Throughout Phoenix’s metropolitan area lie four major Arizona State University (ASU) campuses, all of which are tailored to the cultures of the communities around each campus. As ASU’s admissions opened July 1 of this year, and it’s recommended you apply before November 1st, Seniors need to know which campus would be the best fit for them, and what they’re tailored around.
ASU’s most recognizable and populated area is the Tempe campus, this historic place is home to over 55,000 students. At the Tempe campus students are guaranteed to meet someone new every day, the campus is a love letter to extroverts who crave a sense of community and enjoy being surprised.
When it comes to majors, Tempe is by far the most flexible. With over 400 majors the Tempe campus offers almost everything. They’re most known for their W.B. Carey School of Business and School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
ASU prides itself on focusing each beautiful campus towards community needs – small and large businesses surround the Tempe campus. Any up-and-coming business major would be delighted to see the number of internship opportunities the Tempe campus would bring them.
Just west of the Tempe campus is the second most populated campus with 11,000 students – the Downtown Phoenix campus. Staying thematic of what careers students may think of first when it comes to large cities, Downtown Phoenix offers Law, Journalism, and Healthcare, among other public service-related degrees and opportunities.
The Downtown Phoenix campus also provides great opportunities in Health Care and Journalism given its proximity to internships and other job opportunities in the big city.
This campus offers fantastic walkability and little need for cars, or private transportation, with mass transportation in the way of light rail and the general inner-city vibe of the Downtown Phoenix campus. This can make it a great campus for students who don’t have full access to cars due to money or other issues.
Further North from the Downtown Phoenix campus and a little more west comes the promptly named West Valley campus. This campus brings a close-knit feel to Arizona State, roughly having around 5,000 students at the campus.
Their specializations couldn’t be further contrary to the close-knit vibe one might think – focusing on the forensic sciences, such as forensic psychology, criminology, computational forensics, business forensics, death investigation, etc.
It isn’t just what they offer, similar to the Tempe campus, the West Valley is dubbed the “interdisciplinary” school for its wide variety of available majors from science to the liberal arts. It should be noted that the school doesn’t offer as much variety as Tempe, just due to the size difference between the two, however, this works towards West Valley’s advantage as it makes the large variety of classes they do offer more intimate – with lots of one-on-one time with professors.
Next up is the Polytechnic campus located in Mesa, similar to the West Valley campus, the Polytechnic campus is very intimate – with only around 5,000 students in the entire complex – perfect for more introverted students, who prefer smaller class sizes and being able to see similar faces on a day-to-day basis.
The Polytechnic campus is also known for its bucolic proximity to nature, being dubbed the “Desert Oasis” of ASU.
The Polytechnic campus is home to another oasis of sorts – an oasis of industry. The campus’s adherence to project-based and hands-on learning, alongside its expansive and advanced laboratories makes this the perfect place for those who see themselves working in engineering, aviation, robotics, and other industry-based careers.
ASU also allows you to take classes from multiple campuses by using its shuttle bus system, so if you’re tied between two or more, don’t fret. Shuttle buses are provided and arrive every 15 minutes on each campus, offering 30 to 50-minute drives between each campus.
