Barrett, The Honor College at ASU difficulty

<p>Hi! I just got accepted into Barrett today and I'm deciding if I should do it or not. I've heard from a lot of people how hard it was and I'm wondering if it's really worth the time and dedication.</p>

<p>My stats:
All honors, only a few AP classes
28 on ACT
3.99 GPA unweighted 4.45 weighted
I go to a regular public high school in Arizona
Going into Computer Science
Also, I'm planning on living at home to save money.</p>

<p>Isn’t this exciting? Congratulations! That’s great. Let the journey begin.</p>

<p>All hard work is by itself worth the time and dedication because not only do you benefit from it but so too do the rest of us. Strive for excellence in everything you do. You’ll never regret it.</p>

<p>Did you score some merit, too?</p>

<p>You have to live in the dorms for the first two years</p>

<p>^^ Thanks, I’m worried it will be too hard for me though… I got the Presidential Scholarship which is $9,500 a year</p>

<p>^ I’m filing for a housing exemption. I’m not really worried about living off campus as much as I’m worried about the workload.</p>

<p>Same here, doing a housing exemption. </p>

<p>I think of it this way— If you are smart enough to get accepted, you are capable of getting through the program. </p>

<p>Class of 2018 Barrett >></p>

<p>^ That’s true, and I think I could handle it but I’m worried I wouldn’t have time for anything else and that my grades would suffer as a result of the workload.</p>

<p>Sent from my iPhone using [URL=&lt;a href=“Tapatalk”&gt;Tapatalk]Tapatalk[/URL</a>]</p>

<p>Don’t worry! You obviously proved that you are capable of a beastly work load. You just have to step your game up and conquer.</p>

<p>Sounds cheesy but I am so pumped right now!</p>

<p>Edit: You just have to balance everything. Trust me, I know barrett kids who have time for video games and parties.</p>

<p>What do you really get out of Barrett’s though? It seems like and extra $500 for extra work.</p>

<p>Sent from my iPhone using [URL=&lt;a href=“Tapatalk”&gt;Tapatalk]Tapatalk[/URL</a>]</p>

<p>First of all, you are given more opportunities (internships, research positions). Second of all, you get to do a honors thesis project. That right there will help when you apply to grad school. Third, you get to register earlier for classes. </p>

<p>Read the acceptance letter that details what Barrett has to offer.</p>

<p>what you get out of Barrett is always in comparison to your other opportunities, OP. what are they?</p>

<p>If I didn’t do Barrett, I would still go to ASU. I’m usually a high overachiever and wouldn’t even think of not going but this year I only took 4 classes and I’m loving the extra free time and I am finally not stressed out all of the time. It’s something I really enjoy and I worry that if I go to Barrett all of my time will be sucked into homework and I’ll be constantly worried about my grades. I’m wondering if the stress is going to be worth it in the future as for possible career ventures (I plan on doing ASU’s 5 year masters… So I don’t care about grad school). If not, I don’t think I want to push myself that much. Also, I’m living off campus so it’s not like I get the nice dorms.</p>

<p>might a gap year be appropriate?</p>

<p>Probably not. I really just want to know how much work Barrett is going to be.</p>

<p>Sent from my iPhone using [URL=&lt;a href=“Tapatalk”&gt;Tapatalk]Tapatalk[/URL</a>]</p>

<p>Op- do a search on Barrett and I think there may be enough posts to give you an idea. I remember there was a Barrett student who posted a lot on her experience there. We also looked into it for our S but he decided to go elsewhere.</p>

<p>There’s internships, study abroad, honors classes (<25 students), research, and amenities only available to BHC students. Do any of these interest you?</p>

<p>Also, honors credit only accounts for 30% of your total credit hours. You take the classes you want and get to research and do a thesis on anything you want. It’s more work but I think you’re over exaggerating how much more work it is going to be. You won’t be stressed if you’re enjoying it. </p>

<p>On a personal note, what makes you want to live off-campus? I’m likely going to BHC and I definitely want to live in the Barrett dorms! Finally, you could go to BHC and feel it out. You might end up loving it. If not, you could opt out. I feel like you shouldn’t just automatically reject the opportunity. Go to BHC for your first semester and then make your decision on if you want to continue.</p>

<p>@teenbodybuilder The idea to go a semester is a good idea… I did hear it was only an extra project or paper per class but I’ve heard that it was pretty difficult and that the human event class is really rough and I don’t want my GPA to go down for a bad decision.</p>

<p>For living off campus my decision is totally for costs. I don’t want to pay the fee when I live 5 minutes from campus. I would probably go out of state if I was living on campus.</p>

<p>Funny, what I’ve heard about Barrett and ASU is that neither of them are particularly daunting. Barrett is well thought of, but from what I’ve heard from colleagues in the biz is that there are much tougher honors colleges at state schools than Barrett (SC, FL MD, GA have been mentioned). Just anecdotal stuff, but reputations are built largely on oral culture.</p>

<p>I’ve been trying to say that I think you’re going to be fine, OP. But if you decide you really like that more relaxed way of life you’ve been enjoying, I completely understand. Maybe you won’t be bored completely out of your mind in classes at regular octane ASU 8+)</p>

<p>Barrett isn’t “extra work”, it’s just different work. It’s participating in a discussion about the reading (where pretty much everyone has done the reading) vs. “regular ASu” where you’d be going to a lecture hall where a lecturer explains what the reading was about and what you’re supposed to think about it for 2 hours, then having one period to discuss things with a TA (and have some classmates who either don’t show up or haven’t done the reading). Barrett is more stimulating but requires you to be more involved in your learning. So it’s not more work at all, it’s just a different type of student. You can’t just coast through Barrett, but you don’t need to spend every waking hour studying, far from it (very far from it :p).
Just priority registration is worth its price in gold - it means you get to choose the classes you want, with the instructors you want, at the time of day you want.
It’s worth it to live in the dorms if you can afford it, at least your first year. It’ll help the transition from high school and getting involved with projects, study groups, clubs, etc. Students who live at home tend to take classes and go home, and thus miss half their education/experience. However if you can’t afford it, make sure to stay on campus all day long, as if it were you job - from 9 am until 10pm you’re on campus doing something (you’ll miss some study groups that are scheduled at 11 or midnight to not disturb clubs and stuff but other than that most things are over by 10).</p>

<p>Ok, thanks! I think I’m going to do it. I’m still pretty worried from what I’ve heard in the past but I don’t think one semester will end me if I decide to quit after anyway!</p>

<p>Good luck and let us know how it turned out, since it may interest many students who are considering ASU or Barrett.</p>