College in PHX area (Phoenix, Tucson: home, job market, theater)

[jaxalamalakum]

I'm a HS Senior in Lake City, FL (near Gainesville & Jax). I have been accepted to the couple of colleges I applied to, including U of South Florida in St. Petersburg (Tampa area), and to ASU. I have never been to AZ but I have some family who've moved around from AZ to CA and now to UT and say that it is a very nice place. I am not sure if anyone here has much experience in central FL, I am not a huge fan of huge metro Miami, and also not a big fan of more "redneck" areas like N Fla and South Georgia. I do like Tampa, from what I have seen.

If anyone can provide some help for me, I need some opinions. Thanks!

[DreamworksSKG]

Asu is a great place. Although it does have a reputation as a major party school.
I dont know if this has changed in the past few years or not?

Tempe is a great location, close to Phoenix. The campus is quite beautiful and they have a main street strip area...through the campus.
Soon there will be light rail connecting downtown to the university as well. Sun Devil Stadium is pretty cool where they have the football games (and the big Arizona-ASU Showdown every fall) Lots of activities outdoors and
around the area to keep you occupied! There's professional sports in Phoenix and lots of options of music/theater, etc.
Just do some research in google on the area and yelp.com to find restaurants and services in the area.

ASU is pretty decent and many of their departments are nationally ranked in the top 20 of all major colleges. some even in the top 5.
ASU could be a good fit for you and it'll be a different experience being from florida and moving to the desert. People are overall friendly in Tempe and when I visited there I had a great time.

Come to the campus for a week or two visit. It is worth it
you can explore other parts of arizona too
Also i'd recommend driving your car out here for campus (you can easily come across I-10 in a few days) - from Florida and you wont get bored by not having a car to do things once you're class work is finished.
you can explore more of the area too and other parts of arizona....
Also if you cant get home for a school break you could do a week trip say to the grand canyon, Vegas, LA, Utah/Colorado...(for skiing) in winter, and or Albequerque .../NM...its a central location for seeing parts of the SW /Rocky mountains.


-jeff
Winchester, MA

[jaxalamalakum]

Thanks a whole lot for your reply.
I am really leaning towards ASU for sure. I have been reading up on the school and it's programs and I've been trying to read up on the Phoenix area.

From what I read on tourism websites and the like, Phoenix seems like a very ideal place. But some of the posts I've read in the Phoenix section seem to be somewhat negative (although every section has tons of negative posts about its area). I agree that a visit is the greatest option for deciding for myself, but I keep reading very contrasting views on the weather, crime, employment, etc. It's all a matter of opinion. One thing I am aware of about my college location is that I will most likely stay where I attend school for some time afterwards, so in that case, is Phoenix a good place to live in the long-term?

[vegaspilgrim]

I'll say the same thing I say to every other high school senior posting on this forum: Don't waste your money going to an out-of-state public school unless if you get an amazing scholarship or the school ranks significantly better than the schools in your home state. Out-of-state tuition prices at ASU are extremely high, over 3 times what in-state students have to pay. Currently, out-of-state tuition is about $17,000 a year, and it keeps going up every year at around 5% inflation. And that's just tuition; that doesn't take into account living expenses ($6,000/ year at least-- and that's with having no car), travel costs, and all kinds of other miscellaneous expenses. Homework assignment #1: do the math. I'll be graduating from ASU in May, and overall I'd say the school is mediocre. Not that bad, not that great. I know some people will disagree with my on this, and that's okay, but I think the physical layout of the campus is ****-ugly. Also, Mill Ave (the street that DreamworksSKG is talking about) does not connect right into campus; it's several blocks north and several blocks west of the northwestern most part of campus (where the architecture building is), and there's kind of a dead-zone in the area in between (vacant lots, parking lots, a homeless shelter, abandoned buildings, etc). I've visited a lot of college campuses, and IMO ASU is one of the ugliest. They also are cutting back parking every single year, even though the student population keeps growing. The president wants people to take the bus into school, as if this were New York City or Chicago and not Phoenix. Expect to pay at least $500 for a parking pass and have your car a mile away. Personally, I bicycle into campus everyday.

