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[quote=Anonymous]I went to Boulder and think it's a great school. Academically, it's pretty similar to a lot of large state flagships. It's big enough that your experience can be as academic as you want, but the culture is not at all academically intense. So I think it works best for either someone who is very self-motivated and will find opportunities (there are many, many opportunities to be had, including a great honors program and a lot of excellent departments) or someone who sort of middle of the road academically and does not want intense pressure/stress. This can vary a bit by department now course. The engineering program is much more stressful, as are some of the other STEM programs -- there are a lot of pre-med students at Boulder so, for instance, bio can be a tough and more intense major.

Boulder itself is wealthy and has a similar culture to places like Berkeley -- lots of wealthy liberals who are sometimes deeply out of touch and unrealistic. I say this as a very liberal person. Boulder's culture outside the university is kind of obnoxious. But the university is so large that as a student, you really don't interact with it much unless you want to.

It gets a reputation as a party school and if that's an experience your kid wants, it will absolutely be available. Yes, lots of drinking and pot. A pretty active greek scene. Plus a lot of socializing that centers on athletic programs, including the football team. Again, very typical of most large state flagships. However, if that's not his scene, it's also extremely easy to sidestep. I never did any of that (did not attend a single football game while I was there) and it was no big deal. I had other interests and found lots of friends who shared them.

Most students live off campus after the first year. I actually think this is a big reason the greek system is a major draw -- it can be somewhat annoying to find off-campus housing because Boulder is pricy and not that big. Though I'd talk to current/more recent students about this, as maybe they've changed it. I lived in a series of group houses after freshman year and one was great, one was horrible, and one was fine but an annoying distance from campus. However, that was my senior year and after returning from a semester+summer abroad, so I was way less invested in campus culture at that point.

I got an excellent education, had a number of phenomenal professors, the weather is good, and the campus is very pretty. For me it was kind of a no-brainer to go -- I was in-state and received a good scholarship. I do think the OOS costs are sort of nuts, but it's also the going rate for a school of that size and quality and all college costs are nuts now.

One downside, I will note, is that the school does not have a very strong alumni network on the East Coast or in the Midwest. That has not mattered for me as I went to grad school on the East coast. But if your child is from the DMV and intends to return to this area after, it could be a hindrance in terms of job search. So I guess that's my one caveat.[/quote]

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