Is ASU "easy"?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Arizona State University
1

<p>Hey all. ASU is one of the schools on my list. I think I have the stats for Barrett and love what I hear about it. ASU would actually be cheaper for me than my in-state flagship because of scholarships. I also like the location, sports, and research ASU has to offer.</p>

<p>However, when I’m listing my top choice schools (Georgetown, UMiami) and then get to ASU, people wonder why I’d want to go there. They tell me that it’s a really easy school and that I shouldn’t go there. </p>

<p>So, academically, is ASU actually “easy”? I plan to go to medical or dental school, so going to a less competitive school might actually be beneficial for me. Albeit, I don’t want people (and grad school adcoms) to think that I didn’t work for my grades. I’m going to work my hardest regardless of which school I choose. I’d like to major in economics, but that is not definite. I would switch to a science or something else if I couldn’t manage it with all of the pre-reqs.</p>

<p>Thanks, any info or advice is warmly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>If you can get into Barrett or WP Carey (the business school), I highly reccommend going there. Both are nationally ranked in their departments and I know WP Carey is globally recognized as well. It really is a good school; I wouldn’t call it “easy” by any means. Some students give the school a bad rep but you have to remember that AZ only has 3 state schools, offers an affordable tuition, and gives a college town feel. Therefore, theres going to be alot of students attending just for the “college experience.” But at the same time, there are plenty of hardworking, top-of-their-highschool-class students. Its all about who you surround yourself with. ASU provides many internship and study abroad programs regardless of your major. Look into it a bit more; check out the rankings, specifically for Barrett and WP Carey. You may be pleasantly surprised.</p>

3

<p>State schools like ASU have a mission to provide opportunities to a large proportion of in-state students. However, state universities (and especially those with Honors Colleges which includes most schools these days) are also going to have a very sizeable population of very good students. Yes, it might be easy to get a passing grade, as in a C, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy to get an A. Also, some majors are going to be easier than others, but I know that ASU is very respectable in STEM fields and business, not that there aren’t others also. Actually, for a large state research institution, ASU seems to put a pretty high value on undergraduate teaching. </p>

<p>My D is a National Merit scholar, and loves Barrett. Her Honors classes are small, challenging, and have great professors. She is a freshman and has already gotten accepted to do research with a professor next semester. She too got a lot of snide comments about ASU being a party school. Some of the worst offenders were other adults who should know better. It isn’t easy, but you have to ignore these comments.</p>

<p>And from all I’ve read, GPA is VERY important for medical school.</p>

<p>Cross-posted with collegebound :)</p>

4

<p>I am very interested in Carey. I think it’s a top 30 B-School. I like how they offer an economics major through the B-School, because I’d like to take business classes if I have some free electives. I also think it makes the degree more marketable if pre-med doesn’t work out for some reason. I have a 1340 (670, 670) SAT, 4.1 GPA, top 15%, with 6 APs; do you think I could get into Barrett and Carey? I also have good ECs. </p>

<p>The tuition is very affordable. My net price is ~$20,000 and then my dad’s employer will pay $5,000+ a year at any school. 4 years at ASU would cost me the same as 1 year at Miami/Georgetown, it’s crazy. My dad has no problem with paying private school tuition, but I’d rather he put that money towards medical school instead. I just don’t see why I would need to go to a competitive school, pay $60k a year, and possibly get a lower GPA if I plan to become a doctor. I’m sure I won’t have a problem getting in to medical school from ASU if I have a great GPA, do research, get involved with shadowing, and have a good MCAT score.</p>

<p>Do you know if there are pre-med pre-req classes offered through Barrett? I’d rather not have 500 students in my Bio 101 class lol. I do have a 5 on AP Bio, so I could go straight to an upper-level course. I anticipate a 3-5 on Chem as well. It sounds like she likes it a lot! As long as I can fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor, I will proudly support the Sun Devils and ignore all asinine comments. :)</p>

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<p>As far as Carey goes, based on your stats, if you were to apply you would recieve direct admission as a freshman. Barrett is a bit more rigourous, but nevertheless, I say you have a pretty good shot. Apply to both… if you get into the two you can participate in concurrent enrollment which would be stellar. </p>

