Hey there...New Mexican here. Never spent a lot of time in Arizona, so I'm going to leave Tempe to the experts. I do want to weigh in on desert life, though.

It's beautiful (although a different kind of beautiful than my home, from what I remember), but it's a beauty not everyone gets. That's cool, we don't mind the folks who don't get it driving on by. I'm still wierded out by dirt that's just various shades of brown, and when I moved into upstate NY I honestly felt like I was driving through a salad. Nice, but I didn't see how folks don't go over all claustrophobic.

The desert is probably what you imagine....in places. But our cities are a lot like everyone else's cities...McDonalds just look ugly wherever you plant them. If you want the "desert out my back door" experience, you may have to live out of town...and I don't know if that's an option for you. While the beauty's there, I'm worried you'll be disappointed by the city they've landed on top of it.

And then there's the heat. AZ has that whole flat/anvil/baking kinda heat going on....it gets even nastier there than my home (and I can remember my dad's nagahide couch melting in direct sunlight). Mountains are definately good for something. But heat is a wierd beast. Dry heat beats the hell out of humid heat (lived in Houston, left skid marks getting out), but they girls above me are right...hot is still damned hot. Have you ever been in a dry 100 degree summer? Cause as our troops can tell you, everyone reacts differently to heat. Some can't cope. Doesn't mean they're bad people, just damned unlucky in my book. They get miserable and occasionally sick. God help me, I'm in love with one....and it drives me crazy sometimes that we just aren't ever going to be able to live where I grew up. If you start peeling off clothes and sweating at 85, you may not like it much above that. In the age of air conditioners, it's more of a nuissance than a health risk...but if you're AC dependent, you're gonna hate the summers. Me? I bug folks. I don't notice heat. It's in the high 90s before I start thinking it's too warm for comfort. Whether it's just my genes, or the fact I grew up in it, I don't know. But it's probably one of the reasons I'm a desert lover.

And speaking of dry.....that's occasionally an issue all on it's own. There are some bodies that like the dry air, others that hate it. Again, no way to know. It might clear up your skin or irritate the hell out of your sinuses.

With all that though, I have to go back to loving the desert....and having a fondness for the other people who share that liking. I'd recommend going and visiting the school (IN SUMMER) if that's at all possible. As someone who does a lot of work with students one way and another, that's actually a recommendation I'd make to anyone. More importantly than learning if you like AZ, it'll help you decide if you like the school. One way or the other, you're not settling there for a lifetime necessarily. And your choice of school shouldn't be dictated by the weather or the nightlife, unless all other things really are equal.