Hello. I’m currently a Junior in a high school in California and I’m thinking about attending Arizona State University. It would be really helpful if some current students or alumni could answer some of my questions:
What was hard about adjusting to campus life?
Which program(s) did you enjoy the most?
What regrets, if any, do you have about attending and what would you have done instead
Unless you get instate tuition in AZ, it’s really not worth the money. I am from AZ and I know tons of students that would kill for the opportunity to go to school in Cali.
In regards to your question, I am attending as a transfer student next semester for Engineering so I can answer some questions you have.
If you are planning on attending ASU for a reason that is more than just to party (U of A is better for that nowadays anyways), I would look into majors in Journalism, Business, Engineering, and Nursing, because ASU is most known for these majors, and they in general tend to pay more than most other majors (not really Journalism). After all, if you are paying 30k a year you mine as well have the desire to make it worth while. ASU also has a pretty good law school that’s ranked like 22 I believe, and the law aspiring Barrett students have the privilege of studying with the law students. Speaking of Barrett, if you have the grades, I also highly recommend applying to Barrett the Honors College, because they set you up significantly better with jobs and internships, and are ranked in the top 10 for sending students off to top ranked grad schools.
ASU is a commuter school to a large percentage of students, much more so than U of A, but with 60,000 students there are plenty of students still on campus on the weekends. As with most colleges you will adjust fine, because they force you to room with someone your first year, and don’t leave you socially awkward, hating life, and ultimately requesting a transfer. Tempe is a nice town in my opinion, and it has a college feel, but at the same time it is located so close to phoenix that there is a large mix of non students living the suburban life. This causes Tempe to loose some of its college town vibe when compared to college towns like Santa Barbara, or Chico. In addition to this, there is no guarantee that you will even be at the Tempe Campus. ASU separates students by majors into residential colleges, a growing trend with a large number of Universities, and some majors require you to attend other campuses than the Tempe campus. Typically there is some leeway here, but if you are majoring in Journalism or Nursing, expect to be at the downtown campus. Most other majors are at the Tempe campus or give you a choice between the campuses.
My non-question related advice: do not attend ASU, and got to one of the UC’s and pay significantly less for your education. For the most part you are throwing your money away to attend a school that is on the same caliber as the lower level UC’s, and a significantly lower caliber than UCLA, and UCB.