Wanted: ASU & UofA thoughts from those w/experience

[450grip]

My son is currently considering both schools. He’s touring them as I type. His goal is Doctorate in physical therapy. He’s concerned UofA is too far from anything other than school all day every day. He hated the PHX ASU campus and being downtown. He’s walking the Tempe campus now.
Can any of you guys with experience please help me help him. I’m working, and 300 miles away, and want to support him and his happiness, and not being able to join him has been hard on me.
thanks for the help with anything you got.

 

[Mandelon]

Tempe is a pretty cool part of Phoenix. My sister was an adjunct professor there and her husband ran the whole ASU Archeology Department. I have visited many times. Lots of pretty young ladies.

 

[450grip]

More info on him:
4.2 gpa, very social, works at Jack’s surf in HB, the beach has been his life for 18yrs.
he races MX, and DH MTB, all of that needs to be considered when making his decisions.
Obviously the beach is out, but I am looking for enough positives to keep him motivated and enjoying his life outside school.

 

[450grip]

Tempe is a pretty cool part of Phoenix. My sister was an adjunct professor there and her husband ran the whole ASU Archeology Department. I have visited many times. Lots of pretty young ladies.

Thanks

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

My boys went to Tempe and ended up staying there after graduation. Mill street is cool and the campus is huge. Like any college town it’s a liberal hub and my kids have unfortunately become purple now.

Tucson is a cowboy town and the kids didn’t like it. Also ASU is like 3 to 1 girls versus men students, this may help with your sons decision making.

Out of state tuition is an ass raping unless they take a WUI major, my kids major wasn’t. Even if you own in Havasu you can’t get in state tuition rates.

Have they looked at NAU in flagstaff? Cool downtown area and not stupid hot.

 

[530RL]

ASU is a much larger school with multiple campuses. You want to look at your major and see if you have to travel to other campuses to get through all the requirements. Different colleges/majors are at different locations so that is something to look into. ASU is no longer just Tempe. It also has a very large on-line presence and is the college for Starbucks employees who wish to get free college. The Starbucks program is online.

ASU has a ton of programs so it is really hard to say ASU is good or bad until one understands exactly what program the student has been accepted into and how certain the student is not going to change its mind.

ASU's Tempe undergraduate campus has a ratio of 55% male students and 45% female students. But you have a metropolitan area of over 4.9 million to fish in.

U of A is a smaller school although still large. It's programs are much more concentrated and predominantly remain on one campus. Some people don't like Tucson as it is small and anti-growth but it does have some nice places south and to the east of campus. It is much more of a college experience than would be ASU. There are less distractions in Tucson than Metro Phoenix. U of A tends to be more of a full time university, whereas ASU tends to have a higher part-time or commuter student element to it as the neighboring metroplex is so large.

U of A's undergraduate enrollment is 53% female and 47% male.

Personally I think it really boils down to what program he is going to be in. Both schools are basically ranked average on a national scale. But with that said, I would hate to drop out of state tuition on any of Arizona's three Universities. I would want a little more bang for the buck with a smaller private institution.

 

[ArizonaKevin]

Your son sounds exactly like me when I was coming out, excellent grades, MX, MTB, wanting to be a PT.

I ended up going to NAU. They have a robust undergrad kinesiology program and and a well ranked PT program.

Flagstaff has miles and miles of MTB trails, an hour drive from Sedona, the next project for Snowbowl is to get downhill MTB in the summer. Great offroad trails, no MX track. There is a class where you get course credit to go skiing, that's how I broke my face.

Flagstaff is an interesting conglomeration of hippies, hicks, and natives and none of them really like anyone else. There are somewhat limited career opportunities in Flag so plan on getting your degree and going somewhere else.

I ended up changing majors and got degrees in finance and marketing, I enjoyed my time up there but after almost 5 years I was over it. I would have him take a look up there, something nice about avoiding 100+ degree summers. I graduated in December of '16 if he has any questions.

