Just started looking into ASU for my son who wants to study mechanical engineering. He immediately said no, the school is too big and it’s too hot, .we are from Chicago. After searching around a little bit it looks like ASU has more than 1 campus. Can anyone explain that setup and let me know if the school feels overwhelming large? Also how hot is it there? Thanks.
First: I live in Phoenix, but have no connection to ASU. My D19 has been accepted to ASU/Barrett Honors College, and we’d be fine if she chose to go there, but will likely attend an LAC.
In Phoenix, ASU has 4 campuses, and they’re fairly spread out, but for the most part people stay on one campus, I believe, because each campus has its particular series of specialties. Current mechanical engineers can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing that there’s little need for them to leave the Tempe campus (which is their main campus). There are buses that connect with the campuses in east and west valley, and light rail connects the Tempe and downtown Phoenix campuses.
Can’t comment about size – I’ve never checked to see how it compares to the main campus of Big Ten schools you/your son may be more familiar with. It’s about the same size as UT-Austin. It feels like a big state school, to be sure, but from what I know about mechanical engineering, that may be par for the course.
You will definitely want to research the Barrett Honors College – one of the nation’s first (and best) – at 8,000 students, it’s still considerably larger than LACs, but is at least one way to find a smaller community on campus.
Heat: I do not like the heat here in Phoenix, so keep that in mind when I say… for a traditional college student, it won’t be that bad. The worst is obviously in the summer months, and so move-in in August will likely be… sweaty. And September won’t be great. The thing is, your son won’t have been here in latter May, July, July, and most of August and so won’t be tired of the heat like I am. The high temperature will reach 100 by finals week in May (and probably well before), but the mornings will be lovely. “It’s a dry heat” is a cliche but also truth – I’ve lived in Austin and Minneapolis in summer, and the heat/humidity combo in those places can be almost as bad.
Hi @BorgityBorg! @ILMomof2 my D will be a student at Barrett the honors college at ASU as an OOS student in the fall. We are from San Antonio, TX. It gets dang hot here, but in Phoenix at least it’s “a dry heat”. You will hear that term a lot when visiting Arizona. :)) In the late summer they have monsoon season, which I have not experienced yet, but it can rainy and more humid.
When we went on our ASU campus tour in early January, which was really great by the way, because the tour guides are very entertaining. Our guide said the Tempe campus is like a square. The borders are S. Mill Ave., E. University Dr., S. Rural Rd., and E. Apache Blvd. Once I visualized that, it made the campus much more do-able. I didn’t feel like it was overwhelmingly large at all. I’ve been on the UCLA campus, that seems overwhelming to me. I’ve also been on the U of Texas @ Austin campus (UT), and if that’s a comparison in size, UT looks nothing like ASU. UT is in a very grungy part of Austin. ASU seemed pretty clean in comparison.
And if you are worried about the huge numbers they tell you about their enrolled student body, that includes their online university, which is pretty big. They have a partnership w/ Starbucks, if you work for Starbucks for at least a year, they will pick up the tab for you to attend ASU Online.
I’m not trying to sell you on ASU but just pass along what I learned in the past few months. If I can find this article that was posted in one of the ASU FB groups last week about ASU’s president, Michael Crow, I will post it here. It was a really interesting read, and now I understand why ASU is all about “Innovation”.
Article from AZ Central (is there a way to name this link?):
https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-education/2019/02/28/michael-crow-changing-arizona-state-university-reputation-party-school-asu-innovation-global-brand/2670463002/?for-guid=448d762d-a589-e711-b65f-90b11c343abd&utm_source=azcentral-News+Alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alerts&utm_term=news_alert&fbclid=IwAR0JPVReGXPjMjZhVyuPF3sB4nLMLM2RKjPNK3tRvP1IOvBmV7Qj5PtJ6D0
@jellybean5 – My family has lived in Austin for the vast majority of the past 35 years. I was there for a handful of them before heading off to college, but the rest of them are still there. My mom refuses to visit us during the summer because it’s too hot, and we refuses to visit there during the summer because it’s too humid. So… different strokes, etc.
The monsoon season is definitely more humid than we typically see, but, as you noted, it’s July for the most part – that humidity should be cleared out by the time classes start.
I didn’t give a perspective on the campus size, but having been to UT-Austin, UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, UMN (and others), I agree that ASU-Tempe doesn’t really feel larger in any meaningful way than any of those campuses. (I realize UNC-CH is maybe 20k fewer students, but at that size, an extra 20k isn’t as big as you might think.) It’s a lot bigger than the LACs we’ve been touring with our daughter, but those LACs don’t offer engineering degrees, either.
There are plenty of reasons not to choose ASU (and reasons to choose it), but size, given the engineering requirement, doesn’t seem like a big one.
We visited the Tempe campus in Jan (DD is admitted to Barrett) and while I was prepared for a huge campus and swarms of people, it felt like a much smaller campus–not geographically (we logged 6-8 mi walking around, but it’s flat so we never got tired) but in terms of student counts. I went to UGA undergrad and ASU felt smaller, which I didn’t expect. Agree with earlier posters that Barrett is a great way to make the campus feel even more manageable. As an aside, Barrett students also have access to plenty of advisors, which can help make things feel more personal when constructing one’s schedule.
Phoenix is not hot during the school year except maybe the first month. Would he rather pack up parkas, snow gear, boots, layers, etc… for school, or would he like shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, and some hoodies for most of the year. My daughter hates the heat too (especially the humidity) but I think an outdoor campus year round makes a much nicer campus than a cold, dark, and snowy one for 4 months out of the college year. My daughter and I put all the cities she applied to colleges in our weather apps since October. Looking at 70’s and sunny most days the past few months has really made her appreciate it isn’t really hot there at all. It is perfect weather. Her grades dip in the winter and she definitely isn’t herself as much. Whether it is seasonal affective disorder or not, I think she will be happier in a nicer climate for college. Maybe not year round later in life, but for college - yes. So something to think about.
@ILMomof2 - I have my second Barrett student as a freshman right now. He was complaining that upon return from Spring Break is was “only in the 60’s”. Ask you son how 60’s would feel about now!? Also, does he like humidity? I hate it. Move in is definitely hot. But, it gets better by September. Fulton Engineering and Barrett are both well-regarded. The Barrett tag line is “Go big, stay small” referencing the dichotomy of attending a large school that feels small. Barrett students also have priority registration. So, another small school feel for a large school. My son brought 27 AP credits. He is on track to graduate with a Masters in Computer Science in 4 years.
Yes, there are 4 campuses in Phoenix/Tempe. But, the three that are not the main campus at Tempe offer specialized majors. Downtown is strong on nursing. Poly is strong for other areas. West has its own strengths. A Mech E major will likely have all his classes at Tempe.
Its worth a visit. Contact Barrett Recruiting. They can help coordinate the trip.