off and changed ASU from a never would have considered school to the school I’ll be spending the next 4 years at. so DEFINATELY try to go to a sun devil day! It’s well worth it. And Barretts has been voted the best honors college in the nation - so its pretty awesome :)</p>