FYI My DD is in the Honors College and she is doing an alternative spring break in the Biosphere 2. She takes a class all semester on food and energy sustainability and spends her spring break in BioSphere 2 for a minimal fee.
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now THAT is cool.
My son was accepted to mechanical engineering with 35k per year scholarship which is fabulous. He, however, is not super excited as he is hoping for a more selective school. We would like to take him to visit and hopefully he will have a more favorable impression.
I would love to hear what others did during their campus visit so we can make the most of it. We will likely be visiting on a weekend in February or March. 
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When it comes to engineering, most employers donāt care if you went to a Top 20 engineering schoolā¦they care about what you know, what your skills are, what you can do. If itās an ABET certified program, thatās all that matters. UofA has a good engineering program. Heāll be fine there!
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Sure. But teenagers have other things on their mind. Employment is hopefully high on that list. That said nothing wrong in picking UofA.
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My daughter was accepted with the same amount of scholarship. U of A was nowhere on her list, and she only applies to appease me, but the cost difference for her compared to her next cheapest school is 10k+ a year.
We are visiting in the next couple of weeks, and she is starting to like the school more and more. Itās an incredibly smart move for the university to be so straightforward and generous with merit aid, even with out of state students.
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Any idea on when decisions for the APME program will be released?
Did the merit scholarship come with the admission letter via email?
I believe it did. She heard about merit right away.
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Hello! I am a representative from the College of Medicine-Tucson who oversees our accelerated program, APME. I have received a few calls saying interview invitations have gone out but nothing has been sent yet. All APME interview invitations will be sent out by the end of the day today but I have not sent out any invitation to interview emails yet. I want to reiterate that nothing has been sent out yet.
Does anyone know when it has been typical to hear about the honors college?
@ANGELAE2004 - for my son, the merit award was stated in his admissions letter. I canāt speak to whether it always happens that way though.
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My son and I were regular visitors to this board last year through the admissions process. It was a ton of fun and at times stressful as well. We are from out of state (CA) There were great successes and a few disappointments. Ultimately, he whittled his choices down to Washington, Orgeon, UC Santa Cruz, Loyola Chicago, and the University of Arizona. It was tough to know what was the best choice but the decision was all his. He chose Arizona. It was not the least expensive option he had and it was not the most prestigious option either. After almost a year there I can tell you he made exactly the right choice. UofA has been a great school for him in every important way. Heās grown as person and student. For those that may be making that decision now feel free to ask any questions about impressions after year one. Good luck all.
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What does your son think about the very large university? Have his first year classes been huge?
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I am so glad I came across your post! It is extremely similar to the situation weāre in with our son! He hadnāt even applied to U of A initially. He got into some great schools, has had some really great Merit offers. (Most schools he applied Early Action). He was waiting to hear on a few UC/CS schools. (Weāre in Oregon.) He was accepted at two, though not UCSB, which threw himā¦. He visited UCSC & Cal Poly SLO, SLO being the most appealing to him. Though the cost equates to the most expensive without the scholarships & mom (I 
), have concerns about the fit for his academic interests etc.
Ironically Loyola Chicago also in the mix along with CU Boulder.
Weāve given him until Friday to decide between the three-ish heās narrowed it down toā¦those above. While May 1 is decision date, of course heās missing opportunities - housing etcā¦. Last night he expressed such similar concerns- specifically among them, was the prestige related to his academics - APās, Dual Credit etc. In hindsight the wait from the early action to late March, was not great for him & added to the difficult decision.
Iām going to show him your post! It validates this mothers intuition that the program opportunities (& school) have a lot to offer! Thanks again!!
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Hang in there. This is a tough time for moms. I feel very similarly about Oregon State Univ for my son (his first choice right now). It is the most expensive and not the most prestigious option for us right now even after merit (we are in CA).
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Heās really enjoyed the social aspects and opportunities of a big school. So in nutshell heās really happy with the school size, school spirit etc. There is a pretty good mix of class sizes. Heās had classes with fewer than 20 students and also a few with 80-100. In general the class sizes get smaller as they take more classes in their major. There are exceptions to that but Iād say there have been more small classes than I would have assumed going in.
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You are right, it seems a very similar scenario. It was a tough choice for him especially through the pandemic last year. Arizona was not on his radar at all most of his time in high school. We were on a road trip and just visited the campus as something to doā¦completely unplanned. As it turned out it was the school he liked best. So much of what drives these descisons melts away or seems meaningless just a few months after they start in fall. Iām grateful that he considered āfitā above all else in selecting a school. Good luck to your son.
Happy you posted this!
My son is thinking of applying this week to Univ of Arizona (application deadline is May 2) because heās unsure of UCSC even though he got accepted for Computer Science. Weāre from the Bay Area and we did the campus tour a few weeks ago, loved it but he still feels like itās not checking all his boxes like easy access to walk off campus for dining, lots of activities in comparison to larger campuses, his need for a huge rec center gym (heās a body builder) and their gym is so small and crowded, a D1 football team, school spirit, etc. Itās a great location on a hill but thatās a 10 min drive in or out of the main entrance and riding a bike or walking on/off campus is not easy. One of my sonās concerns is the Arizona heat lol! How has your son transitioned living there coming from CA? Is your son participating in greek life? I have so many questions but Iāll start with those first
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As far as transition I think it was pretty easy. We are in San Diego so perhaps an easier transition in terms of weather than the transition from the Bay Area. He loves the weather and probably misses the beaches a bit. The food on campus is a bit monotonous but the food in Tucson is incredible, a selling point for him. We love it as well. To our complete surprise he did rush and is in a fraternity. That wasnāt something his mom or I were familiar with but he loves it and has made a great group of friends.
School spirit, D1 sports, gym amenities, etc played a big part in his decision as well. He wanted a robust social experince and a bigger school. At the same time he was really turned off by other large schools he visited. We visited Cal and he told me while we were there ādad this isnāt for meā. I thought that took some solid self evaluation. He also was turned off by a few other larger campuses he saw. Arizona is larger but its also compact. Almost 40k undergraduates but it really doesnāt feel that big. UC Davis, UCLA etc. felt larger to all of us on visits.
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