Dorm recommendations at CU Boulder

<p>My son will probably be attending CU Boulder this fall. He will be an aerospace engineering major, but does not want to live in the engineering dorm, says he does not want to be surrounded by just engineers! So, which residence halls would anyone out there recommend on the CU Boulder campus? Which ones are the best? I think he would want a dorm that is relatively close to everything he needs to get to...close to his classes, maybe have a cafeteria in the dorm itself but not absolutely necessary. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>I have a quite a few friends already attending Boulder and also visited this summer and from what I have heard and seen, the best dorms are Farrand, Libby, Baker, Sewall, and a few others. Farrand doesn’t have the best food but is really historical and great location. Just don’t get stuck in Williams Village (off-campus).</p>

<p>Agree that the best dorms are on the Main Campus - Farrand, Sewall, Baker, Libby, Cheyenne Arapaho, Hallett, etc. They don’t have air conditioning and are older, but you’re right in the middle of everything.</p>

<p>Kittridge is also on the Main Campus, but I was never a fan of those dorms and neither were my kids, who both attend CU. The Kittridge Complex is pretty old.</p>

<p>And, just to clarify, Williams Village is part of campus, but it’s a satellite housing area about 15-20 minutes walking distance and a short bus ride away. The dorms over there are Darley North and South, Stearns East, Stearns West, and the Bear Creek Apartments (for upperclassmen). The dorms here are newer with air conditioning and sinks in the rooms, some have private bathrooms, but the distance from classes and everything else takes its toll on you after awhile.</p>

<p>Good luck to your son, and I hope he enjoys CU.</p>

<p>My son got his housing information today, and he got his first choice, Baker RAP. He also received in the letter information about working in the dining hall for extra money. I am wondering if anyone knows what the hourly pay is for the dining hall student employees? I am thinking if maybe he worked a few hours a week, it would help him (and us!) earn some spending money. There is an option to work hourly, instead of a weekly ten to fifteen hour commitment, so I think maybe he would be more interested in more flexible hours and just an occasional hourly shift. Is there anyone out there who has worked in the dining halls at CU or knows anyone who has worked there? If so, what can you tell me about it? Was it fairly flexible, can you choose your own shifts, how much do you get paid, etc? Anything you can tell us would be helpful. Thanks a lot!</p>

<p>Anyone know anything about working in the dining halls at CU Boulder for a student? My son received in the envelope with his housing confirmation an application to apply for employment with the dining halls department. I am trying to talk him into sending in the application. I am thinking it would be a good way for him to earn some spendiing money in a flexible manner. I would be interested in him working on a hourly basis like occasionally during the week or month. Does anyone know anything about this? He is particularly interested in the hourly wage. He seems to think he would find a job off campus but I think that will be hard…We need some financial help as we do not qualify for any aid and we are out of state. Any information would be appreciated…</p>

<p>I don’t know anything about working for dining services, but I do know that part time jobs for students are pretty hard to come by. The current economic situation has affected the general student population’s “fun money” and that means less work for those seeking it in fast food places, coffee houses, retail, etc. I think your son should strongly consider sending in the dining services application - it couldn’t hurt. Good luck!!!</p>

<p>Thank you ColoradoMomof2! I am going to read your message to my son. Your post says the same thing I was thinking, that jobs in the area due to the economic downturn would be hard to find, as it is everywhere…Thanks for posting a response! He may listen to someone else’s mother instead of his own!</p>

<p>You’re very welcome, Rousse54. :)</p>

<p>is your son going to do the dining service job? i got the same sheet as you when i received my housing info last week. i don’t know if it’s good to have a part time job freshman year or not, or at least not until i figure out how college is for me. </p>

<p>what dorms did your son apply to coloradomomof2? i don’t think he should apply to any in williams village because the towers are pretty far away compared to the housing residences that are on campus. i don’t know your son, but i know that all of my friends that are going (especially the guys) say that they do not want to wake up earlier than they have to to walk/ride to their classes from all the way out there, at least not their freshman year.</p>

<p>bluepowerade, both of my kids applied for housing on the Main Campus at Farrand, Sewall, Baker, Libby, Cheyenne Arapaho, and Hallett. My son got Farrand, probably because he accepted as soon as he got his admittance and he knew he didn’t want to go anywhere else. So he turned in his request for housing the VERY first day you could. My daughter, on the other hand, didn’t decide to attend CU-Boulder until the last week of March, so her housing request was one of the later ones. She was assigned to Williams Village - Darley North. Both had fine experiences, but I know our son was far happier with his dorm location than our daughter was. The Main Campus housing is far more popular because of the easy access to everything. Good luck in getting what you want!!</p>

