WP Carey Leaders Academy and Barrett with Full tuition Scholarship Vs. Eller - McCombs - Mays?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Arizona State University
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My child (TX resident)will start college fall 2015 and , as title describes, we are thinking on WP Carey as one strong option. The plan is a double major in Marketing and Econ. Both WP Carey (ASU) and Eller (UofA) offered full tuition + fees scholarship and admissions to respective honors college due to NHS status. TX A&M (Mays) offered so far half tuition but no business honors and we are still waiting for McCombs answer, where most likely no scholarship and no business honors will be offered and the chances for regular McCombs admission are 50-50 in my opinion. So far the TX schools are less attractive from an economic perspective, and ranking wise (US News) with the exception of McCombs, the other 3 are very similar.

We will visit ASU this month before pulling the trigger on final decision. We went already to the other 3 schools. I will appreciate if students or parents with experience on similar situation can help on the following questions:

  1. WP Carey leader academy: ASU describes it as a select group of students with smaller classes and few benefits. Is recruitment/ job placement stronger for this group? Or in practice is the same as regular WP Careys students? If my kid doesn’t go to Barrett, he/she should live in Hassayampa Academic Village, I heard this is one of the party places at ASU and I am not quite happy about it. Any thoughts on this? Also If my child doesn’t go to Barrett and focus only on the two majors, is there any real disadvantage from a job placement perspective?
  2. Barrett. There is so much bad publicity these days due to the scandals b/w profs and students there. I also think for a double major, plus honors classes could be very tough to squeeze them in four years (scholarship duration). Besides the Human Event during 1st year, are there any more classes out of focus from Marketing and Econ on Barrett? Please comment on these aspects.
  3. ASU reputation as party school: I am also concerned that this will be a drawback after graduation for job hunt, especially back in Texas. What is your experience about it?
  4. All other comments suggestions are extremely appreciated.

Cheers!
Concerned Dad

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My son just got accepted to ASU WP Carey. He applied last month and he has not applied to Barrett yet. I am interested in the feedback for your question #3. Hope someone will chime in…

I think we may visit next month and try to do a day trip by taking very early flight out and return that night. Thank goodness for Southwest!

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So no one has commented thus far, not sure why, but I’ll chip in in the hopes others will add or maybe even disagree!
I don’t know much about McCombs other than it does have a rep outside of TX, I have have business connections in TX and they do respect the school, but I’ll limit myself to that and comment on ASU/ UA, Since I adjunct at ASU and have DS at UA (not Eller).
I have met a few WP Carey leaders students and from what I understood, there really isnt much to it that any ASU student cannot access, you can even get admitted as a freshman, WP Carey is open to most students I understand McCombs is more discerning, but all WP Carey students have access to careers centre advice and internships etc, Barrett students may in theory have access to a greater number but really, there isn’t much difference from other WP Carey students, I wouldn’t bother with it being an issue.
Barrett is nicer, but its next door to Hassayampa anyway, which really isn’t that nice, I felt it looked more like a low security prison with all the fencing around it and breezeblock walls, but thats just a personal opinion. Most students end up in Hassay anyway its OK.

ASU has this party rep but it really isn’t, every school/college have party kids, ASU no more or no less, I would add I think UofA is a bigger party school but different in that almost all of it is within the greek community. ASU is not a big party school whilst living in the dorms, now once outside and living in the apartment communities where the frats now hang out( Pres Crow threw all the greeks off campus) thats a different party story, its wild along Apache…dont go there!

Your point re Barrett is noted, I commented on this point a few weeks ago, but ASU have instituted a new policy which hopes to address this ‘preying’ policy, but as other have noted its common. The Human event class is really one of the only differentiators for Barrett and we understand that is under review for continuing due to the above noted news of prof & students relationships, Barret in my opinion is not a gamechanger for an ASU student most of the internships etc are available to all, one of the best internships I have seen for a supply chain student with a mining co, which led to his job on graduation and he wasn’t Barrett, just a regular ASU kid, great opportunity though.

I really dont think ASU’s reputation for partying is any more than any other large state school, as to reputation outside of Arizona, I hear ASU and UofA have good reputations in neighbouring states especially CA.

As an AZ resident we have a different view on ASU and UofA, ASU is a huge school across 4 campus, each of which is larger than many universities and colleges alone. Teaching at ASu is spotty some very good, some really poor, most Barrett students assimilate into the wider population, some remain but I see no advantage to those that remain all 4 years in Barrett, none. Anything else ask away, hopefully other will chime in.

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@Englishman, thanks for your feedback. Very useful indeed, I hope there are other perspectives that reply as well.

With respect to my first question, I am not sure if was clear enough. Inside WP Carey there is a small percentage of students (around 10 to 15%) that are invited to be part of the “Leaders Academy” My question was about that group when compared to the general WP Carey population.

More details on the Academy:
https://wpcarey.asu.edu/undergraduate-degrees/academy

If anyone knows , I will appreciate some comments there.

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I went to UT for a semester (not McCombs specifically) and graduated from ASU a few universities later. Every school is a party school. Even small Christian colleges. ASU, UA and McCombs are relatively equal party-wise, in my experience. In the professional world, most people don’t care where your BA/BS is from, unless it’s an ivy league school or perhaps the hiring manager’s alma matter. What matters is what you accomplished, where you interned, what leadership opportunities you took advantage of.

Student loans are a killer, and can stunt so much of young adult life. I highly recommend going to the school that offers you the most financial compensation. Take it from someone who will be paying student loans until I retire.

Barrett’s consists of the top students across multiple disciplines. The leaders academy is specifically business students. The students are usually more motivated than the average coed and they do get more specialized attention when it comes to careers and networking opportunities. You can choose not to be involved in Barrett’s or leaders academy, but why would you? Sure, it’s a tiny bit more work, but the perks are terrific. There’s a saying, “Show me who your friends are and I’ll show you who you are.” Being surrounded by high-achieving, motivated and capable students will only make you more high-achieving, motivated and capable. And successful. And a good opportunity to make connections with other students who plan to go far in life.

Two majors can be tough to tackle in 4 years, but as long as your son stays connected to his advisor, they will ensure he is on the right track every semester in order to graduate on time. Not to mention the availability of courses that can be taken online or are self-paced. I know I appreciated the flexibility. And you can always test out of a lot of your basic classes (English, History, etc.), which will free up more time for your classes in your major (Marketing, Econ).

The other thing I like about ASU is where it’s situated…close to public transportation, close to retail and restaurants, close to the airports. It’s urban without being inner-city, and close to the lake and the mountains for recreation.

While I didn’t “go” to UA, I have been to their campus many times. Tucson is a friendly town and UA’s a lovely school, but much smaller. And sometimes smaller means less opportunities to network with big companies, less nicer facilities and less money per student. Again, I don’t have anything against McCombs or Eller, but you have to go where you’ll get the most bang for your buck and it seems like you’re leaning to ASU. Like a previous commenter said, make an appointment to take a tour. At most universities, they do some kind of “Explore the Campus” day in the spring and summer. At ASU, just call up the W. P. Carey School and they’ll give you a tour, introduce you to current students and faculty and let you check out the dorms. Any time.