If anyone has gone to ASU or is familar with it, what do you think?
Im a U of A student so I'm going to refrain from commenting...lol. Just kidding around its a very fun school. We often joke that you either have to be able to read or have huge boobs to get in. Which is kind of the reason I applied to law school there for the fall. What kind of information are you looking for, I might be able to help you. Mark
I'd be glad to help answer your questions. Anything specific? ASU is a top US school in many areas of study. The new president, Michael Crow, is reshaping ASU (and Phoenix for that matter) to make it world class.
Class of '76 graduate here........back in the Frank Kush / Danny White era, when ASU beat U of A every year. My son will be attending next year. I walked the Campus with him a couple of weeks ago. It has changed alot in 30 years! Great School in my opinion. AZFerrari
It's just a possibility and I don't know much about either ASU or Arizona for that matter. I have only heard stories...
OK Jeff, thanks for highlighting that the U of A has never had a good football team! The really good news is that ASU basketball tickets are free!
Hmmm, for the better? To be seen... Ok, the deal is, ASU (main campus) is now the largest university in the country. It's just going to keep on getting bigger and bigger, that's just what Michael Crow wants. At the same time, he wants us to become an Ivy League school of the west. Now, it may be confusing at how their going to accomplish both. Well, what they are doing is that they are scattering out the different programs over the Phoenix metropolitan area and leaving the stronger schools (Business, Engineering, maybe a couple others) at the main campus. The core business and engineering courses will still be taken at a satellite campus. Now how does this affect the school? Well it probably will help them accomplish their goals of getting the school closer to being a top tier school in the country. Now I'm from Ann Arbor and have worked at the U of M. Side-by-side with U of M, there is comparatively hardly any diversity at ASU and I think by doing this there is slight chance that it'll be any greater. Also, I'm the president of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and ASU Motosports and the dean of student affairs wants an increase of interdisciplinary activity. I'm all for this and can really use it as I've been trying to do this for some time. I'm even using the art department for some of their skills with 3d scanning for reverse engineering parts (PRISM lab is an interdisciplinary lab with art, computer science, and math I think). Anyways, my point is here that by moving the schools around, interdisciplinary activities will probably become less likely. Don't take me wrong on this. I think this is a good plan. I just think it's very risky (the school is now in $750 million in debt, with no credit left to leverage, from expansion, $400 million going to the biodesign institute and the rest going to downtown campus and other buildings going up on campus... construction EVERYWHERE!!!) and the consequences are hard to really see. Within the university there are some politics issues way up at the administrative level. This is stuff like what programs belong at each campus (engineering science at the main campus and engineering technology at the polytechnic (east) campus) but I can see them being resolved in the near future. Outside academia, life is good. There is a reason for ASU being known as one of the top party schools in the nation for good reason. I've been to other universities and they are a far cry from the social scene at ASU. There are house and apartment parties everywhere. Lots of bars to choose from in Tempe and Scottsdale. There is a party for just about any person, whether you like the laid back scene or a person that likes to go wild. I personally like to go bar hopping on Mill with my friends to any place with no/free cover. So theres a little on what's current at ASU.
ASU SAE, all good points and well made. Crow is taking huge risks with taxpayer money (debt), but I'm glad to one Arizona University advancing while my alma mater (U of A) seems to be moving sideways being short on space, leadership and focus.
Hello: Left ASU in 1990 after starting a masters program. I did receive a BS in Architectural Design from ASU. The only other university I have attended is UC Davis so I don't have much to compare with, however I have close friends which have attended Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and USC where I have spent time visiting. My experiences at ASU were similar to when I visited friends at USC (Many ambitious people who socialized/networked, but were not "cut-throat" like some UC Berkeley students). I would have to say - Many good friends/classmates, economical education, safe atmosphere, pleasant memories!
The tax payers aren't paying for this as far as I know. I do know that Crow is betting on research pulled in from the biodesign institute and the professors at the university to repay for all of this money. How much of it I don't know. But it is a very large portion of it and the professors are all complaining about how much the university has been after them to pull in research funding into the university. What my advisor for my clubs has been telling me, ASU is only pulling in around $200-250 million a year in research funds. The university takes one third of that. The top university for pulling in funds, which is where crow wants ASU to be as a research institution, is the university of wisconsin. They pulled in $700 million. Even if ASU started pulling in that sort of money, it will still take them many years to pay back all of this money. That's why this is such a gamble. Now Kaller, the light rail system is being funded by tax payers money. But that isn't entirely ASU specific as it will run through a large portion of the city. The only thing I know ASU has been lobbying for from the city is help with the residental situation for future students at the newly created downtown campus, where a lot of the journalism and communications are moving to.
Forgot to mention. ASU is much tighter on space than U of A is. ASU is at the point where they are tearing down buildings to make way for bigger ones. They've also been buying up commercial space to use as classrooms in the surrounding areas (like the brickyard on mill). There is even talk about getting rid of most parking on campus and having remote lots with shuttles to bring people in. They have already destroyed plenty of parking already with some of the new buildings on campus. This is going to be a huge mess. If my memory serves me correctly, they've just recently aquired some space in south Scottsdale for social and environmental responsibility facilities. There's way too much stuff going on around the university right now to remember everything.
