FAQ

First, make sure and ask your counselor if you are on the college track in high school, not just to graduate. In addition, to get into ASU you need to fall into one of four categories: 3.0 GPA (2.5-2.9 is considered), top 25% of your class (50-26% is considered), 1040 on your SAT, or 22 on your ACT. Falling into more than one of these categories will increase your chances of winning merit based scholarships.

Being in high school, I always wanted to be a marine biologist because I loved the ocean and dolphins. Going into ASU I decided to major in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Animal Physiology and Behavior. Through some of the classes and other activities I was involved in, I realized I enjoyed helping others, so the plans after I graduate have shifted a little more. In college, you will have time to explore different passions and narrow your focus.

If I was not in college I would probably be working at some retail store and living at home. My life would not be in a better place—it would be worse. I would probably be in a place where some of my cousins are now, which is not where I would like to be at this age.

It depends what kind of class you are in. Classes for freshman and sophomores tend to be bigger and classes for juniors and seniors tend to be smaller. ASU also requires that writing and math classes are small with no more than 18 and 70, respectively. Science classes usually have big lecture classes but then lab classes have no more than 30.

There are lots of ways to have fun in college, especially at ASU. ASU is located in a major city and with the light rail students are connected to lots of different opportunities around the valley. There are also lots of programs put on by ASU to give students something fun to do. While it is important to have fun and enjoy yourself, as students it is very important to remember to balance your school work with having fun. We are in college to learn and it’s important to remember that.

Making friends in college is different from making friends in middle and high school. A lot of times people come to class and leave right away, so it may be a little harder to make friends in class. A great way to make friends in college is by joining clubs and organizations. At ASU we have over 1000 clubs and organizations across all 4 campuses so it very likely that you’ll something that interests you.

In order to do well in college you need to keep up with your school work and stay organized. However if you are struggling with a class it is very important that you reach out for help, whether it is from your teacher, friends, tutoring centers, teacher’s assistants or a number of other resources here at ASU. A very important relationship to develop to be successful in college is with your professors. Professors have office hours where students can come and ask questions about homework, classes, study habits, your plans for after college and anything else to help you be successful in college and beyond.

It depends on the day. If I have a class at 10:30am then I will get up at 8:30am to get ready and go to school. I live off campus, so I account for the drive time. If I have work at 9:00am on campus, then I get up around 7:15am to get ready. For the most part, you get to pick your own schedule in college.

You will have a lot of free time to manage once you are in college. ASU has a ton of free events like concerts, comedians, and other ongoing student activities. A lot of your social life will come directly from the friends you meet once you get here. So make sure to get involved and join clubs. Exploring Tempe is another fun thing to do! Remember, ASU is a dry campus—which means no alcohol.

Yes, there are plenty of opportunities to play sports. There are the NCAA sports, which you see on T.V., club sports and intramural sports. NCAA sports have specific guidelines to trying out, so talk to your coach and parents. A club sport is the next level down in terms of competition. There are still tryouts, practices, and competition with other universities. Intramural sports are where you can get a group of friends together and play against other groups at ASU for a nominal fee.

It depends each year. There are currently about 30 players in the NFL who graduated from ASU.

College is an investment; however, there are many resources to help you pay for it. Some examples include: scholarships, grants, work study, loans, off-campus job, family assistance, and many others. It is also to combine many of the options in order to pay for college. Look around at some of the other questions and that will answer your question more thoroughly.

“FAFSA” stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This is the application that determines how much money your family can contribute to your education and how much financial aid you receive. This is how need based scholarships are awarded, so it is very important that this application is filled out. This application opens up on January 1st of your senior year and it is important that you submit it by March 1st, ASU’s priority deadline. NOTE: “Priority deadline” means that you can submit it afterwards, you just get less money.

The difference between merit and need based scholarships is how the scholarships are awarded. The decision to give someone a merit based scholarship is based on what they have accomplished. There are lots of reasons that people win merit based scholarships like grades, SAT or ACT scores, class ranking, sports, arts and countless others. Need is also another way that scholarships are awarded. This is decided by how much your family makes and the size of your family. The less money your family makes and the greater number of college going dependents in one household the more need based scholarships will be awarded.

Scholarships are free money. Someone (a person, school, college, organization, anyone) believes in you and they will give you money to go to college and they do not expect any repayment.

Grants are free money. It is government funding to send people to college. These require no repayment.

Work-study is a government program. For work study you hold a job and the government pays 75% of your wages and the employer covers the remaining 25%. You get this funding through a regular paycheck and this does not require repayment.

A loan is when someone (usually banks or the government) lends you money to help you go to college. These do require repayment; however you do not begin paying them back until you graduate from college. Loans also carry interest. Interest is a percentage of the loan that you pay as a fee for receiving the loans. Subsidized loans do not collect interest until you graduate from college. Unsubsidized loans begin to collect interest once you accept the loan. It is important to make informed decisions about loans before accepting them.