<p>Barretts and U of A both have good honors programs. For freshman in AZ Barretts is actually easier to get into and gives better aid. My D was accepted into Barretts as a freshman but not into U of A honors and recieved great money at Barretts. She recieved a scholarship at U of A which was much less. We know many students at Barretts who had great internships and now are in good grad programs due to the opportunities they had with less stress then many of their peers at tier 1 schools. Some attended reluctantly due to financial pressures after being accepted to Ivys and ended up being very happy despite this. My D transferred as a sophomore from U of San Diego's honors college to U of A's honors program and is quite happy. Many of her honors classes are small, they require a theses and have opportunities to workclosely with professors on research. There are some honors classes you can take where you attend a regular class and have an honors discussion group but you don't have to opt for those. My D is happy and thriving. College will be what you make of it and students can have more money to pursue grad school with less debt or they can go to a top tier school. My son is at Pomona and my D at a state honors college and both meet their individual needs.</p>