<p>Hi, I was accepted to Arizona’s Honors College and got their National Achievement Scholarship (iPad and everything!) but I’m unsure if I want to attend. I know about their academics and am really pleased by the opportunities I think I’d get there, but wanted to hear from someone with firsthand experience. I’m a little bit hesitant because I’m not sure if Arizona would be a great personal fit for me and it’s about a 30 or 40 hour drive from where I live. May 1st is coming up so as soon as possible would be awesome. </p>
<p>Namely, I want to know about things like campus life. Is Arizona the kind of school where you won’t enjoy yourself if you’re not into partying, greek life, sports, etc. (I know that there are always exceptions, but I’d like to know about the over all environment, thanks.) Like, say, if you’re an introvert who still wants to be able to make a few close friends? I don’t expect everyone to ooze love and friendship (that would actually freak me out) but you know what I mean. </p>
<p>How’s the pre-med track? </p>
<p>Is the honors college really as close as you can get to a small college experience with the amenities of a large university? And would it be difficult for me to get on campus housing so late in the year? </p>
<p>Also interested in what the honors program offers a new student. Many other honors programs offer smaller sections within the honors college. How can you make the college seem smaller? Are there any living communities in the honors dorms?</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman this year. She is a National Merit Scholar and in the honors dorm. She wanted me to post here to caution others considering attending U of A. She is very unhappy with her situation, but has decided to stick with it and hopefully her feelings about the school will improve. Most importantly, she has been disappointed with the immediate neighborhood around the school and feels unsafe leaving campus. The campus itself is beautiful, but there are many homeless people on campus and in the library at all times. She is also an introvert and has not made many friends, but I think this is of her own choosing. As far as the honors dorms, she applied this time last year and was able to get her first choice in the honors dorms. You can talk to the people at the honors college and they can tell you if there are rooms available, but I think they save some rooms for National Merit/Achievement Scholars. I would definitely recommend the honors dorms as I hear the other dorms can be very loud and hard to study in. The people in her dorms seem nice. Although the honors classes are smaller in size, I really don’t sense a small college experience. There is priority registration and special counseling for honors, which is very helpful. My daughter has not had any problems getting into the classes she wanted. However, even in the honors classes, she has found the classes to be much easier than her high school AP classes and wishes the academics were more challenging. If she could do things over, she would not have chosen U of A. If you are a big sports fan or like the big college experience, you might feel differently.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks, Jens. That was really helpful and just the kind of informative reply I was looking for. I think I’ll probably pass on Arizona. I’m probably a lot like your daughter. Thank you again!</p>