Help! SMU vs. University of San Diego vs. ASU Barrett!

College Search & Selection
1

I know it is late in the process, and I originally decided on one school for financial reasons. But the others came in offering more aid to me and now I am at a point where I am having a hard time deciding. My interests include business and politics, so I’ll be a finance major and either have a second major or minor in political science. I really liked all of the campuses when I visited, but hear mixed things about some of the schools. Can anyone attest to the opportunities for my path that are offered at these schools?

At ASU, I would be a Barrett student in the WPC leader’s academy which has some nice benefits, but are there really a lot of opportunities there? Does the school compare to my other options? In the eyes of employers and graduate schools?

SMU has a great location and a good reputation, but I am having trouble identifying opportunities outside of business. Does anyone have any information on options for someone interested in politics as well? (ASU has McCain Institute and USD is partnered with the Washington Center).

University of San Diego is also reputable for business, but I have heard that there is difficulty getting the classes you need in order to graduate in four years. Does anyone have any information on that? Also, are there a lot of opportunities for business experience/internships in San Diego and does USD have a good rep among graduate schools? I also still don’t have a grasp of the student experience there.

Please let me know if you have any insight!

2

Hi, I just finished my freshmen year at ASU. I would say that Barett is a good option if you choose to go to ASU because the school does not have a good reputation. WPC is a good business school, its well ranked but that mostly applies for grad school not for undergrad, most people there are party people with a 2.0 or are on academic probation but i don’t think that is gonna be the case at Barett. I would say that if you like to party and smoke you would find many friends but if not it will be a little hard to find friends.
btw I am mostly talking about outside the honors college like regular ASU.

3

@transferz1 Thank you for your help! What is your take on opportunities at ASU for research/internships? It seems like they offer a lot more as far as I can see compared to smaller schools.

4

idk about internships, but as I have been told from juniors and sophomores most people still were not able to find internships because the school is very large and AZ does not offer much, but it also depends on your GPA and major too.

5

I am an SMU student, great business opportunities and connections, but I also know passionate poly sci majors that to my understanding have great opportunities too. Also look into the John G. Tower program at smu is also something to look into, its a special poly sci program, I don’t know too much about it but here is a link http://www.smu.edu/towercenter