[jaxalamalakum]

That's good feedback, thank you for that.
I do know all about the higher cost of out-of-state schools, and, to an extent, I do have it taken care of with a couple scholarships. Not $30,000+ per year worth, but a decent amount.
I have some family out west, that's a big reason why I'm looking. An aunt of mine lives in SLC and wants me to go there, to BYU (only about $7,000 per year in or out of state) but about 98% of the school is Mormon, and I'm not. I have absolutely nothing against Mormons but that isn't completely appealing.
You wouldn't happen to know of any good schools with lower costs would you? I will research more on it myself, but I'm definitely open to more feedback and opinions about all this, it's a very important decision.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by martysenior08

That's good feedback, thank you for that.
I do know all about the higher cost of out-of-state schools, and, to an extent, I do have it taken care of with a couple scholarships. Not $30,000+ per year worth, but a decent amount.
I have some family out west, that's a big reason why I'm looking. An aunt of mine lives in SLC and wants me to go there, to BYU (only about $7,000 per year in or out of state) but about 98% of the school is Mormon, and I'm not. I have absolutely nothing against Mormons but that isn't completely appealing.
You wouldn't happen to know of any good schools with lower costs would you? I will research more on it myself, but I'm definitely open to more feedback and opinions about all this, it's a very important decision.

I would definitely recommmend visiting ASU before you decide to go there! Especially since you said you've never been to Arizona. BYU is probably a much better school, but yeah, I agree, I wouldn't go there unless I was Mormon. As expensive as ASU is, some of the other western state universities are even more expensive for out of state students. University of Colorado at Boulder for example is just under $25,000 a year for non-Colorado residents-- and that's just tuition and fees, not counting anything else! Almost any University of California school is extremely expensive, and hard to get into for out of staters. Of course, if you're interested in ASU, you might also want to look at the rival's school, UA in Tucson. UA is marginally less expensive than ASU, not much different, but personally I think UA's campus is a lot more "collegiate" looking than ASU. Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff is a great campus, great place to go to college IMO. Problem is nobody outside of Arizona (and even many within) has ever heard of NAU. Since you mentioned Utah... I don't blame you for not wanting to go to BYU, but what about University of Utah in Salt Lake City? If you want something very different from Florida and can handle some snow and freezing temperatures, maybe UU might be nice? I'm willing to bet out-of-state tuition there is lower than ASU.

[jaxalamalakum]

Yeah I've been looking at University of Utah for a long time now, and it is much cheaper than what you said ASU is. I liked SLC, but it's a small big city, with not much to actually do unless you go up into the mountains. Factors like this are definitely important to me, but when it comes down to it, it's about the best education. Job market, etc is also something I am trying to consider for the possibility that I may stay where I go to school.

Thank you for helping me out. I will continue to do my research, and try to get the best value I can.

[Plin]

Originally Posted by martysenior08

Yeah I've been looking at University of Utah for a long time now, and it is much cheaper than what you said ASU is. I liked SLC, but it's a small big city, with not much to actually do unless you go up into the mountains. Factors like this are definitely important to me, but when it comes down to it, it's about the best education. Job market, etc is also something I am trying to consider for the possibility that I may stay where I go to school.

Thank you for helping me out. I will continue to do my research, and try to get the best value I can.

Do you know what you plan to major in? ASU is so large, the quality and reputation of the different departments varies widely. Of course you want to have the flexibility to change without too much trouble, so you don't want to attend a poor quality school with a single stellar department that effectively traps you in a single major. But the undergraduate professional-oriented schools at ASU have a good reputation--business, journalism, just to name a couple--so if that's your focus it could be an excellent choice for you.

[kc2apj]

Our son will be graduating from ASU in May, also. He was given a full scholarship, so out of state tuition wasn't an issue. Being so far away from NJ was, though, and the first year was tough for him. He went from a "magnet" high school with a graduating class of 60 to the huge "metropolis" of ASU. But he was a member of Barrett Honors college (check out their website , for sure), so there were folks to guide him, and after he found his niche in his second semester, he also found his home. Be sure to visit the campus if you are thinking of attending (the palm trees in the middle of the place are a nice touch), and be aware of the high temps for several months of the year. Our son acclimated himself to the heat, and even though he loves to see snow when he visits us in the winter, he is usually anxious to get back to his warmer climate. Good luck to you -- you sound like a smart person who will make the right choice. You have asked a lot of good questions. Keep asking them.