<p>I do not see a page/ discussion board for this school. If someone can find it - would you post a link?</p>
<p>Second - does anyone know much about this school. I’ve read the web site - looking for more first-hand knowledge on admissions, merit scholarships, curriculum, environment. I also read the common data set - so aware of those stats.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I know a very interesting kid who goes there. His father told me that they are moving in the direction of being the CO equivalent of GA Tech, VA Tech, et al.</p>
<p>We noticed this school when my kids were doing research for sciency schools. We never visited but the location seems very nice if you are an outdoor typed person. But I wonder, am I the only one that thinks if this school has a different and more official technical sounding name, it could be a lot more noticeable or feels a little more prestigious? The name does conjure up the image of geologists or mineralogists prospecting for rare earth even though it offers just about all the science and engineering disciplines. (Apologies if I offend anyone with the stereotype.)</p>
<p>This is a really excellent school. The reputation in the west is very high and it is full of really intelligent kids. It’s not easy to get into and it isn’t easy to get out of, either, but if you do, you will do well.</p>
<p>Agree with the above: a respected technical school whose graduates do very well on the job market. There are downsides: it has a reputation for its social vibe being somewhat lacking. There isn’t much going on culturally around the campus, so kids tend to do their socializing in Denver/Boulder, located 20-40 minutes away. Also its dorm food was voted the nation’s worst a few years back… while that’s improved (I’m told) this isn’t the place for foodies 
For students interested in a bigger school that has sports, humanities/arts etc, CU Boulder or CSU would be better options.</p>
<p>CO School of Mines is an excellent techie school, with intense academics. Some of the degrees require over 140 credits, so many students take more than 4 years to complete. The location is great for outdoorsy students, but there is not a lot of free time to take advantage of it. </p>
<p>Despite the vintage name, there are a variety of STEM majors
[Undergraduate</a> Academic](<a href=“http://www.mines.edu/Undergraduate-Academic]Undergraduate”>http://www.mines.edu/Undergraduate-Academic)</p>
<p>Yes, fwiw, I guess from a social perspective katlia is right? But, this is a really different school than boulder or CSU. It is a really excellent STEM school, much better than people with an east coast bias might realize.</p>
<p>Denver is not far, and, like Boston, many of the schools coexist socially around there. I would recommend any kid with the ability to get in there ought to go and take a look.</p>
<p>If there are CO resisdents reading this thread, know that it is a state school. (I didn’t know that the first 10 years we lived here.) </p>
<p>In-state tuition is a few thousand per year more that CU, but it is a great deal for the right students (usually the geekier crowd). . The school is small and the campus is nice with the feeling of a small private college. Engineering is HARD everywhere, but it is especially tough at Mines.</p>
<p>Seems like CO Mines, as well as NM Mines and SD Mines, might be good choices for someone who wants a small science and engineering focused school but does not have the academic credentials for admission to Caltech.</p>
<p>You might want to post on the engineering forum if you haven’t already.</p>
<p>S applied but as we are OOS the FA was not good. He was very specific in what he wanted to major in (Material Science) so he applied to a few similar type schools. Mines by far had the worst FA package. That is all the information I have lol</p>
<p>Mines has very little financial aid available to out-of-state students.</p>
<p>It has a great jobs network, great internship network, relatively small classes, and a student body that is geeky/outdoorsy. Much better connections with extraction industries than CU. </p>
<p>It even has its own experimental mine:
The Edgar Experimental Mine provides students in mining engineering and other disciplines a unique opportunity for research and practical training in a variety of areas. In this underground laboratory, Mines students gain hands-on experience in underground mine surveying, geological mapping, rock fragmentation and blasting, mine ventilation field studies, rock mechanics instrumentation practice, underground mine unit operations and mine safety.