<p>[Business</a> Honors | W. P. Carey School of Business](<a href=“http://wpcarey.asu.edu/undergraduate-degrees/business-honors]Business”>http://wpcarey.asu.edu/undergraduate-degrees/business-honors) </p>

<p>If that link doesn’t work, just go the ASU homepage and do some searching around. </p>

<p>I don’t know much about the medical department, but I do know that there are a variety of class sizes among most majors. You may have 25 people in your class or even 300, However, Barrett students do get the benefit of being one of the first students to register for your classes, along with student-athletes.
Dig into the website a bit more and you’ll be sure to find more info on the other opportunites these programs offer. I know all this and I’m only a sophomore in highschool haha! I’m honestly a little jealous of you; you seem to have a very good chance at both of these programs. Maybe I’ll see you in a few years! Good luck!</p>

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<p>Every school has the necessary classes for medical school. Barrett will get you into honors courses and priority registration, but the reality is that gen-ed classes at public schools are going to be big lecture halls with hundreds of students (that’s why some people like the 60k private schools that don’t have that.) Also, a majority of med schools DO NOT accept AP courses, so that won’t help you.</p>

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<p>Yes, there is one section of honors bio 181 for 25 students, but I heard it filled up in the first hour after registration started for Barrett students. You have to be at your computer at 6 am ready to go.</p>

<p>In general, most lower level classes that are requirements for a major will have an honors section at least once a year(micro-fall, macro-spring.) Honors classes are for Barrett students, but other students can get special permission to take an honors class. In econ the honors classes have about 40 students. So if you are in Barrett you shouldn’t have to take any huge intro classes, in your major or for gen eds, if your schedule fits the honors classes and you get into them. The honors courses stop at the level at which class sizes drop to whatever is the normal upper div. class size for the major. In econ that size is 40’s. Some honors classes are taught in classrooms in Barrett. My daughter has one this semester, but most honors classes are held all around campus.</p>

<p>On ASU site type in ‘major map.’ Look for Econ BS. It’s offered both through Carey and also Arts and Science. There you see the classes you need laid out in a rough 4 yr plan.</p>

<p>On ASU site, type in ‘online course catalog.’ The catalog is set to spring '14 open classes. When you get into it, change to ‘all classes’ so you can see honors classes, which may be full. You can browse in econ and other depts to see what they have, how large classes are. In some depts., to see honors classes the course# is the same(like bio 181) but there is a green triangle to the right of the course listing. When the course is full, the triangle disappears and is replaced by red X. At that point, to see if it’s honors, you look for a section with small class size and have to click on the course and look at the full description to check. In most of business depts, they use a different course number and label it honors. So instead of finance 300, it’s honors finance 303.</p>

<p>As far as AP, I suppose you checked their AP page? For AP bio you get credit for Bio181/182. But I know at some schools, certain majors, science particularly, may counsel you not to skip these basic classes even though you technically can. My daughter took all the AP credit she qualified for, but she isn’t in a hard science major.</p>

<p>You have to choose one major to start in when you apply, and you will get an advisor in that major to help you schedule classes. If you want to dbl major, then depending on what dept you start in, you may have to wait a year to declare and also first take a few classes in the 2nd major. Requirements vary. </p>

<p>If you get into Barrett, for freshman year, in your dorm you are grouped with other students in your school. So you would be on a floor full of Carey students.</p>

<p>My daughter is a Barrett freshman. We’re OOS, and she put up with a lot of the ‘why are you going THERE?’ but she survived it, laughed it off. She is very happy. She works hard. Most of the Barrett kids do. But they like it. </p>

<p>The food is AMAZING. Really. And the dorms are wonderful, huge rooms and great facilities. ASU is so much more than just a party school. You have to visit and check it out.</p>

8

<p>It’s good that Barrett students get class selection priority. I know at my state school, class scheduling is a big problem for a lot of students. </p>

<p>I would just have to deal with the large class sizes for pre-req intros. For biology at least, I should be fine since I got a 5. I’ve never gotten below a 4 in others, so I’ll likely be able to skip some of the unrelated classes if I choose to do so. I won’t skip any pre-reqs, maybe with the exception of Calc/stats. I know most schools don’t even require math, and the ones that do may take AP credit. I’ll look into that.</p>

