I wanted to start a new DU thread as many previous are outdated or deal with grad school issues. Would like to know from current or accepted students, specifically likes and dislikes, campus vibe, engineering, quality of education and availability of job placement, internship programs,etc. My daughter accepted into 6 engineering schools; purposely did not apply to top tier schools. We live in Colorado and DU tops the list ( received outstanding Merit award). Also considering Gonzaga, CU, Marquette and Seattle is a close 2nd choice. Wants a more urban atmosphere, cultural/arts offerings, and liberal arts. Thanks!
I am not a DU student or parent, but one comment, if you are referring to UW Seattle that IS a Tier 1 engineering college, with ranks in the top ten or twenty for most engineering fields, and top five in computer science and bioinformatics and very competitive for those programs. Job options will be better for her from CU Boulder or UW Seattle than any other choice you mention. If she is planning on graduate school, DU may be fine for undergrad, as long as she takes a lot of math, and the hardest classes available.
Inside the state of Colorado, DU Engineering graduates compete with Mines, CU Boulder Engineering, CSU and Air Force Academy grads for engineering positions at the top Colorado companies like Medtronics, Seagate, Oracle, Google, Broadcom etc. . DU may be the weakest of the in state options for Engineering, but still a very good all around liberal arts program and good pre med, pre law and pre business programs.
My son is a sophomore at DU, majoring in CS/game design, and he has a very good friend who is a mech eng major. DS is minoring in theater. They both love DU. They agree that the engineering curriculum is tough - many students apparently have changed majors since freshman year. They like the small class sizes and general friendly atmosphere. DS has participated in several theater productions. He will be studying in Glasgow, Scotland in the fall, though his friend says that the engineering curriculum doesn’t accommodate study abroad if you want to finish in 4 years.
One nice thing about DU is that it is very possible to finish in 4 years; I understand that is more difficult at UW because engineering courses may fill up and you can’t get the ones you need to stay on track.
DU engineering is growing: they have hired some new faculty and are expanding course offerings (in CS, I know, and I’m sure in other areas of the Ritchie School as well), the new building will open in the fall, and there are new programs to expand their partnerships with local businesses and to foster entrepreneurship. The new dean seems to have a good attitude and approach. They just added a one-year MS in cyber-security.
As a parent I appreciate DU’s communication and logistics. For example, gwtting questions answered about financial aid and the orientation, health insurance, etc. The GE requirements aee reasonable (I understand that ME majors don’t have to do a foreign language, though CS majors do; DS really doesn’t like foreign language but decided to take a year of French, rather than continue with Spanish, and he was glad to have done that), the Freshman seminar is a nice opportunity to bond with a few other students that have at least one interest in common (you pick one of about 85 different topics, so there’s bound to be something you like).
Ds and his friend do complain about the dorm food, but next year they will be living off-campus. They found a nice apartment very close to the engineering building, for very reasonable rent. There is a 2-year live-on-campus requirement, and after that, spaces are limited, but you can apply to be an RA if you want, or just hope to get a space if you want to stay in a dorm.
If you have specific questions, PM me or just ask on here. DU was not my son’s first choice, actually it was a safety, but he now loves it and is very glad he’s there. We think the fit couldn’t be better. He has some great (nerdy) friends who are very nice, is in a couple of clubs, and finds the classes challenging but not impossible.