<p>Hi, I'm currently a senior at an Arizona high school and am trying to decide on the best in-state college for my planned major. I may actually be going out of state to the University of Washington but if it gets too expensive I'd like to have a back-up. I know ASU has the best business program of the big 3 and UofA the best medical, but other than that I really haven't heard anything pertaining to technology which is why I'm here. Thanks a lot for reading and I definitely appreciate any help/input.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if bumping a thread is allowed or not so I apologize if it isn’t, but I’d like to get some idea on this before I start sending in applications. Thanks again</p>
<p>ASU is not the best business program. ASU is not the best anything. LOL, please see below for the general perception of ASU outside of Arizona:</p>
<p>[The</a> Simpsons - Arizona State University - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>[Arizona</a> State Makes 30 Rock! - YouTube](<a href=“Arizona State Makes 30 Rock! - YouTube”>Arizona State Makes 30 Rock! - YouTube)</p>
<p>[simpsons</a> arizona state clip - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>Just go to Arizona if you have to, but don’t go to ASU.</p>
<p>For Business School Rankings:</p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Business Schools 2012 - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>I did mean best in the state, but thank you for your response. The general perception of ASU isn’t amazing here either, I just know they pride themselves on their business course and in comparison to the other schools here they seem to have a larger focus on the subject.</p>
<p>In CS, ASU and U of A are close enough that it’s reasonable to choose based on your preference rather than on which program is “stronger.”</p>
<p>If it matters, ASU (and NAU) have ABET accreditation in CS, but UA does not (UA does have ABET accreditation in computer engineering).</p>
<p>ABET accreditation per se matters only in some niche areas like patent law. But you may want to check the CS curriculum a bit more carefully at a school without ABET accreditation.</p>
<p>Hmm, I didn’t know that. Do you know if there’s any specific reason a school wouldn’t have it? I was considering both schools equally and even though it may be minor, I definitely will start looking at it more carefully. </p>
<p>As for the differences between the ASU and NAU programs, I know you might not be able to say without experience, but do you have any input on which might be better?</p>
<p>A CS degree program may lack ABET accreditation because of the following reasons:</p>
<p>a. ABET accreditation in CS requires more subsidiary requirements in science and math (or other non-CS requirements) than the school chooses to have in its CS degree program. The CS courses and degree program can still be good (e.g. Stanford, or Berkeley L&S CS).
b. ABET accreditation in CS requires a decent selection of quality CS courses. If this is the reason, then the CS degree program should be avoided (this is probably the case with a lot of smaller schools that are not strong in science and engineering areas).</p>
<p>Obviously, you would have to carefully go through the CS courses and curricula to determine whether a or b applies to a CS degree program without ABET accreditation. A quick look at UA’s web site indicates that it has a good selection of [CS</a> courses](<a href=“http://www.cs.arizona.edu/courses/descriptions.html]CS”>http://www.cs.arizona.edu/courses/descriptions.html), so it is more likely that reason a above applies.</p>
<p>In general, an ABET-accredited CS degree program should be at least decent, but lack thereof does not necessarily mean it is poor (except for the niche of patent law).</p>
<p>Once again, informative is anything but.</p>
<p>ASU and UA are both solid. NAU is popular as an inexpensive in-state or WUE choice with a great location but is a step down in terms of academic reputation.</p>
<p>I’d like to raise the topic one last time as this is a pretty important consideration for me. I appreciate all the help so far, at this point I’m mainly considering between ASU and UofA</p>