We REALLY enjoyed our time here at the U. I truly think its a great match! I would have signed on the dotted line today if they could have guaranteed on campus housing his first year. That is a deal breaker (we are now on the wait list)
Do you know the name of the shared apartment housing? I would love to check it out tomorrow before we leave on Sunday. If it “felt” like on campus, that could work.
Apparently you can put down a housing deposit before you even commit to the school. I didn’t even know that was a thing! I did call the housing office and they are very unhappy telling people there is no housing. This particular year for housing is the worst, I have been told, even after they just built the 1000 person GORGEOUS dorm. There are plans in the work to build more housing but that doesnt help us…
Off campus housing, depends on how off it is. If it’s still within walking distance, I’d jump. He can still say yes and bail if he doesn’t get the housing he wants.
Mine has never lived on campus, but is a young adult student, working his way through (although now finally full time). There are apartment buildings just downhill of 1300 East (the store and restaurant street on the downhill, west side of the campus) where apartments are rented out by the bedroom. I’m sending you a private message.
Similar schools that our DD applied to. She was admitted to UCSB too, but chose ASU (Barrett Honors) and studying business. I love UCSB, but ASU has really impressed me, as they have really gone all out for our daughter (she has 3 advisors!) and their business school has an excellent reputation. She is now a sophomore, studying Supply Chain, which is well thought of, but if she switches to Marketing, it is still well regarded.
Many of the schools you are looking at are big. ASU is big, but daughter has never complained about that, and the business classes are in the 20 student range, all taught by professors, even in the discussion sections. Many other schools have TA’s, which is the luck of the draw.
What are the estimated COA’s? If the difference in costs are substantial of UCSB vs Utah and ASU/U of A, go with UCSB. If not, consider all of the other schools. No debt and fit are the two most important factors, as well as the school catering to your son’s needs.
Sorry you missed this. Unfortunately the CC thread about Utah has been very quiet this year and their different approach to housing is an easy thing to miss. There are nice apartments on Trax just down from campus, but I do think it would make it harder from a social perspective. One way to mitigate that disadvantage would be to have a car, since you’ll then be a natural focal point for friend groups, as so many of the activities involve getting out into the mountains for skiing, climbing, hiking, etc. Even on a Sunday afternoon, taking a few hours to go to the hot springs or to drive up one of the Cottonwood canyons is a fairly typical excursion.
We are from CA and D18 has had a fantastic time at the U the last four years. I’d agree with others that it is less cutthroat than the UCs, many of the kids are definitely in search of a work-life balance and want to stay either in the mountain west or west coast. On the other hand I definitely agree that it isn’t well known in CA, many just dismiss Utah as a weird red state (though in actual fact the people are really nice).
However, I would definitely also look at U of A as a comparable option, likely with better support for a 2E kid. It wouldn’t be hard to keep a 3.0 there (Utah has similar requirements for WUE if that’s what you’ve been offered, and 3.5 for the better scholarships).
Thanks everyone for the input. I put a deposit down for an apartment complex 1 block from campus at the U. He will need to find a roommate and there are many kids posting about roommates which is good. The housing situation is crazy! We have spoken about how he should find a roommate that is social and perhaps even a business major. Its on the 9th floor overlooking the snow covered mountains.
Its a 20 min walk to the business building and I clocked the on campus dorms as the same distance. Crazy that it was only a $400 deposit and its refundable. ?? Yes that is what they said. Sooo, it is still a great option! We will continue to look at other schools.
We arrived to Fort Collins today (CSU) and its crazy cold and windy today. (not a great way to sell a school to a So Cal kiddo ) We drove through Wyoming which was windy and in some places slushy and icy. Its crazy to me that there is snow on the ground in April. We walked the campus today and the surrounding town. Has a great feel! He could def be happy here too.
A few updates. The U is still number 1 and he is excited about it. Got into the Business Scholars Program which offered him a nice scholarship 12k on top of WUE so this will be our least expensive option by far.
We head to ASU, UofA, NAU on Monday for a few days. Why not?
CSU will be the most expensive option for us (even with WUE) although he liked the school and I see it being a great fit.
