CU Boulder vs UT Austin vs CSM?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Colorado
1

I am an junior female Hispanic student from Texas with a weighted GPA of about 3.97 and unweighted about 3.67. I take almost all AP classes with the exception of a few regulars. I am in a high school geosciences program with UT Austin and I’m president of a literary club, involved in volunteer work, theatre, and hold a few class positions for my school, as well as serve on a student advisory council for the school to represent the student voice to the district. I’m a National Hispanic Merit Scholar. My PSAT score was a 1460 out of 1520 (R: 720, M: 740). My SAT results come back in a few days, so I expect them to be pretty close to my PSAT.

My preferred major would be geosciences, with physics involved, because I plan to study either hydrogeology to find water or planetary geosciences. I’m also heavily interested in astronomy, so I want to either double major or minor in that. My preferred school would be mainly academically minded, not a heavy party school (some partying is nice but not if it’s all of the time), but I also do like to have a vibrant social life so some aspects of that would be nice.

As to schools, my top choice is CSM, but I’m not sure if I could handle the rigor. It seems like an extremely hard school, and although I am in advanced classes, sometimes I find myself struggling. I worry that I’ll fall behind and not be able to get any help with my schoolwork, or time for a social life (which I value). I’m also concerned with the lack of females, and if I’ll fit in with the social life. I do love how the school has a small population, though.

My 2nd top is UT, because of their geosciences program and their tuition for me is in-state. The closeness to home is a plus, but not a necessity. I’ve stayed at the campus and I think it’s a nice place, but that was years ago and I don’t remember much about the whole “vibe” there.

My 3rd choice is CU Boulder, because of the good geosciences and physics programs and the location is beautiful. I have heard that this university is a heavy party school, and while I want to have a good time in college, I don’t want to be distracted 24/7 from my academics.

My questions are:
If you’re a student at any of these schools, what is the atmosphere and demographics like? Is academics pushed more than fun, or is it the other way around? What’s the “vibe” like?
Also, do I have a decent chance to getting in one of these schools?
I’ll be visiting all of these schools next month, but I want to know in advance what I should expect. Thanks!

2

I am a parent but have some inputs for you, as I am familiar with the three campuses. Good for you to start a year early to investigate colleges. Your campus visits will be very helpful.

Mines by far is the quieter environment, its located in Golden, a small town of 20,000 residents, hilly and beautiful campus with access to hiking, skiing and nightlife in Denver. There are division 2 sports, and a lot of really serious students who are friendly. Parties are very low key. Boulder and Austin are traditional public schools with lots of other majors, should you change your mind, spectator sports, lots of parties, fraternities, sororities and many great educational opportunities in your desired majors. Boulder is much smaller than Austin, which is hovering at a million residents. Boulder is a town of 100,000, about 30 miles north of Denver which is a million residents. For its size, Boulder offers amazing fine music arts both on and off campus, hiking and skiing similar to Golden. Austin is much better known for popular music than any city in Colorado. Austin has beautiful lakes, sailing, restaurants and night life.

Boulder is home to a lot of marathoners and bike racers as well as Buddhist temples, environmental groups, liberal political groups. It is now a high cost of living, so professors are living in Longmont or other towns to the east. Athletes come to Boulder to train because of the altitude.

I think you can handle the academics at Colorado School of Mines, given your record and math score. The geosciences are phenomenal there, as the school focuses on both geophysics and geochemistry heavily in the science departments. However, astronomy is not a strong suit for Mines, but it offers some classes. I love the physics program at Mines because it will prepare you for ANY PhD program well, so geophysics, astrophysics or astronomy. You will get a lot more attention at Mines, as class size is smaller and you will not fall through the cracks, as can happen to any student, who gets distracted, at UT or Boulder.

Job placement is known to be better at Mines than CU Boulder Engineering, slightly. I am not familiar with UT Austin job placement.

Mines has the better teachers, given that they tenure teachers separately from research staff, very unusual. CU Boulder and UT Austin, tenure is based on research quality more than teaching. Yet Mines has good PhD programs too, so its very compelling for a student like you who seems headed to a research career in geosciences.

Here is one program at Mines that includes astronomy classes, and space related classes:
http://spse.mines.edu/SPSE_program.shtml

Mines offers a lot of academic support and its much smaller than either UT or CU Boulder. your PSAT math score is for sure high enough for you to get As at Mines, do not worry! It will be more work than CU Boulder to get As, but you will get a lot more out of your education.

