<p>Hey. Can anyone tell me some stuff about U of C at Boulder. Im not looking for stats. Is it a good school academicaly? and how is the social life? any personal experience with the school? is the town/campus nice? Overall Experience? Thank you.</p>
<p>Pretty much great overall. Great area, gorgeous state. Good sports, social life, drinking, partying, etc. Very good academics. I just wish I was closer to Colorado.</p>
<p>Huge school, comprised mostly of Coloradans and well-to-do OOS'ers there mostly for the skiing & partying. Beautiful campus near mountains (good skiing still 1 1/5 hrs away,though) in a beautiful, partly upscale partly bohemian town. (Read: expensive off-campus housing.) School is especially good in the sciences, engineering and to some extent business. Ranks highly in federal research $$, big on aero-space stuff. Rated #1 party school a couple years ago, but administration has really cracked down & now they're still partying just slightly less. Besides skiing/boarding, big things are hiking, mountain biking and rock climbing. People do like it there, but some are put off by the size, and party/jock atmosphere of the school.</p>
<p>Interesting offbeat college town atmosphere. Sort of like Ann Arbor with a lot more turquoise jewlery shops.</p>
<p>There is a stereotype that it is a bunch of hippies, partiers and snowboarders isn’t very accurate. I know several people that go there (I live in Colorado) and the parties are great, usualy just large house parties. The town is a college town, the hill is a great place to hang out. Receives massive funding from NASA, so if you want to work at NASA one day they could help with that. Engineering has higher standards then the rest of the school, but don’t live in the engineering dorms since they tend to be the “stereotypical” engineer (not very social). Most people there are nice, while on a tour my father said it had the same atmosphere as Cal Poly.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman there this year as an aerospace engineering major. He is from California and loving it…turned down acceptance to UCLA to attend here as he felt (as did we) that it was way better place for his major…He is already taking introductory courses in aerospace engineering in his first semester. Also has already pledged to a coed engineering professional fraternity, has played intramural flag football with his dorm mates, and is planning on pursuing other intramural sports as well. He enjoys the campus, has made some nice friends, finds plenty to do…Boulder is a nice college town, easy to get around. The students get free transportation on the bus system around town as well as to the Denver airport. He chose not to live in the engineering dorms as he wanted to meet people of all types. I think that was the best choice for him. His dorm is centrally located and he is close to Folsom Field to attend the football games…It may still be seen as a party school but trust me plenty of people study hard here as well…</p>
<p>I grew up in a suburb between Denver and Boulder and worked for the university for a couple of years at the health science campus in Aurora. Everything that was said above is accurate but I would like to offer one piece of information that may not be obvious. The health sciences are for the most part in a different city about an hour away. This means that if you’re interested in the biomedical sciences, lab jobs are more difficult to get (or you have to drive far away), volunteering in hospitals is more difficult as the university hospital is also in Aurora and a great number of really terrific faculty are inaccessible to you.</p>
<p>Rousse - Did your son apply for financial aid there? Are need-based and merit-based aid difficult for OOS applicants to receive?</p>
<p>Joining the Pac-10/12 conference will probably elevate the school’s profile.</p>
<p>Rousse…</p>
<p>Are you paying full-freight? UC-Boulder isn’t known for giving OOS students aid.</p>
<p>All my son got from UC Boulder is the Chancellor’s scholarship…We were hoping for the Presidential Scholarship but he did not receive it…And he did not get any financial aid offered to him except for loans which we declined…He is so far doing well academically and we are hoping that perhaps over the years he will get some more scholarships from the engineering department.</p>
<p>Out of state applicants are automatically considered for the two types of merit scholarships: The Presidential Scholarship which is $55,000 over four years and the Chancellor Scholarship which is $15,000 over four years. The Presidential goes to the top 1-2 percent of out of state applicants, the Chancellor’s goes to the top 25 percent. We thought my son had high enough stats to earn the Presidential, but all he got offered was the Chancellor’s…But hey, it is better than receiving nothing…You do not have to apply for these scholarships, you are automatically considered for them when you apply. it does help that the tuition is fixed at the freshman year level. At least you know what you are dealing with…Unlike here in California, where every year the tuition goes up and up,even for in-state students…</p>