After much thought and consideration, I have finally narrowed down my college choices to the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State and the University of Minnesota. I am going to major in chemical engineering. I know that instantly most people are going to say that I should go to University of Minnesota but I am really torn down the middle with these two.
I visited Barrett and really enjoyed my time there. You can’t argue with the amazing whether all winter long, although it does get pretty hot in the summers (but I will probably be back in Alaska during that time anyways), the dorms and dining hall are amazing, there are beautiful girls all over campus, the engineering department seems like it has a lot of good things going for it, it has lively sports teams, and with such a small one mile by one mile campus accompanied by the honors living area it should be really easy to make friends. However, I am worried about how easy it will be to land a great job at graduation. When looking at what companies recruited from Arizona State a lot of them seemed to be local. I am currently working at ConocoPhillips Alaska as a high school intern and really like the corporate environment there. I ideally would like to land a high-paying job and be able to move up the corporate ladder in a successful company and become a wealthy and successful individual. I am not sure if Barrett would provide this opportunity or not so input on that would be greatly appreciated.
I hope to visit the University of Minnesota at the end of March. From what I have read about it and heard from other people that attend school there is that it is a very large and spread out campus and that many people have had a hard time making friends there. Also, the school spirit seems to be lacking towards their sports and I just feel that overall the social scene is relatively low. I do know however, that the University of Minnesota has an outstanding chemical engineering department that is ranked third in the nation right below MIT and Cal Tech, but there are also many liberal education requirements that I would be forced to take. The weather is also brutally cold in the winter, and I probably wont be there in the summer when the weather gets nice again. There are however, like fourteen Fortune 500 companies in Minneapolis that would probably be good employment opportunities that would help with my desire to become a successful and wealthy engineer.
Both of these schools cost relatively the same amount. Arizona State offered me a $13,000 scholarship and I applied for more within the school, and the University of Minnesota granted me in-state costs. I am also in the process of applying for scholarships within private organizations.
So basically, Arizona seems to have more of a social life with good opportunities within the Honors College, and the University of Minnesota seems to have little to offer socially but fantastic employment opportunities with an Ivy League level education. Should I go with Barrett Honors College at Arizona State, or the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities?
Really, you have to state is this is just a money decision, ?? ASU for you is about 3-4K tuition vs about 13K for Uminn. The rest is gravy, Uminn is a ranked chem eng school. Living expenses are comparable. Uminn is not direct entry to Chem eng, is that the same at ASU? And don’t you come in with any credits for the non eng stuff? All those APs must count for something?
Uminn has offered you instate and lots of kids with better stats haven’t been offered anything, so that’s really fortunate for you. ASU has given you a nice offer, but is that it? Did you apply to other WUE school, U of U? Alabama? etc, is this the only decision?
@Alfonsia I have narrowed it down to these two schools. I do have AP courses that i have been given credit for and it is the same for each school. With my scholarships and the price of tuition and room and board these schools are about the same cost. On my acceptance letter to University of Minnesota it said i was also one of the select that got admitted straight into the engineering program. I am also directly in the engineering program at Arizona State.
Sorry, re the math, is ASU’s offer a one time only 13K? I erroneously assumed it was yearly (with WUE rates making it almost free). That makes it even more straightforward.
@Alfonsia i feel i will be able to maintain a 3.2 GPA, if I can’t do that I will have a hard time getting a job anywhere. ASU doesn’t offer WUE for chemical engineering so it is just the $13,000 scholarship at the moment.
@dmorris1017 you are obviously cream of the crop - congratulations! Given where you live, I don’t blame you one bit for wanting to get out of the cold. So just a couple of “non-academic” observations:
Girls in MN are beautiful as well and I say this as more than a MN mom of girls. The Twin Cities Metro area is renowned for its fitness and health and you can google the surveys to verify. The running community, for instance, is the envy of elite runners in AZ. So all you need to do here is hang out in the gym during the winter and you’ll see. Anyway you’ll probably want a bit less “eye-candy” to distract you from your studies (which will be grueling regardless of where you go).
When you are wealthy and successful - believe me you’ll be able to vacay where ever you want and you’ll be attracting plenty of beautiful girls. The point is to get to that point. Choose the college that meets this goal the easiest, if that’s your goal.
And then one academic point: check out the forums on Barrett and ASU in general to compare thoughts on the academic strengths of the two institutions. You will have some classes with regular ASU students I would think so here are comparative stats from US News for UMTC vs. ASU (not considering Honors College specifically):
UMTC:
Accepted students ACT 26-30
Fresh. retention rate: 90%
4 year graduation rate: 54%
6 year graduation rate: 75%
ASU:
Accepted students SAT (cr + m): 1020 - 1270 (ACT equiv. 22 - 28)
Fresh. retention rate: 83%
4 year graduation rate: 38%
6 year graduation rate: 59%
Good luck with your decision. It’s an enviable one.
