<p>Well it looks like I’ll have to dig deep into my pockets and take a visit soon.</p>
<p>My S didn’t visit his campus before he started USC, but had been to LA & been driven around the campus once. He applied sight unseen to several campuses and would have been content attending them. He ultimatley chose USC because it offered a good merit package and had other attractions (he’s very happy there & now a junior).</p>
<p>Like it was posted, many of us in the 1970s did apply to & attend campuses we had never seen until the day we moved in. It did work out OK for us, but we went with the attitude that we would be just fine & for the most part we were. </p>
<p>You should weight the pros & cons of visiting, which can be pretty superficial anyway–you could get a great (or horrible) guide/counselor/class to visit. My son’s attitude was that he would learn to love whatever campus he ended up in as long as it was HIS choice. He felt that campus visits were highly overrated. He did not go to any of the many campuses we did tour–didn’t even apply to several of them.</p>
<p>One thing that was very valuable to him was realizing that he would NOT be happy in snow country, especially when he saw the snow poles & snow fences in Rochester. LOL!</p>
<p>HImom: That sounds like a good idea. I should sit down with my parents and go through the pros and cons</p>
<p>well, one guy in my orientation last year at BC had never even been to the east coast before coming to orientation 1 month before the semester started. he said it was by far the best school he got into and he was from San Diego so visiting wasnt easy. he looked at pictures and talked to peopel from the school on hte phone and winged it. wound up loving it at orientation.</p>
<p>he took a BIG chance though. i would say unless it would put a BIG strain on your families finances, you should visit so you at least have time to change your mind if something isnt “right”</p>
<p>Most of the posters on CC are people with more money than what you have. People don’t realize that you can’t just “go visit.” That costs money; that takes time. Personally, I can’t go visit any colleges because a) my parents say they don’t want to pay for it, and b) my parents won’t take off work, because that also costs money. Since I’m not allowed to go myself, I’ll just stick with the Internet. It’s nice if you can visit, but it’s not the end of the world if you can’t.</p>
<p>See if there’s a virtual tour online. Also, go to ASUs board and ask about the town surrounding it. If, academically, it’s a school you love then doing this should probably suffice.</p>
<p>I don’t think the light rail will be open in December, although it might be.</p>
<p>Also, visiting before you apply isn’t neccessary.
But I wouldn’t definitely try to visit before you enroll.</p>
<p>I can tell you that Tempe and Phoenix are nice cities. They don’t really have the big city vibe though, if that’s what you are looking for. Additionally, there are suburbs EVERYWHERE!!! And the main social life at ASU is just getting drunk in dorms and apartments. Too many people don’t take advantage of the surroundings.</p>
<p>All i’ll really need is the campus, Tempe, and Phoenix to keep me entertained. I mean all there really is around my town is parties like once a week.</p>
<p>I already know I’ll be the one paying for the airfare for when I do go away to college. So… I’m thinking I’m going to be the one paying for at least my ticket going back and forth before I even choose to attend there and I just don’t have that kind of money. I mean it’s $400 roundtrip from NY to AZ. That’s $1000 for visit, orientation, and moving in. I need to save up money for when I do come home for Summer and Winter breaks and for tuition since I’ll be paying for that as well.</p>
<p>I will have to talk to my parents and see who will be paying for the airfare and then decide what I’m going to do.</p>
<p>Eh, the campus could be better…but I do like it nonetheless.</p>
<p>Also, if you decide to come down here…you should take me to NY with you during breaks! Hahaha :] just joking of course.</p>
<p>But yeah, I so understand the financial situation. Right now the only visits I have lined up are ones that schools are paying for for me.</p>
<p>Do you go to ASU?</p>
<p>Kyle,
You really need to look at the kind of debt you’re talking about if you’re thinking about paying for all of your out-of-state tuition + transportation + room & board for all 4 years at ASU or any other school. When I was investigating it for S in 2006, that would amount to over $80,000 + transportation (to the best of my memory). That’s a LOT of debt, especially since NY has really decent schools at much lower prices, particularly for NY residents. </p>
<p>If you graduate owing ONLY $80,000, assuming a 8% interest rate & 10 years repayment, you would owe $970/month every year for the next 10 years to repay that loan. In addition, of course you need to pay housing, transportation, food, and other expenses in that time period. It would seriously handicap you in getting a place of your own to live in. $970 is more than the rental or mortgage payments that some folks are making, so please think carefully about taking on this kind of debt.</p>