 

[Singleton]

UofA has a defined campus area, ASU is spread all over the place.
UofA medical school is ranked higher then ASU.
I lived in the dorms right by the rec Center and library for 2 years, then 1 mile north of campus in an apartment for 3. Never felt board and always things to do. I was heavily involved; social frat, school government, business frat, plus was behind the bar Thurs/Friday/Saturday nights. Made great $$, friends and the female population was easy on the eyes

I went to UofA for 5 years, best decision I made.

 

[mesquito_creek]

I have lived in Tempe and worked in Tempe for almost 30 years. So if you know Tempe you know that basically I live in ASU mini metro. My daughter goes to U of A in Tucson... U of A is known as the Medical school, straight up. IF it's all about PT and medical, it would be hard not to consider UofA based on the education and reputation. ASU is so big now its hard to even consider it in terms of the old Playboy magazine girls of the Pac12 (if you get this you are old like me). I can hardly tell where ASU starts and where it ends. U of A on the other hand is instantly identified as a college campus based on the side of the street the homeless hang out on.... There are some rough surroundings at U of A. ASU and Tempe has been invaded by Tech industries so an all original never touched 1200 sq ft ranch is 400 grand.

 

[River Dirt 2]

May have him visit CU Boulder, my daughter is a Junior there and loves it. She did campus tours all over the country, a couple hours at CU and she said this is it, look no farther!
Cool College town, great weather with all the seasons, a couple snow days. pre-COVID great place for parents to visit, home football games are a ton of fun.
good access to Denver airport from most So Cal airports and reasonably cheap flights. But, like most OOS schools bring your wallet $$

 

[monkeyswrench]

My daughter did the Barrett Summer Scholar deal for a few summers at ASU. So, she had a chance to see and be on several of their campuses. She thought very highly of the Tempe campus, and that was on her list. She toured the UofA campus. She loved the school campus itself, but didn't care for the immediate surroundings.

As a parent, I coulds see a young girl being sketched out about different things. As was brought up, NAU is perfect for the out door kid. Now, some of the girls may bat for the same team (at a higher percentage than other schools) That campus my daughter also toured. She liked it, an it had a good "feel" to her. Major drawback, they get real snow...it can be a bitch. Kids deal better with hippies...I'd blow a gasket.

 

[cakemoto]

I have lived in Tempe and worked in Tempe for almost 30 years. So if you know Tempe you know that basically I live in ASU mini metro. My daughter goes to U of A in Tucson... U of A is known as the Medical school, straight up. IF it's all about PT and medical, it would be hard not to consider UofA based on the education and reputation. ASU is so big now its hard to even consider it in terms of the old Playboy magazine girls of the Pac12 (if you get this you are old like me). I can hardly tell where ASU starts and where it ends. U of A on the other hand is instantly identified as a college campus based on the side of the street the homeless hang out on.... There are some rough surroundings at U of A. ASU and Tempe has been invaded by Tech industries so an all original never touched 1200 sq ft ranch is 400 grand.

I thought GCU was a new medical school of choice?My bad I just remembered it’s nursing

 

[mesquito_creek]

My daughter did the Barrett Summer Scholar deal for a few summers at ASU. So, she had a chance to see and be on several of their campuses. She thought very highly of the Tempe campus, and that was on her list. She toured the UofA campus. She loved the school campus itself, but didn't care for the immediate surroundings.

As a parent, I coulds see a young girl being sketched out about different things. As was brought up, NAU is perfect for the out door kid. Now, some of the girls may bat for the same team (at a higher percentage than other schools) That campus my daughter also toured. She liked it, an it had a good "feel" to her. Major drawback, they get real snow...it can be a bitch. Kids deal better with hippies...I'd blow a gasket.

My daughter is as lily white looking as they come but speaks fluent Spanish. Nothing is more scary to the Tucson hood rats than a white girl who hollers back hard in full street spanish...