OP, I think you need to make your visit, then decide. MN has the stronger program, but you are attracted to the weather in Arizona. I don’t really think of the U of MN campus as any more “sprawling” than the ASU campus. You would spend most of your time on the East & West Bank campuses (right across the river from each other), I doubt you would ever go to the St. Paul campus. I also don’t see how ASU would better socially (unless you could take into account that because the average student isn’t as strong, maybe you can get away with less time studying – but in engineering the work is the work, I don’t really see that happening). You will find nice looking girls in MN as well, by the way.
Since I am lucky enough to have National Merit status, I looked at Barrett briefly. I believe I would have had the option to get in with a nice scholarship, but I never applied. I knew that the weather and community might be nice, but ultimately the strength of the program kept me away from any further research. Arizona State, in general, isn’t recognized as an academic powerhouse. Without a “strong” engineering program, ASU didn’t seem like a great option for me. Just thought I would mention that since I am in somewhat of a similar situation.
At UMTC the CSE ACT average is actually 31, I don’t know if ASU breaks down their engineering stats. If the OP has a 32 getting a scholarship to Uminn is pretty much a gift horse scenario. When we looked for chem eng schools ASU never came up, and we are WUE country too. If money is not the issue then this really seems a no brainer.
Lovely, @Kathsj. You live in the Bay Area? Funny, I went to college in that area during those “War-Monger Reagan” years and don’t quite recall the same level of narrow-minded condescension.
Two years ago, my son faced the same situation. In a conversation with a retired Ivy League professor and college advisor, he dropped ASU from contention after being asked “how will you feel about justifying a degree from a party school for the rest of your life?”. He is now in the ChemE program at Minnesota, and loves it.
My DD is also considering “the U” (aka UM-TC), and I understand your concern about the campus being spread out, but as another poster said, your classes will have you primarily on the East Bank with maybe a few classes (sociology, psychology - gen ed requirements) across the river, so I doubt you’ll find it too difficult to navigate after a few weeks. As a former Gopher myself, I never found the commute across the river that bad - it’s really pleasant in the fall and spring, and I was a bio major, so I did commute to the St. Paul campus quite a bit, but with the shuttle that runs nearly constantly, it was never a problem.
Also, as another poster mentioned, the Twin Cities is very much an active community, very bike-friendly, many trails and paths along the river and around the lakes. Lots of students bike around campus, even in the winter. I have never seen the U as being short on social life or lacking in opportunities for fun. It’s a quick light-rail ride into downtown Mpls. if you want to catch a concert or hit the clubs. While our football team may be in a building phase, Gopher hoops and hockey games are loads of fun. Tons of fan support. And I don’t think you’ll find any shortage of attractive girls on and off campus.
While spring, summer, and fall are unquestionably beautiful here, winter brings its own fun (broomball, winter carnival). And there is an odd tangle of underground tunnels that connect many of the buildings on campus so you can get between classes with relatively little exposure to the elements. Surely you must have heard of the famous skyway system in downtown Mpls that lets people move from building to building, above the streets. We’ve found ways to deal with the cold… Plus, if you decide to stick around and do summer internships, you’ll get to enjoy everything the City of Lakes has to offer. And at the peak of summer - aka the summer solstice - our twilight lasts increadibly long, staying light out until nearly 10 pm. That might remind you a little bit of home. Not sure they get that in AZ.
I’ll be interested to hear how your visit goes. Are you doing an overnight?
@MinneMom2 thank you so much for that info! That was extremely helpful! I am not doing an overnight visit, it is just a 10am-3pm day tour. But I will be down there a few days with my dad and we are planning to look around the campus on our own as well and tour Minneapolis one night.
Excellent! If you’re looking for a top-notch engineering program close to a vibrant urban area, the U might be just what you want. It is literally a 10-minute rail or bus ride to the heart of downtown Mpls (maybe 20-30 minutes to get to St. Paul. Haven’t done that trip myself so I don’t know), with many scattered lively college neighborhoods immediately surrounding the U (Stadium Village, Dinkytown, Seven Corners). The Cities are also known for their live music scene, if that’s your thing. Or you can head to Uptown (by Lake Calhoun/Lake Harriet) for interesting eateries, shops, and nightlife.
And from what I’ve seen, they have built amazing new dorms and apartments on and around campus. We’ve got a private tour coming up in a few weeks to get a look inside some of the structures that have cropped up since I was there. End of March shouldn’t be too cold, but it can be snowy. Keep an eye on the forecast. Seriously, as long as you own the right clothes (good down-filled parka, wool socks, snug hat), winter is bearable (can even be fun, when you’re young, like you college kids).
Hope you and your dad have a great visit. And good luck on your decision! (PS - if you have other Qs about the Cities area in general, feel free to ask.)
Just thought of something else. There are several refineries in the Twin Cities area (if that’s the industry in which you want to focus your ChemE job prospects on) if you’re wanting to make connections for internships, etc. A friend of mine happens to be the VP and Manufacturing Rep for a large local refinery, and he’s also a U grad. Ok, I’ll shut up now.