<p>I would HIGHLY recommend you look more seriously around your state. If you REALLY want ASU (or any other out-of-state school), you could consider going to a NY school & then transferring later so you have your last 2 years & diploma at your preferred school.</p>
<p>I know that’s not what you want to hear, but as a parent, I thought I’d mention all of this because I would want my kids to know this instead of assuming that huge amount of debt to get their undergrad degree.</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid) has a calculator to help figure out how to much you’d have to pay under different loan amounts and over different interest rates & payout periods.</p>
<p>To me, the idea of attending a school I had never visited is not an issue … I’d prefer to visit first … but between the research and visiting local schools I believe I could get somewhat of a feel for the school (i.e., in this case visit large state universities and make sure youi like that feel). The part of the OP’s thought about not visiting is that they have never been to Arizona. As someone who grew up in New England I would say Arizona is about as opposite from NE as possible … and it is dry, does not have seasons, and is HOT. For a lot of people it is a draw … for me it is not. Personally I think it would pretty risky to go there if you’ve never been to one of the southwestern states … it is very different. I do not know your families finances but sitting on a $100,000 decision personally I would pay the extra $1000-$2000 before moving sight unseen to a new part of the country.</p>
<p>HImom: Thank you for that warning. My mom too wants me to go to community college for 2 years and then transfer. However, I just can’t see myself doing that. But, I’m also hoping to get a scholarship from ASU. I’m hoping to get about $5,000 a year. That would make me really happy. Also my grandfather pays or at least used to pay $2,500 a year for each of his grandchildren. But it was getting to add up, so I don’t know if he’s still doing that. I haven’t really discussed much of the money situation with my family, so I should probably do that. I don’t even know if we are eligible to receive financil aid, so I need to talk to them about that.</p>
<p>I find myself getting caught up in the whole loan idea because I always think I’ll get a great job that can pay it off in a few years. I also need to take into consideration that I plan on going to law school.</p>
<p>I do plan on doing a bunch of the scholarships that are offered around my town that require you to write an essay. Those can add up.</p>
<p>As for everyone commenting about the weather. I don’t really think that’s going to be my problem since I’ll be home for the Summers anyway for the first year or 2. I’ve also been to other Southern states like Florida and NC (if they compare at least a little to AZ).</p>
<p>Kyle,
I, one of my brothers & my D all started at the local cheaper college & transferred to the schools we really wanted to attend. It saved us 1-2 years of expenses and we still got the benefit of attending the schools we wanted to attend but ended up with MUCH less debt. The rest of my large family (I have 6 sibblings) all started school at the local U & got their degrees there but went away & got their grad school degrees from colleges they chose.</p>
<p>Debt is really not something to take lightly and there is no guarantee of a high paying job to help pay off debt, particularly right out of college. Also, many students take longer than 4 years to graduate, so debt could be easily another $20,000 or more and it grows while the student is in school, since interest accrues immediately rather than being deferred until graduation.</p>
<p>Competition is pretty fierce for scholarships, so they’re really tough to count on. One really good scholarship that is offered by ASU is for National Merit Finalists & Semi-Finalists, but that’s only the top 1/2 of 1% of all who take the SATs. In 2006, it offered close to a full-ride for NMFs for all 4 years. My nephew was a NMF and validictorian of his highly competitive private HS but he hardly received any merit awards or scholarships for the selective private U he is attending.</p>
<p>I believe ASU does a good job with scholarships. I have talked to other current ASU students and they’ve all told me they got at least some type of scholarship.</p>
<p>I think it’s important to visit the school because getting the feel for a campus you will be practically living in is obviously critical</p>
<p>I just came back from ASU and the light rail indeed schedule to operate this December. It truly makes transportation very convenient as all ASU students get a free Bus pass that can be use on the rail as well. It was definitely hot last week but I was told the weather will get better starting October till May.</p>
<p>Most state schools have a strong preference in merit awards for residents. ASU does awards merit scholarships to NMFs & used to also award some to NMSFs, but with these tough economic times, double-check before making any assumptions or plans on merit $.</p>