Having said that, while Tucson is rough looking around the edges, when you do a deep dive... it's all students who are living in all those old rentals and tearing the whole place up. I have been down there at 10-11 pm at night and the campus and surrounding neighborhoods are full of kids out at night. My kids lives within a mile of the campus in a rental house with 4 girls... They are pretty street savvy, travel with a partner and keep their head on a swivel. If your kid goes to any campus they better learn that regardless of what the surrounding neighborhood looks like. The biggest threat to girls comes from the inside of college not the outside in terms of date rape and violence.

 

[C-Ya]

My daughter went to UofA, my wife went to ASU.

First...... Watch “Revenge of the Nerds”, it was filmed at U of A.

If a medical related degree is desired, then it makes U of A an easy choice.

Knowing what I know now, my questions now would be....... Which school is going to help your son get a decent paying job with the degree they are offering? Do they have job fairs with major employers? What is the training for that job worth?

My daughters college degree was worthless....... Sports Management. There are no sports management jobs that I am aware of. She would have done better had she not gotten an athletic scholarship.

The lack of job prospects literally forced my daughter to go to graduate school...... it was expensive, but worth it!

I mention the above because it seems like there is an entire generation of unemployed college graduates. A waiter at our local restaurant owes 120k in student loans for a Philosophy Degree. I am sure there are worse stories.

Good Luck

 

[92OCHO]

ASU Havasu ???

 

[Cdog]

Go to Chapman, keep his job & enjoy the nice weather

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

UofA for the PhD

ASU for the STD

Keep that kid focused....and tell him to double up.

 

[92562]

Given his hobbies, I second the recommendation for NAU. Lots of great MTB trails, rock climbing and hiking. The campus is in the middle of a ponderosa forest and is gorgeous. We love visiting out daughter there and will be there this weekend for her 21st birthday.

 

[zbudman]

My money went to ASU

 

[mesquito_creek]

If he ends up liking the Tempe ASU campus your logistics are going to be super easy for parents 300 miles away... 5 minute Uber or 10 minute train ride to Phoenix sky harbor.

But if he ends up in Tucson there is a charter type bus that goes right from campus to the Phx sky harbor train station. It’s like 20-40 bucks and takes 2 hours... I made my daughter ride it back and forth and I only live 90 miles away... LOL

 

[Ducksquasher]

WUI

Stupid question...what is "WUI major"?

Thanks!

 

[RogerThat99]

Stupid question...what is "WUI major"?

Thanks!

I believe it is WUE - Western Undergraduate Exchange. They give students from certain Western States in state tuition for certain majors.

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[C08H18]

Our youngest is 19 and attending a JC in CA his Freshman year. We literally just visited the UA campus last Friday. We had taken him on a visit of the ASU campus last year. We were impressed with the UA campus, felt like a real campus town where housing and ed buildings were all together with nice shops and restaurants around the core campus. They seem to have a good greek system with nice houses. We were on the phone with the kid before we left trying to convince him to make a visit to the campus.

 

[2Driver]

My son has been at ASU Tempe for past 2 years and its very nice. The private run dorms are on par with scottsdale resorts. He is in the Carey biz school at ASU and air force ROTC. Like all schools it is a socialist indoctrination brainwash session disguised as college.

He toured U of A and our friend’s kids went there and they were very successful. One is a pilot and one is a surgeon. That said UofA is in a total shit bag area. I mean sketchy. I wouldn't want him wandering off campus

He left the open house tour at U of A saying, get me out of here! The tour guide was bragging about the 100+ social clubs, they have a corn dog club, a my little pony club where members get together and watch the cartoon. There were signs around campus indicating help sessions for trans students and other signs saying free sessions with comfort dogs during final exams.

I didnt voice my opinion and just let him take it in. At the end of the tour he said, if you make me go here Im going to run away and enlist. Lol

At the end if the day its not about location, pretty campuses or the university’s marketing their greatness but about the real curriculum offered for what you want to learn.

 

[bilz]

Son did NAU, great school. Lots of activities as AzKevin stated. Access able by train from socal.