Please tell me this review on a website isn't true... "Not long ago, ASU's party image topped all the rankings from Princeton Review to Playboy. Today, however, the party image is dying down while ASU continues to improve its reputation for academics and research. While students used to spend their Saturday nights hitting beer bongs, they're now just as likely to spend them studying genomics or reading Descartes. If that doesn't sound boring enough, ASU has tightened its policies toward alcohol use in residence halls and at campus events. Of course, plenty of students still sneak booze into their dorm rooms, but ASU battles that with expanded intervention and counseling services as well as "healthy behavior" classes in the freshman halls. On top of that, the Tempe City Council recently amended its "party house" ordinance despite an outcry from the student body. It is now much easier for police to slap heavy fines on houses that throw frequent parties. ASU is working with the City of Tempe to eliminate underage drinking in bars."
It's in no way dying down. Yeah we aren't at the top of the Princeton reviews party schools... I have no idea what their criteria is. We are still at the top of Playboy though. ASU would like people to think they are cracking down on booze in dorms, but in reality it's no different as it has been. It's been a dry campus for a while and there's always been alcohol in the dorms despite it. There won't be keggers in the dorms though... Tempe did extend the warning period for house parties from 2 days to 30 days. That means that if you get warned from a party being too loud, that you have 30 days until you can get another warning or you have to pay some fines (not quite sure how much it is, but something like $500 per cop that shows up). I know several people that have recieved these fines... the parties are still happening. Something that did happen to make it a better place to party was that last call was extended from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. It will stay that way too because the cops haven't reported any more incidents of DUI's or anything like that, it's only happening later on in the night. Plus it benefits the local business a little more, too, having an extra 7 hours of time to purchase alcohol each week.
Your reply is a relief... I ask cause I got into ASU, but don't know anything about Tucson or the school itself. Thanks for your posts..
anyone can go to asu.. largest school in the country highest college violent crime rate in the country most classes taught by graduate assistants (poor teachers) lots of hots girls but leaving Newport Beach for Phoenix you should have your head examined.. degrees from ASU get you nowhere... UCLA, USC, Berekley will get you somewhere.. if I ever had to depend on my ASU degree I'd probably be working at In&Out Burger!
The plan would be to transfer to usc after 1 or 2 years... I know about leaving Newport Beach, but I don't want to stay at the local community college with all my friends who hang with girls 18 and under..
I have a degree from ASU and am doing well/living comfortably with a bright future (Equal or better than most of my associates with similar degrees from UCLA and UC Berkeley). Many of my classmates from ASU are partners at their firms in the Phoenix area; and a few went on to Harvard for master degrees. I have to agree the average ASU freshman probably does not have the credentials/entry exam scores (3.8+ GPA/1350+ SAT) of many UC undergraduates, but a UC undergraduate degree does not guarantee a future CEO position with a $250,000+ annual salary with stock options and unlimited company perks. Just my personal knowledge and experiences of friends/associates with degrees from Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, ...
Although the initial bashing of ASU was massively incorrect, it seems like some sort of statistical analysis would be needed in order to actually make the claims you are making. And as far as certain undergraduate degrees are concerned, Math, Physics, Engineering or Pre-Med, I'm quite sure UCLA/UCB have quite a pronounced advantage over ASU.
The law of Supply and Demand, being what it is, it's hard to imagine that a school can have the highest enrollment in the country without a mostly positive outcome for its alumni.
With average SAT scores being ~1100, I can think of 10+ schools in CA which have stronger incoming freshman. I'm sure ASU has significant pull in the state of AZ, but once out of it you can't rest on the laurels of the school. Berkeley & UCLA have immensely strong reputations in CA (and nationally). As far as programs are concerned, I'm pretty sure the methodology of teaching is similar; PhDs teach massive lecture halls and grad students teach the discussion sections... California has some of the best schools in the nation for any field. Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvey-Mudd, UCSD, UCSB, Cal Poly San Luis, UCD, UCI...
I'm not sure how highest enrollment in the country means the school is in high demand....more likely it's because AZ doesn't have many schools, so students are forced to choose between a few.
I graduated from ASU in 2001. Great experience overall, with respect to both academics and social climate (I was not in a fraternity, though). Please feel free to PM me with any questions/concerns/anything else you might have! I loved Tempe! I was sad to leave, but everybody's gotta grow up sometime. Aaron
Arizona has less than 15% the population of California. I think it is likely that the availability of college spaces for qualified AZ students is greater than the relative space ratio for qualified CA students. Whichever way you look at it the fact that over 52,000 choose to go to ASU means that they have been influenced in their choice by something positive - the availability of classes, the curriculum, the ability to secure gainful employment with an ASU education. If these factors were absent the school would simply not be as big as it is. You really don't need a college degree to get that.
To my knowledge, there are only two big schools in AZ. When you have 100K people looking for school, the vast majority are going to end up in those two schools. :shrug:
