University of Arizona - Moved Up. TLDR: The campus was much nicer than we were expecting but I still have lingering concerns about the student “vibe” and their current financial strain.
Arizona Experience tour - 300+ people there for info sessions, tours, etc. Did we get Covid? TBD! We visited on a coolish but sunny day, so the weather was ideal. The campus was genuinely stunning. Red brick buildings with southwest flair. Wide open grassy spaces, cactus and tree gardens. Very quiet and protected from general Tucson noise, even though it is right in the city. The Honors Village is lovely - a nice (huge) separate dorm with its own dining hall. The dorms are set up so only 4 students share a bathroom. The science departments and the honors college were impressive - a lot of opportunities for research and academic success. The food was mediocre - decent variety, but none of it was great. I am still hesitant about the “hot people” and party vibes of the school. Even though it was a cool day (50 degrees) we still saw groups of female students wearing only bikini tops and shorts. The bars right off campus were packed with partying students (again, totally to be expected). I think my kid would be around hard-working students but the “hot dummy” quotient seemed like it could be pretty high. No mention whatsoever during the all-day event of financial strain, even though it has been huge news on campus. Tucson is fine. Reminded us a lot of Albuquerque. The mountains are lovely and the saguaros everywhere were stunning.
Moved up the list because none of us really had an idea of what to expect, and the beauty of the campus and the overall strength of the science and honors programs impressed us.
[Edited to add: They also have an Astrobiology minor! Super niche and super cool. Astrobiology Undergraduate Minor | Lunar and Planetary Laboratory & Department of Planetary Sciences | The University of Arizona ]