For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admissions representatives at colleges all over the country (the subject line of the e-mail is “Three quick questions”), and then I hope to hear back from them. When I do, I post them on Apply with Sanity. It’s that simple.

The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

This response is from Bailey Burrows, Texas Regional Coordinator of Admissions Services at Arizona State University.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Arizona State University?

Traditions: Students, faculty and staff wear gold every Friday as an expression of Sun Devil spirit and pride. The Inferno, ASU’s student section, turns up the heat at our athletic events. A sea of gold, students stay on their feet cheering on the Sun Devils until the game is over. Every year since the early 1930s, students hike “A” Mountain to paint the coveted letter, indicating the beginning of another school year. Honoring a century-old tradition, Sun Devils carry lanterns to the top of “A” mountain on the night before Homecoming to hear speakers and enjoy community, spirit and Sun Devil pride. Devils in Disguise: A 17-year tradition, Devils in Disguise is the largest student-led day of service at ASU, with clubs and organizations hosting a variety of service projects throughout the community.

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at ASU?

We measure our success not on the number of students whom we exclude but rather the number of students we include and how those students are succeeding. We have a set of assured admission requirements and any student who meets the requirements will be admitted to the university. Our admission is based only on academics.

When people come to visit Tempe, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

In addition to a formal tour of campus, many students take some time during their stay in Arizona to explore Tempe and the surrounding Phoenix metro area. If you are feeling adventurous, you can hike “A” Mountain at Hayden Butte. This is an ASU tradition and the mountain is located on the north side of campus. It is a short hike (less than a mile total) but it is a little steep so be sure to wear quality shoes. The two best trailheads are located behind Tempe Mission Palms Hotel off of Third and Fourth Street and Mill Avenue or behind the Tempe Transportation Center on Veterans Way and College Avenue. The top gives you great views of Tempe and the university and when you hike back down, you are in close proximity to many good restaurants on Mill Avenue.

If you are feeling less active, a hidden gem on campus is the first two floors of the ISTB4 building. This building is home to our School of Earth and Space Exploration and the ground floor features the Gallery of Scientific Exploration and the second floor features our Visualizing Science exhibits. We have a full-scale mockup of the Curiosity Mars rover, a large collection of meteorites (we have the world's largest university-based meteorite collection), and we have several interactive stations that include a video globe that can project planetary surfaces and large-format, high-definition monitors that display video from earth-observing satellites and robotic probes of other worlds. Regardless of a student’s interests or major, this building is really cool. You are welcome to visit (no need to schedule anything in advance) and take a look Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The building is located on the east side of campus, closest to Rural Road.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.
See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.
Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.