 

[450grip]

Lots of good info here, and lots of talking points. Keep it coming!
Thanks very much to everyone

 

[stephenkatsea]

Our daughter took a good look at both schools. She found ASU to feel a bit like Los Angeles State. She decided upon UofA. She was able to get all the classes she needed at UofA and graduated in 4 years. We were living in CA, so we paid out of state tuition. We paid for all her tuition, books, room and board. She had a number of jobs to keep her in pocket money. With no professional teams in Tucson, she found UofA sports, athletes and students received very good support from the community. Numerous local jobs were available to the students who wanted them. She carried a full load every semester while holding down a variety of part time jobs. One of the best was office assistant to basketball coach Lute Olsen. She was also a paid tutor for the athletes. She says she went looking for a part time job and under Coach Olsen she found a family.

Not sure if these things could or would have happened at ASU. UofA worked well for our daughter. I’m now a very proud dad of a UofA graduate, who’s become a VP - Domestic Marketing for Morgan Stanley.

 

[mesquito_creek]

The tube top game is way stronger at UofA... just sayin... found that out the first parents weekend. Ran into Keshawn Johnson on Tyndall street! Lol

 

[monkeyswrench]

The tube top game is way stronger at UofA... just sayin... found that out the first parents weekend. Ran into Keshawn Johnson on Tyndall street! Lol

Don't know this Keshawn Johnson...assuming he looked good in a tube top?!

 

[Flying_Lavey]

One thing nobody has mentioned about Ucson for him yet is Mt Lemon. There are a TON of trails there for hiking or biking and it is a great way to escape the summer heat. It's only about 45 minutes from Campus to the tree line and it drops at least 20 degrees up there.

Coming from the LA area, there are really only 2 areas of Tucson I'd say are crappy. That would be South Tucson (South of I-10 and just East of of I-19) and the area along I-10 North of Speedway.

They are building some great student housing right next to campus also.

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[Flying_Lavey]

The tube top game is way stronger at UofA... just sayin... found that out the first parents weekend. Ran into Keshawn Johnson on Tyndall street! Lol

I did a small TI job on the corner of 2nd and Park that was around the beginning of the 2019 school year. Damn that was GREAT sights there.

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[rightytighty]

another option. My son goes to NAU / Flagstaff. 3rd year engineering. He loves it. Mountain community. He gets to mountain bike around campus/hike etc. In the winter, there’s a ski resort 30 minutes from campus. He ski’s twice a week mid day after class, at least. It’s been a great choice for him to keep him interested and happy.

 

[Bobby V]

Don't know this Keshawn Johnson...assuming he looked good in a tube top?!

Keyshawn is a former FB player at USC and spent many years in the NFL. Works for ESPN radio.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Keyshawn is a former FB player at USC and spent many years in the NFL. Works for ESPN radio.

As you can tell, I don't follow NBA or NFL....I figured he was in one of those categories

 

[Singleton]

I believe it is WUE - Western Undergraduate Exchange. They give students from certain Western States in state tuition for certain majors.

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at UofA the WUE is limited to select majors. Change your major and you pay difference.
at ASU, only available @ ASU West campus

tuition is 150% in state. My son is on it at Uof Hawai’i

 

[Joker]

Who wants to go to school in Tuscum? I believe they call it the Harvard of the Sonoran desert.

 

[Singleton]

Who wants to go to school in Tuscum? I believe they call it the Harvard of the Sonoran desert.

all the hot CA female rejects end up in Tucson

 

[BingerFang]

@white tortilla and I both went to ASU and we are all fucked up.... we both boat way too much and drink way too many cocktails..... I highly recommend it! ;P

 

[BingerFang]

Funny business aside, Tempe is a wonderful campus and is full of fun things to do. I have no background or knowledge in your son’s degree or field but I can say ASU Tempe is great school and campus and he will never get bored.