Through a course in the practical use of mining equipment, students can apply classroom exercises to real situations in a realistic mining environment. The course runs the full cycle of mining operations and includes hands-on experience with drilling, blasting, and mucking (loading blasted rock) using both rail-mounted and rubber-tired mining equipment. By the completion of the course, students have earned safety credentials in underground mining from a Mine Safety and Health Administration-certified mine safety training instructor.</p>
<p>Big Event: Engineers’ Days: [Mines</a> to celebrate Engineers’ Days March 31-April 2](<a href=“http://www.mines.edu/Mines-to-celebrate-Engineers-Days-March-31-April-2]Mines”>http://www.mines.edu/Mines-to-celebrate-Engineers-Days-March-31-April-2)
I gather the fireworks show they usually put on will happen later this year – it is a fireworks show that is big on booms and large effects, put on in what looks like a h.s. football field (but which is really Mines’ athletic field) – we really enjoyed the couple we went to, though D (a pre-schooler) got a bit of a vocabulary expansion when the students began chanting “Blow the ****** up” before the end display of a sequence of many ground level explosions on the football field. They do like their things that go boom.</p>
<p>I know two recent Mines grads, and number of older grads (1970s-early 1980s) and a professor who teaches there. Mines is adjacent to NREL (National Renewable Energy Lab) and students often intern there. Plenty of cross-pollination going on between Mines and NREL.</p>
<p>I love Golden. It has that funky mining town vibe going on. Some decent restaurants and great outdoor opportunities. Drier and not as green as higher elevations, but nice enough weather. Everybody is into outdoors–skiing, snowboarding, kayaking in the stream behind the soccer field, biking (tons of bike paths in town and leading to other recreation areas). </p>
<p>Mines is definitely a tech school. Male-female ratio is skewed (3 to 1). Merit is very tough to come by–both in-state and OOS. And merit awards tend to be on the smallish size. Academics are quite challenging.</p>
<p>Somewhat off topic, but does anyone know why of the three mines schools, SD School of Mines 4 year grad rate is so low? Colorado has the “expected” four year grad rate of a public, selective engineering institution as does NMIT as the less selective Southwestern version of CO School of Mines, but SD School of Mines only graduates about 12% of its students “on time”.</p>
<p>I ask this because I’m considering transferring if I decide to major in geology, and obviously all of the mines schools are well connected to the mining industry, and offer excellent geology programs.</p>
<p>SD Mines is very low cost – perhaps the lack of financial pressure to graduate on time may have something to do with it.</p>
<p>But also check to see if there are institutional reasons, such as infrequent course offerings (so a student a semester late on prerequisites might be delayed a whole year on the sequence, causing more delays in completing required courses, etc.), that may cause issues.</p>
<p>Transfer students may have “catch up” issues if they did not have equivalent lower division courses at their previous colleges.</p>
<p>Might also want to investigate (by calling the school and speaking to an advisor) to see if there are some other factors – apparently young people in some of the coal/oil/gas boom areas can easily get work at energy or supporting firms even without a degree – I think that the story I read talked about kids right out of high school earning $50K/year.</p>
<p>Yeah, in the dakotas when you are talking energy work, it’s like silicon valley used to be for computers. You can work if you want to and know what you are doing.</p>
<p>My DS applied to and was accepted to the Mines. He applied because my grandfather had gone there. I actually felt the OOS Merit scholarship they are offering is good it is $12,000/per year however even with the scholarship it still is more than we can afford to pay so DS has crossed it off his list. However if you can afford it I think it’s a nice place to go.</p>
<p>Yes, SD School of Mines has one of the lowest OOS costs… I think under $20k/year total. </p>
<p>" does anyone know why of the three mines schools, SD School of Mines 4 year grad rate is so low?" - Much of the reason relates to the fact that there are so many credits required to graduate (approx 140 vs 120 at most schools). But frankly there are also many students that start and never finish. If Engineering/STEM is not the right fit, you can’t switch majors the same way you could at a university.</p>
<p>According to their website, in-state is around $30K per year and OOS $45K.</p>
<p>SD Mines’ costs are here: [Full</a> Time Undergraduate Students](<a href=“HPC Page”>Full Time Undergraduate Students)</p>
<p>Non-resident on-campus cost of attendance is $22,980 per year. Non-resident off-campus is $24,050 per year.</p>
<p>CO Mines’ costs are much higher, according to [Cost</a> of Attendance - Undergraduate](<a href=“http://inside.mines.edu/Cost-of-Attendance-Undergraduate]Cost”>http://inside.mines.edu/Cost-of-Attendance-Undergraduate) .</p>