^^^ Yep the honors college does shrink the college somewhat. And having a larger class size for your intro classes isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And urban in Boston (Northeastern) is much different than urban in ABQ. Very. Son spent a summer at Harvard’s school of public health doing research and it was extremely different than his summer in Abq.
And since he has been to AZ and TX he has a feel for the area. Santa Fe and Taos were both great trips for daughter. She went cliff diving, rock climbing, snowboarding, camping, hiking, and fishing with all the friends she made at UNM. She joined the local church and finished up her sacraments there. She really embraced the school, campus and the surrounding area. She went to the balloon races and visited special Zuni dances that were invite only from a dear friend she made whose father enabled her to participate. Like I said, her adventures far exceeded my imagination. Her classics professor organized trips to Rome and was a very specialized visit based on certain research they were working on. When she was there classes in Navajo were being offered and since she had so much Latin she jumped at the chance for a new language.
Her PE requirements were met with flamenco dance, hip hop and softball. As a D1 athlete she was thrilled to take something so far from what was her comfort zone. Constructing her schedule each semester was so much fun and never a chore for that very reason. She needed physics for pre-med but ended up taking so many more classes in physics because she enjoyed it so much!
The advantage of a large public that is NM’s flagship provided daughter so many wonderful choices and opportunities. And no UNC-CH and NCSU do not teach classes in flamenco dance or Navajo!! Both are great schools, several of my other children have graduated from both but UNM was such an adventure in combination with the Amigo and other scholarships daughter was awarded both in freshman year and after. She did receive additional awards in sophomore, junior and senior years that left her with no oop.
Her work study job her freshman year led to a fantastic research opportunity that paid much better after she no longer needed the work study due to her other awards after matriculating. She was at that job all 4 years and ended up published. Great LORs for professional school. She had a nice scholarship for books from coach and did not feel deprived as she had in high school (she had more discretionary income than at home).
Since your son has traveled and loves the area, I would encourage him to think very seriously about UNM. Daughter turned down some very good schools (U of Penn, Tulane, UNC++) for what she considered a great adventure.
It really isn’t about the school but what your son does while he is there. And the green chile is just a good as the BBQ here!
Kat