Arizona State University Reviews of Bachelor's in Political Science

Arizona State University is home to one of the largest student campuses in the country. I specifically attended the Tempe, AZ campus, where over 30,000 students take classes and participate in college life. The plethora of dorm options and accessible degrees is quite overwhelming at first. However, despite its large class size, it was not difficult to try and fit in, as many student groups, activities, and events made it easy to find other similar-minded students. Although tuition is always something... Read More difficult to pay for, many scholarships and grants allow many of the students to only take minimal loans. Many of the professors were kind and attentive, while some were more stern. however, overall around 2/3rds of my classes were small (less than 30 students) sized. These classes were quite helpful because the professor was more accessible to everyone, somewhat similar to high school. Make the time to talk to your professors, especially in your latter two years, since they will be instrumental in writing letters of recommendation and assisting you in your graduate journey.

While Arizona State University has given me--and will continue to give me--many resources to help me succeed, I have found that, during my undergraduate years, ASU has sometimes proved to be a detriment to my education through a handful of professors who do not care enough about students or teaching to the point where I have wasted a considerable amount of time dealing with issues I should have not had to deal with. While I had a few teachers who were excellent, these professors were few in comparison... Read More to the others. A student, who pours in a great deal of time, effort, and work into excelling in their classes should not be held back by bad professors. I have found that myself and many others agree on this point. This, however, is most likely an issue in general with higher education rather than an issue of ASU alone. One issue which I would say is more specific to ASU is ASU's focus on money. I feel like so many of ASU's managerial decisions have not been in the best interest of the students at ASU, and have instead been in the interest in lining managements' pockets. There's such a focus on expansion that it seems almost imperial at times. While our costs increase each year, I do not feel like our quality of education is improving. While I am certainly impressed with many students at ASU, their achievements and knowledge, I feel, are direct results of their own efforts, and I am not sure how of their efforts can be owed to ASU. Perhaps they would have done just as well or better elsewhere. One thing I can praise to a great deal is the honors' college staff, who was always extremely helpful to their students. The honors' college's professors were also extremely knowledgeable and gave other students and I lots of insightful information that I could not have gained elsewhere. Through my human event courses, I learned how to read a book critically and how to think philosophically and with professionalism. These skills are highly valuable to me, and I cannot thank the honors' staff enough for their hard work and instruction. I will also say that ASU, through their focus on expansion, has created quite an extensive network, and whether that is for the gain of their students or themselves, it has proved to be very useful when trying to make connections yourself or looking for an internship opportunity. ASU's name is also quite well known around the world, and that prestige is valuable to students, even if they weren't quite satisfied with the quality of some of their classes. Overall, I am satisfied with where I am now, but not too satisfied with the quality of many of my courses. I feel like I could have learned much more and have had a lot less stress if many things were handled a bit better. Still, I would have to recommend ASU despite its flaws because of where I am now.

I thoroughly enjoyed my coursework, colleagues, and faculty when studying Global Studies at ASU. When I started ASU's Global Studies BA program, I honestly did not yet know what I wanted to do for a career--I just know I wanted to make a difference. ASU's Global Studies program offered a unique variety of coursework which helped prepare me for just about any career. I studied research methods, urban planning, transportation planning, environmental planning, globalism... even counter terrorism. One... Read More of the best things about the Global Studies program was the required international internship course. I decided to do my internship in Thailand, which was one of the most eye-opening and memorable experiences of my life. I went with a group of 15 students and three instructors. The curriculum took us all over the country, studying everything from sustainability, resilience planning, transportation planning, architecture and history, and even gave me my first opportunity to work with government and business leaders on a multitude of topics. I truly value every experience I had in the Global Studies program, and feel the coursework provided me with a strong foundation for my career, while providing me with a unique global perspective relating to urban systems, rural development, and how our decisions impact the global economy, social health, and environment. I would strongly recommend ASU's Global Studies program to anyone.

Arizona State University is a vibrant college that provides numerous opportunities for students and faculty alike. The varying degree programs mean that each individual is able to discover what interests they find exciting, and are able to pursue their passion in an academic setting. My experience at ASU has been exceptional; I arrived at ASU with the desire to pursue Political Science, and in the last four years I have added on another major in Justice Studies and a minor in Italian. Through my... Read More education and experiences at ASU, I have been able to learn who I am as an individual both academically and socially, and use that within my community. Overall, my experience has been exceptional! I have had experiences that are second to none, and I owe it all to Arizona State! Go Devils!