Looking for input as we are from New England. Son applied to CU Boulder, DU and then as a last minute decision added CSU. We have not had a chance to visit at all because of COVID but he did spend some time in CO last year skiing (Beaver Creek, Vail) He has been fortunate enought to have been accepted at all 3.
I think he has ruled out DU becuase he is thinking it may be too small for what he is looking for. He is in love with Boulder but we received the financial aid package and he got absolutely no money at all. CSU offered him 10,000 per year. Because sticker price between Boulder and CSU is already substantial with the extra $10,000 scholarship per year we are talking about a difference of $25,000 per year. Obvioulsy Boulder is off the table at this point so wondering if anyone from the area can provide a little insight into CSU and Fort Collins. What is the vibe like? General area etc… Any insight is much appreciated. Ty!
Congratulations to your son on his acceptances! I live in Colorado but I’m less familiar with CSU. Perhaps fellow locals, @twoinanddone or @AlwaysMoving can offer more insight.
I love Fort Collins, but I’m not a college kid. FC is more of a college town and has a Western/cowboy feel to it because it’s so close to Wyoming.
What does your son like about Boulder?
I’ve heard CSU has great dorms and Fort Collins is a great town, has that college vibe and really quaint.
Ty! Honestly I think he likes Boulder because he knows people who are there now and love it. Here in MA Boulder has gained a lot of popularity. We researched and found CSU knowing Boulder was probably not going to be very generous. From my research he can jump a free bus and be at Boulder in 1.5 hours if he wants to visit. I just want him to love where he is as well as having the opportunity to visit friends at other schools. Fort Collins looks so amazing to me when I do my googling! I am hoping we will be allowed to visit before he has to make a decision.
Boulder has a lot of wealth.
Fort Collins has a bit of a Western cowboy vibe, more middle class, & a bit more STEM oriented.
P.S. What does “Ty” mean ?
Ft. Collins is more of a western town than Boulder. CSU is more western. It’s in the same athletic conference as Wyoming, Boise State, Utah State while CU is in the Pac 12 with Stanford, Cal, UCLA.
CSU is the land grant college and it shows in its offerings. Engineering at CU is aerospace and business while at CSU it is more agriculture, industrial design. The school has a big focus on agriculture and veterinary sciences. It is much more low key and cowboy-ish, but that’s what the students want. It has a new football stadium. For sports, its rivals are closer (Wyoming, Air Force, Boise State) so they have a lot of activities that involve traveling (for the day) to those schools, there is a run between Ft. Collins and Laramie for those games to keep the rivalry alive.
You can get to Boulder on a bus but I really doubt anyone does that! If a group is going to Boulder, they take a car and it’s about 40 minutes. They might do that for a party (same fraternity? because some one is dating someone from the other school) but it’s not done on a regular basis. There isn’t much interactions between the schools except for the old Rocky Mtn Showdown (football game on labor day weekend) but that’s been cancelled. Also, it was held in Denver.
DU is a different personality altogether. It’s an urban school in Denver, with the main sports being hockey and lacrosse (and this year women’s gymnastics). It’s smaller and has more of a focus on the business school and international affairs. It has a hockey rivalry with Colorado College, but the lacrosse rivalries are with the east coast schools (Duke, Syracuse, Albany) or midwest schools (ND, Marquette).
So DU is more like an urban small school, CU/Boulder is more an urban, NY/California feeling, and CSU is more low key, cowboy feeling town. All are fun and great, but they are different.
“Ty” = thank you.
Thank you for your reply !
You’re welcome! 
We are also from New England. I have enjoyed my visits to Boulder but they were a long time ago. We did go hiking in the woods up near NCAR which was quite nice – but not something that you want to do on the day that you arrive due to the thin atmosphere. The UC-Boulder campus did not look particularly exciting to me.
I have heard good things about CSU and Fort Collins. It has one of the top ranked DVM programs in the country (or in the world), although I would be surprised if that matters to you. It has a very good large animal program which implies there must be some land and some horses and cows around somewhere. My wife and daughter visited the university a while back and said that it was very attractive.
We were out in Wyoming before the pandemic and loved it. It is indeed beautiful.
One big difference is skiing. CU is closer to ski resorts and a lot of the students ski.
Also, @twoinanddone 's description of CU being more CA and CSU being more Mountain West is spot on.
Maybe it would help if you asked an additional question:
Would a student from New England planning to study (insert major) be equally happy at CSU as at CU-Boulder ?
Of course, such a question requires an understanding of what your son likes & expects from CU-Boulder.
Thank you! He will be a business major, most likely marketing. He is a bright, outgoing, likeable and mature kid (If I do say so myself!). He has a bit of a wanderlust which I think is why he wants to leave New England even though he has some great business school options closer to home. He will definitely want to study abroad no matter where he goes, so I guess we better take a hard look at that as well.
I think Boulder was the first choice because he loved his time in Colorado last year pre covid. He loves to ski, loves to be outdoors, likes to experience new food, new people, etc…
You guys have been so great with all your feedback. Thanks for taking the time for such thoughtful responses!
He might want to consider Wyoming too. Business school is pretty good. Lots of money for OOS students. It’s colder, but cheaper. Also closer to Steamboat for skiing. It is much more like CSU than like Boulder. From the Denver airport, it is 45 minutes to Boulder, an hour to Ft.Collins, 2 hours to Laramie (less if you pay for the toll road, but I’m cheap).
I guess it depends on how much he’s willing to pay to get out of the east coast.
DU business school is pretty good too. Lots of money from Daniels Fund and from Sturm. Lots of internship opportunities in and around Denver.