I am interested in attending ASU and studying at the Carey school in 2016. I always hear that ASU has a bad rep and image. I think that it’s underrated. I was wondering what the campus quality is like. I hear that it is run down. Are the dorms nice and is the campus nice?
ASU actually has a really nice campus. I am going to first break down some perks of the campus.
It is the number one campus in the country for sustainability, meaning everything is powered by alternative energy (mostly solar panels).
Even with the lack of large green spaces and quads, like other colleges, walking the campus is still absolutely amazing. It benefits from a combination of tall, modern, uniquely architectured buildings, renovated historic buildings, tall palm trees, and solar panels EVERYWHERE. A quick search on google images says it all. The campus is really cool looking in its own sense, but if you are expecting a campus with a large quad that students love studying in, or beautiful historic architecture, than you will be disappointed.
It is a VERY walkable for having 50,000 students on the Tempe campus alone, but this is because ASU builds up, and not out, so the buildings are still very large on the inside. You just spend less time in the heat.
MOST parking is really close to where you will be taking your classes
Many of he dorms are nice and new. You will certainty be getting your money’s worth when staying on campus your freshmen year if you get one of the newer, or recently renovated ones. Manzanita is recently renovated. It is now one of the best dorms on campus, with 15 story up views of Phoenix. If you get into Barrett, it is inevitable that you will have some of the best dorms on campus, and one of the best dining facilities. Also your Sophomore year you have the privilege of staying the resort that is Vista del Sol, where the dorms are fully furnished, pool side apartments.
The Palm Walk.
The view of A Mountain.
Not necessarily campus related, but there is a free bus system operated by the city of Tempe that will transport you anywhere in the city. (It wont take you to the nearby cities though)
Now onto the negatives:
Yes the campus is old, run down is a stretch, but you will notice that many of the older buildings on campus are not as nice as they could be. This includes the library, the gym, the MU, and some of the older dorms. On the other hand, the school also has allot of newer buildings, and they are renovating the stadium. ASU is moving up as a University, and with that comes more money for new stuff.
The MU seriously sucks.
You cant drive anywhere on central campus, so you have to walk. Not that big of a deal because I previously stated that the campus is very compact, and the lack of public roads is a huge reason for this.
As previously stated, ASU lacks green spaces. Compared to U of A and NAU, ASU’s campus does not even come close in terms of an aesthetically pleasing campus, however it is all personal preference. The best analogy would be that many college campuses can be more compared to a relaxing quite town, while ASU is a bustling city. During the day people are every where, and it can be hard to escape. U of A has so much more green space, which makes it easy to just sit alone and study without distraction, or throw a football with friends without bothering others.
While most colleges are a member of the same system, but are still different colleges, ASU is all the same school, but at different locations. This is actually growing trend in colleges as they attempt to expand their resources to a broader range of students, but at ASU, depending on major, this can limit you to a certain campus that you don’t even want to be at. For you, Business is exclusively at the Tempe campus, which in my opinion is a good thing. When you choose to attend a school, it should be under the assumption that you have the option to study your undergraduate major at the school’s main campus, and not a branch campus 30 miles away.
In conclusion: ASU has an overall good campus. It isn’t great, but it isn’t dull either. Princeton Review has never ranked ASU on it’s ugly campus’ list, a feat I know University of Tennessee has a hard time escaping. I have to actually give it to ASU for managing to put so much into less than a square mile, and still keep it pleasing to the eye, and its modern architecture is a huge reason for this. The difference between you loving it, and liking it is solely preference however. If you want a classic looking college campus this isn’t your campus, and U of A would actually be a better suit for you.