As far as UCSB goes, it is no longer in the running. The Econ program is just way too competitive for my likes. Spoke by phone with them yesterday and they said that only 50% of kids matriculate into the program from Pre-econ. Because son already took Micro and Macro at the CC for dual enrollment, he would need to have a 3.0 in Econ 10A (which is supposed to be brutal) to progress in the program. He had planned to retake Micro/Macro at UCSB to increase his chances in the 10A class. They said he could not do that. He could only audit the class but it cant be part of his GPA. Thats a hell of a lot of money to spend for only a 50% chance. All the other schools he was direct admitted already into their business programs and they do not weed out like UCSB. The Econ dept also said that most of the kids that dont get into the program switch to Communications, Poly Sci, or Philosophy. (none of which interest my boy) For the kids who love math and dont get in, they go the Actuary or Stats route (again not a fit)
Feeling really good about the U… We shall see how AZ goes next week. U of A gave him 35k merit scholarship so that school will cost about what the U will cost. (Plus they have the SALT program for kids with dyslexia) Already met with the disability program at the U to get the ball rolling. Felt they were VERY supportive of their kids that learn differently.
Housing is still a mess there. 3K kids on the priority waitlist for housing and they all have priority over us. We got onto the regular waitlist and we are part of another 400 or so.
Spent 2 hours on the ASU campus tonight having dinner and walking campus. Loved the city vibe. Its very different than what I had imagined. Its 9pm and almost 90 degrees. I suppose with both UofA and ASU he will have to deal with heat. At least he will be in Cali for the summers when its 120 in AZ.
The ASU campus was hopping tonight and my son seemed to really dig it.
So weird that my son would love the HUGE campus vibe of UofA and ASU. He’s a pretty quiet kid. He just sees it having more opportunities.
Looks like the decision has been made, but my two cents are:
Cutting UCSB off the list was the right decision. Very good school, but if he wants business and it doesn’t have business, then don’t go. The right major is more important than the school.
In my opinion, UConn has the best undergrad business program of those schools. The northeast is still the finance, banking and insurance center of the country, which matters a lot for job placement and internships. If he wants to stay in the West after college, UConn travels very well, especially in accounting and finance. If it is off the list, then the other options sound strong too.
Welp, just drove into the drive way after a very long drive. Son committed to ASU today and got into the newest housing for the business learning community. Already has a roommate. I can hardly believe it! What a journey and I didn’t see this coming…
Im so glad that we visited. So different than what I expected from such a huge school. Im very happy with his choice!
This mama is to pooped to party but I have a peaceful feeling which I havent had for months.
What- mom loved Utah get your housing deposit back
Did he check out U of A - I know you went to NAU and saw it.
Congrats to you and him. That he walked on campus, even after his positive experience at Utah - and he felt at home - that’s awesome - that’s what you want!!
ASU is a great school…and if he majors in supply chain, he’ll have more job offers than he knows what to do with. I had several out of MBA - and just because I had an elective - I was a marketing major…all the companies seek ASU grads in that area. Good luck to him.
Thanks for all your input/support over the past few weeks.
He seemed so settled in his decision after spending an evening and then a full day on campus. Im even more thrilled that the newest housing was available. Seeing so many campuses, they always show you the best dorms and then say “oh but they are full”. They said the same thing yesterday but when the deposit cleared, there were rooms in that dorm available on the housing site. He now has 3 roommates and he even reached out to them already. What happened to my quiet boy!? My daughter bloomed sooner than he and it’s exciting to see him steering his ship.
Being direct admitted into WPCarey was important to me. I did not like that he was pre Econ at UCSB with a 50% matriculation into the major. Seems like he will have many options and I def got the feeling that ASU cares about their students and their focus on job placement.
The biggest thing that ASU has over Utah is the diversity.
Yes he saw UofA on Monday. Also loved that school and if he had not chosen ASU, I think he would have chosen UofA. We were both impressed. In our particular situation, both schools will cost about the same because he has an outside scholarship (related to his dyslexia/504) that will take care of tuition at ASU but if not for that outside scholarship UofA would have made the most sense financially. UofA gave him 35K and ASU only gave him 15,500 for his 4.0. We do not qualify for needs based scholarship so ASU would have cost about 15k more.
Ice hockey was super important to him when we first started this journey and as time went on he focussed more on the major (thank goodness) and it looks like he can actually play club ice hockey there. Tryouts aren’t until August so we shall see.
) We drove through Wyoming which was windy and in some places slushy and icy. Its crazy to me that there is snow on the ground in April. We walked the campus today and the surrounding town. Has a great feel! He could def be happy here too.