I would guess, given its national rank, that academic level UT Austin level is the SAME as Mines, by the way, , so do not rule out Mines based on difficulty. CU Boulder Engineering goes a little slower and less difficult tests in some subjects and less homework than Mines, by a bit. CU Boulder physics is very well regarded in the graduate school, undergraduate is strong but quite large with a lot of drop outs as things get harder in upper level subjects. There are not too many girls at CU Boulder in physics is another consideration. I am not sure about UT Austin for girls in physics.

Mines, then gender ratio in physics may be higher for women than UT or CU , but I don’t know that for a fact.
Gender ratio matters a little bit less at Mines, as the academic support is so good for all students.

Mines is longer a school where half the students drop out, unless they are truly finding that engineering and science are not their interest. You may be aware, UT Austin has a tremendous reputation and rank nationally though, so I would really consider that school as you will have an A+ degree there too, but much larger class sizes. CU Boulder is ranked lower, than UT or Mines, but still very strong in geology with a lot of related majors and very very strong in physics.

I don’t know about Hispanic student support at any of these schools, but I know Colorado schools actively recruit Hispanic students and want to encourage Hispanic girls in the sciences. Look for Latino clubs at all schools, if that interests you.

I have heard UT Austin is very very difficult for admissions for Texas students by the way, but I don’t know the stats or if you are more likely to apply in Arts and Sciences or Engineering. Arts and Sciences may be easier for admissions, but look that up.

MInes, you apply to the school as a whole, so you have complete freedom to explore any science, social science or engineering major. You can major in economics at Mines too.

At CU Boulder, think about applying in Engineering, in case you want to study Engineering Physics. If you want to transfer to the physics or geology department later, in Arts and Sciences, that is very easy to do. Transferring from CU Arts and Sciences to CU Engineering at CU Boulder can be difficult, once you get to Boulder, but with your math scores and if you get As in freshman year, should be OK.

3

Wow, thank you for the wealth of information! I will consider all of this whenever I do my college visits this week.

4

I don’t have much to add to Coloradomama’s excellent analysis, but I could share a few random thoughts about CSM because my son goes there. He loves it. Most of the students seem very smart, friendly, clean cut, courteous, and helpful. The environment is generally respectful and productive. CSM is extremely rigorous academically. According to my son, the professors are interestested in pedagogy and optimal teaching methods, so most of the classes are well designed and focus on maximizing your learning. We were told at orientation that everyone accepted is capable of doing well at CSM, and the goal is not to jettison struggling students but to make sure everyone succeeds. It’s nice to be part of a small school that is half-graduate, half-undergraduate, as this makes it easier to get research opportunities. Although the kids tend to be serious and hard-working, they also know how to have fun. It’s not a place with a lot of drinking or loud parties, but students are active and some are very social. My son does a lot of hiking with his friends, and they like to go out to local restaurants in Golden. There are lots of clubs you can get involved with. The food is good, and I always enjoy sharing a meal with my son at Mines Market. There do seem to be more men than women, but there are nevertheless a lot of women students, so I don’t think you’d feel isolated. My son has lived in Maple and Elm Halls. Both are very nice, but I would say Maple is palatial! It has a Steinway piano in the downstairs lounge and large, comfortable, well-appointed rooms. CSM has been a great experience for my son, and he feels it is equipping him very well for the future.

5

You’ll have some good visits at these three schools which I know well. My S1 was very interested early on in Mines and I am an active alumnus of CU Boulder…and now with my son at UT in dual-degree Cockrell (engineering) and Plan II Honors (liberal arts), I have come to know UT academics fairly well.

You didn’t mention your HS class rank. Unlike CSM and CU Boulder, the key to in-state admissions at UT is your HS class rank, not GPA. If you are in the Top 7% in HS class rank at time of admission, you receive automatic admission to UT, though not necessarily your major or college. If you ARE in the Top 7% in class rank, Jackson Geosciences at UT–globally at the top of its field like CSM-- could be hard to beat with a $10k yearly in-state tuition vs 4X the cost at CSM or CU Boulder. Texas is all about Geosciences, as America’s premier energy-funded flagship and eye-popping $25B endowment. Wait till you see that LEEDS-certified new Jackson College building. Holy smokes.

70% of incoming Freshmen at UT have to come from the 7% rule. If you are NOT in the top 7% of your Texas HS class rank, it is much harder to get into UT than either CSM or CU, regardless of your GPA and test scores. You would have to go through Holistic Review just to get into UT, with no guarantee you will be accepted to your major/college. 10% of freshman admissions at UT are generally reserved for OOS and International students for diversity purposes. So only maximum 20% of incoming Freshman at UT come from in-state Holistic Admissions.

Bottom line, if you are in the Top 7%, UT is a no-brainer. If not, you have outstanding options. Congratulations on how you plan for your future. You will be a very successful (as well as poly-lingual!) young professional.