Schools in Colorado

[Anonymous]

DS is very outdoorsy (loves hiking, skiing, & frisbee) and has no desire to go to college in the DC area. He thinks he wants to school in Colorado and so we're contemplating going on a trip over spring break to visit U Denver, Colorado Boulder, Colorado Mines, Colorado College, & Colorado State. Can anyone speak to their experiences with these schools? DS has a 3.7 unweighted, a 29 on his ACT without much studying (he'll take a class over the summer to improve his score), & wants to major in Economics and maybe Statistics too.

[Anonymous]

CU Boulder is a fantastic place to spend 4 years. What does he want to study?

[Anonymous]

Colorado State in Ft Collins...doesn’t compare with CU Boulder...

[Anonymous]

The differences are kind of obvious and may rule in/out some of these immediately, depending on what he is looking for.

U Denver - medium-sized private
Boulder - large public flagship
Mines - STEM-ish, 70/30 M/F ratio
Colorado College - LAC with the extreme block schedule
CSU Ft Collins - large public

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The differences are kind of obvious and may rule in/out some of these immediately, depending on what he is looking for.

U Denver - medium-sized private
Boulder - large public flagship
Mines - STEM-ish, 70/30 M/F ratio
Colorado College - LAC with the extreme block schedule
CSU Ft Collins - large public

Good summary.
Boulder - fun outdoorsy crunchy techie college town
Denver - major city
CC - small liberal campus in middle of ultra conservative city.
Ft Collins - basic college town

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is very outdoorsy (loves hiking, skiing, & frisbee) and has no desire to go to college in the DC area. He thinks he wants to school in Colorado and so we're contemplating going on a trip over spring break to visit U Denver, Colorado Boulder, Colorado Mines, Colorado College, & Colorado State. Can anyone speak to their experiences with these schools? DS has a 3.7 unweighted, a 29 on his ACT without much studying (he'll take a class over the summer to improve his score), & wants to major in Economics and maybe Statistics too.

DC didn't get into Colorado College with a 4.2 and 33 ACT. Very tough admit. CU Boulder on the other hand ....

[Anonymous]

Are you familiar with the weed culture at these colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is very outdoorsy (loves hiking, skiing, & frisbee) and has no desire to go to college in the DC area. He thinks he wants to school in Colorado and so we're contemplating going on a trip over spring break to visit U Denver, Colorado Boulder, Colorado Mines, Colorado College, & Colorado State. Can anyone speak to their experiences with these schools? DS has a 3.7 unweighted, a 29 on his ACT without much studying (he'll take a class over the summer to improve his score), & wants to major in Economics and maybe Statistics too.

DC didn't get into Colorado College with a 4.2 and 33 ACT. Very tough admit. CU Boulder on the other hand ....

CU and Mines are also tough to get into )although not as hard).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Are you familiar with the weed culture at these colleges?

probably why the kid wants to go there

[Anonymous]

DS just started DU. Loves the relaxed vibe there. It operates on the quarter system, so he has had a loooongggg break from just before Thanksgiving to Jan. 6 (something to think about). Overall, I am impressed with the support the school has offered. Beautiful campus!

[Anonymous]

Not Colorado but have him look at the Lassonde program at Utah.

[Anonymous]

Ft. Lewis College in Durango is great for the outdoors--it is on a Mesa and there is a lot of skiing. Not on Colorado but Northern Arizona University also ticks those boxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ft. Lewis College in Durango is great for the outdoors--it is on a Mesa and there is a lot of skiing. Not on Colorado but Northern Arizona University also ticks those boxes.

I love Durango! But far far from any city - not sure if the OPs DS will go into withdrawal. Also Ft Lewis is an average school.

[Anonymous]

My kid applied to CU-Boulder and Mines. We all really loved Mines. Liberal arts college in feel, but seriously bent toward engineering. He chose elsewhere, but it certainly was impressive.

Even with an econ degree, I believe your kid would have to take physics. Does that work for him?

Boulder couldn't possibly be more beautiful. Lots of stoners, though. A friend's kid is at Denver, which gives serious merit aid. So I would look at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is very outdoorsy (loves hiking, skiing, & frisbee) and has no desire to go to college in the DC area. He thinks he wants to school in Colorado and so we're contemplating going on a trip over spring break to visit U Denver, Colorado Boulder, Colorado Mines, Colorado College, & Colorado State. Can anyone speak to their experiences with these schools? DS has a 3.7 unweighted, a 29 on his ACT without much studying (he'll take a class over the summer to improve his score), & wants to major in Economics and maybe Statistics too.

DC didn't get into Colorado College with a 4.2 and 33 ACT. Very tough admit. CU Boulder on the other hand ....

CU and Mines are also tough to get into )although not as hard).

Love me some CU but tough to get into? Average SAT in the mid-1200’s and only 29%/59% from top tenth/quarter of graduating class. Safety, though a cool one, for most good students.