Hi I’m currently a high student who is trying to figure out the best college for me. I’m plan on applying to 12 college including the university of Arizona, so I was wondering if any current students could tell me about campus life. For example what’s it like on a typical day, how long are classes, is the food good, what are things to do around campus , etc. Also, if you know,what is the admission process like for homeschooled student?
Thank you
I can speak a bit to the homeschooled student part - my daughter has some “oddball” classes as the result of having had a different set of opportunities. She found it much easier to self-report her coursework via the Common App option than the U of Arizona application option. Trying to turn off her Arizona application and have them use the Common App one turned out to be a real hassle - It took several calls to admissions. If any of the schools that you’re applying to already take the Common App, just use that one.
While considered a good college, U of AZ is often a safety school because they have so many openings (45,000 students) so they can accept a lot of students.
My son attended the University of AZ on a generous merit scholarship a few years ago (the only reason—he wanted to go elsewhere). The campus is immaculate, not too much walking, buildings are new, and the administration is great. However, he was disappointed with the lack of social life. The majority of the students are from AZ and are not excited to be there, it’s just their state school so they choose it. He lived in Highland Dorms and everyone was antisocial, doors closed. Students knew people from high school so they didn’t care about making new friends. He went to a dorm event and everyone took the pizza and left, didn’t even socialize! Many commute or go home on weekends. Tucson is a very boring town so people vape and smoke, and drink for entertainment because there is nothing else to do. Perhaps the heat has led people to grow up complacent and they get used to a boring level of life. Arizonans are the same mold as Midwesterners—they don’t talk a lot. He tried going Greek and was accepted but quit because all they cared about was partying, not decent conversation. My son is handsome but the sorority girls would only acknowledge Greeks. There is only one cafeteria near the party dorm, across campus, so most of the students eat at the food court, EVERY DAY (there is a small dining hall at the stadium too). Junky food at the Food Court and no bonding because you don’t see the same people all the time. You don’t see a lot of the same people on campus often because of the huge student population. Fortunately, there is good off-campus food within walking distance. He had two roommates (one each semester) and both left UA after one semester due to lack of social lives (and one of them was a likable jock). Since it’s a state college, there are a lot of people who work too, so they don’t have time to hangout (nor have money). My son tried another year (mistake) but there was no improvement and he was lonely so transferred to his dream school and is now having an absolute blast with people who want to do things and have fun and are happy and on the same wavelength (because the GPA requirement is higher). He had some friends in the Honors College (and could have been in the Honors College but declined) and they were more interesting and their dorm was a bit more active, but they were still a lot of Arizonans. My daughter visited UA with us and didn’t like the people either. Sending my son there because of the merit scholarship was my biggest regret.
Visit these campuses during the academic year so you can feel the vibes and see the students to see if you are on the same wavelength. I cannot stress that enough. Since you were homeschooled, you might want to attend a college in a city with more fun. The good cities tend to draw people who are more excited about doing things rather than sitting around on campus, vaping and drinking.
HI Jandy, How is the scene with international students (esp from India) at University of Arizona? How ae they accepted by the student community? any insights into it? Which college did your son transfer from the U of A ?
@prikar : We toured ASU also and there are a lot more international Indians at ASU. There aren’t many Indians (international or Americans) at UA. Also, Phoenix has more to offer (as far as things to do) than Tucson. There are international Chinese at UA but they keep to themselves due to the language/cultural barrier. Food is not too good at ASU either. ASU dorms are a bit run down, campus is larger, more walking. I think ASU might be more accepting of Indian internationals. Have you looked into California colleges? There are even more Asians in California and I’d suggest those before Arizona colleges.
I have to agree with the other poster who said that students are boring at the UA. Unless your child is a party hound, it’s a quiet existence at UA. As parents, we were fooled because the adults/customer service is awesome in Tucson. UA’s administration is fantastic in procedures and operations. The campus is kept pleasant and clean and employees are cheery and helpful. Move-in day was outstanding (best ever), as they had students with large carts helping us to move into the dorms. But the administration fails in the social area. The RDs don’t force students to mingle and get to know each other. The students are more reserved so they need this extra push (my child wasn’t in the party dorms). Very boring college, all the parties are off-campus and males are not allowed into frat parties. Bottom line, Tucson is a boring city with bored people, not the fun college life that one would expect.