<p>I will look into all those things you’ve said. I will visit for sure if I get into Barrett. I have no ED commitments, so I could very well end up loving ASU. Definitely a top option right now.</p>

9

<p>To maximize your chances of getting into Barrett, apply as early as possible. It seems that once the initial acceptances are made, the criteria get much tougher. You have to be accepted to ASU before you can do the Barrett application so I recommend getting the ASU application in as soon as it opens for the fall semester.</p>

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<p><a href=“https://catalog.asu.edu/ug_gsr[/url]”>https://catalog.asu.edu/ug_gsr&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Actually there is a semester of math required in gen eds and AP Calc credit fills that. But also, in econ major you need a couple of semesters of calc or can substitute some easier business math the 2nd semester. And after that a semester of stats that is in CS dept.</p>

<p>You would only need to sit in big classes when you don’t enroll in honors sections for intro classes. You can take regular classes whenever you want- if your schedule is difficult to put together or you feel like it’s just too overwhelming with all honors. </p>

<p>But you need to complete about 12 classes (36 cr) with some kind of honors to graduate from Barrett, and a thesis. 2 of the classes are Barrett required humanities classes. The rest you choose, but 6 must be 300 level or above. Some of them can be regular classes for which you make a contract with prof to do something extra to get the H.</p>

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<p>I stopped by the PO and priority mailed my transcripts. They will be at ASU on Tuesday. My application has processed and I was given an ASU account. Now all I have to do is apply to Barrett by Friday. (priority deadline)</p>

<p>I am taking AP Stats and anticipate a 4-5, also. I’ve talked to my mom about my interest for ASU and she is very supportive of me. She also agrees that even though we can, we shouldn’t spend so much money on an undergraduate degree that I likely won’t use. If I do need to use it, I am very satisfied with ASU’s rankings. (just looked them up) ASU is the #79 university in the WORLD, the Economics & Business program is #18 (!) in the WORLD according to the 2012 ARWU list. I would likely be able to pull a higher GPA at ASU compared to a school like Georgetown, which would benefit me greatly given my medical school ambitions.</p>

<p>Another question:
Does the U of A medical school in Phoenix encourage ASU students to get involved? I would like to regularly volunteer, research, and shadow and it seems to be conveniently close.</p>

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<p>[Pre-Health</a> Resources » Barrett, The Honors College](<a href=“http://barretthonors.asu.edu/academics/honors-opportunities-in-majors/pre-health-resources/]Pre-Health”>http://barretthonors.asu.edu/academics/honors-opportunities-in-majors/pre-health-resources/)
<a href=“http://clinicalpartnerships.asu.edu/partnerships[/url]”>http://clinicalpartnerships.asu.edu/partnerships&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You should call and talk to people in Barrett or the depts you are interested in and ask for info. Everyone there is very friendly, competent, helpful. Or just browse the university website. I found these links in less than a minute.</p>

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<p>teenbodybuilder ASU and U of A are about 100 miles apart, about 2 hr drive</p>

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<p>There is a campus in downtown Phoenix. A 20 minute drive from ASU.</p>

<p>[The</a> University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix](<a href=“http://phoenixmed.arizona.edu/]The”>http://phoenixmed.arizona.edu/)</p>

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<p>If you get into Barrett, let us know please!</p>

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<p>Yes! Same here! I’m fretting right now over how I match up to their average- I’m and AZ res with a mediocre GPA.</p>

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<p>Submitted my application last night. If anyone wants to read my essay, I’ll pm it.</p>

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<p>I would definetly love to read your essay</p>

19

<p>PM’d. I can’t change anything now but feedback would be good.</p>

20

<p>For all prospective students and parents (and anyone, current students included, who can lend advice) — Here’s a Class of 2018 ASU Facebook page !!!</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.facebook.com/groups/Class.of.2018.ASU/[/url]”>https://www.facebook.com/groups/Class.of.2018.ASU/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Get ready… New Freshman are coming soon !!!</p>