 

[cakemoto]

I know nothing about the schools but we left California for my wife to go to ASU.there was no way she was going to afford Pepperdine.she has two master degrees now and is a child therapist.

 

[cakemoto]

I did a small TI job on the corner of 2nd and Park that was around the beginning of the 2019 school year. Damn that was GREAT sights there.

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Dude you should come work a day at GCU the Christian school I have never see so many shorter shorts .... even in havasu.

 

[mesquito_creek]

I tried to convince my kid she was too dumb to go to college... She turned around and picked the most expensive choice of the three (nau/asu/ua).

 

[bbrownster]

If the focus is medicine, UA is the easy answer.

 

[monkeyswrench]

If the focus is medicine, UA is the easy answer.

I didn't do the college thing, but I think this would be the answer. The "fun" stuff should be secondary to the career building stuff, and if the school has a better name in the field, I would assume job placement would be better.
Like I said though, no college here, and no career to speak of. I'm wrong quite often.

 

[steamin rice]

As a Phoenix native and a U of A gradutate, I think the differences between ASU and UofA have been fairly well covered here. UofA will give a more traditional college experience and Tucson supports the University well. ASU is in the middle of a big city with campuses spread out with a more transient student population. I think the quality of education is similar at both universities, and it may just come down to the experience he is looking for.

I'm glad I went to UofA and Tucson is a great college town, but I would not want to live in Tucson if I wasn't a student or retired.

 

[HBCraig]

More info on him:
4.2 gpa, very social, works at Jack’s surf in HB, the beach has been his life for 18yrs.
he races MX, and DH MTB, all of that needs to be considered when making his decisions.
Obviously the beach is out, but I am looking for enough positives to keep him motivated and enjoying his life outside school.

You live in HB? Just curious.

Does he want to do his undergrad and DPT at the same place?
Only asking because I have 2 graduate degrees in Kinesiology. Look at UNLV too. They have a DPT program

 

[HBCraig]

My daughter went to UofA, my wife went to ASU.

First...... Watch “Revenge of the Nerds”, it was filmed at U of A.

If a medical related degree is desired, then it makes U of A an easy choice.

Knowing what I know now, my questions now would be....... Which school is going to help your son get a decent paying job with the degree they are offering? Do they have job fairs with major employers? What is the training for that job worth?

My daughters college degree was worthless....... Sports Management. There are no sports management jobs that I am aware of. She would have done better had she not gotten an athletic scholarship.

The lack of job prospects literally forced my daughter to go to graduate school...... it was expensive, but worth it!

I mention the above because it seems like there is an entire generation of unemployed college graduates. A waiter at our local restaurant owes 120k in student loans for a Philosophy Degree. I am sure there are worse stories.

Good Luck

In a similar situation here. My daughter will be attending St Marys ans doing their Health Sciences track because it feeds into Nursing. She wants to getbher masters and be a Nurse Practicioner

 

[mesquito_creek]

As someone who hires people into 100K + jobs who must have a degree to work in the utility industry. I don't give a rats ass where their degree came from, they just have to check the box to get past my HR recruiters. Having said that, it's a kid who is supposed to go work hard and play hard for the last time before they have to get off the tit... So it doesn't matter to me as a parent. If they did they work and meet your expectations, time to let them make these decisions on their own, there is no wrong choice in picking from state schools in any state in the nation.

 

[Riverhound]

Both schools are good and will offer your son an experience that is NOTHING like what he is currently doing in H.B. UofA is more of a traditional school experience with a consolidated campus to support nearly 45K students and strong community support. UofA pride is everywhere. My son is 2nd year Eller School of Business at UofA and loves it.

 

[Blackmagic94]

ASU is not a medical school, end of story, U of A has a top notch med program and is teamed with Banner Health at their medical center that is the a trama 1 center.


U of A is located near down town and is central to all things tucson. The temp is cooler in tucson and you have a 9800 foot mountain in your back yard to enjoy cool or cold weather and has ski lift and slopes, match that phoenix.