<p>bluepowerade: Yes, thanks to ColoradoMomof2, (thanks again!) I talked to my son last night and he agreed to submit the dining service application. We too did not know how much he can handle, since academics comes first of course, but he decided to just apply for the hourly rate instead of committing to a set amount of hours per week. I emailed someone in the dining service department and they said the hours are flexible and that they usually require at least 8 hours a week and we think he can probably manage that. I was discussing this idea with another parent and she said she worked all through college for the dining services at her college, and it worked out fine for her and she did about 16 hours a week, so we think it should be ok for him…If it is too much, he can always stop doing it…
Also, my son got his first choice dorm, Baker RAP…He got his confirmation but so far has not been assigned a roomate yet. He wanted Sewall or Farrand but since he is not in the College of Arts and Sciences he cannot apply for those…</p>

<p>I find it interesting I just received my housing assignment, March 29, ten days after I applied for housing (March 19). They assigned me in my first choice hall, Cheyenne, as well. Maybe the class sizes are different, and more people applied earlier last year, which is why your daughter (coloradomom…) received an assignment at Will Ville. This year, however, I wouldn’t worry about it unless you applied later on into mid-April.</p>

<p>Hmmm . . . that is interesting, mncm007. Congrats on getting your first choice, it’s a good dorm. Baker too, Rousse54 (again, you are welcome). I think the difference is that my kids are now CU senior and sophomore, and the whole admissions timing thing is very different; it changed the year after our son was admitted (the sophomore). I think that our son knew he was admitted the first week of October his senior year of high school and our daughter (two years prior) went through regular admissions and found out in mid-February. The deadlines are much later now.</p>

<p>Plus, I think a lot of out of state folks are really having to give extra thought to paying out of state tuition - more than just one pass through. So maybe there’s more room right now? The freshman class is typically around 5,000 kids and they have to put some of them up in hotels until you get the inevitable few that drop out in the first two weeks. Wonder if they’ll have that this year?</p>

<p>Good luck to all. I’ll be around if you have questions. If I don’t know something, drb is another good resource, and I can always ask my kids. ;)</p>

<p>so i applied to kittredge west and baker as my first couple choices. does anyone have any input about these dorms. lol</p>

<p>Secrecy, I made some observations earlier in this thread, so you can read that. Both are good because they are on Main Campus. Between the two, my kids would have preferred Baker. Better overall location.</p>

<p>When I visited the school and had the opportunity to check out some of the dorms, I enjoyed all of the main campus dorms such as Farrand, Sewall, Baker, Libby, Cheyenne… Being enclosed on campus lets you experience all that CU has to offer, but it doesn’t compromise the beauty and peacefulness of Boulder. Williams Village, on the other hand, seemed to distant, for me anyway. It would feel as if it were a chore to have to wake up for school and travel to class.</p>

<p>I applied for the Baker RAP program and got in as well…it’s so great to hear all the support for Baker because with so many options, I just picked randomly!<br>
Also, thank you for the opinion on Dining Hall work!</p>

<p>Allie26: Hello! My son is in Baker RAP also. Where do you come from and what is your major? He is an aerospace engineering major and although he could have applied for Honors Engineering , he didn’t want to as he did not want to live just with engineering types! He wants a more diverse group of friends…He chose Baker since he wanted to be around Farrand Field and some of the dorms around that field he could not apply for as he is in not in the Schools of Arts and Sciences… Nice to meet you!</p>

<p>Another Baker RAP here as of a couple hours ago! Rousse… your son sounds cool… wanting to mix with different types (: </p>

<p>Does anyone know how Baker is arrange according to gender?</p>

<p>Lizzle: Well, yes, my son is pretty cool but then I am a bit biased, being his mother! I do not know how the rooms are sorted by gender at all… Probably by one side of the floor with the bathroom being male, the other side of the floor with the other comminity bathroom being female. What is your major and where do you come from? My son is from Los Angeles, loves to snowboard, is athletic and plays soccer and tennis…Also a very nice guy, smart but balanced, not a nerdy engineer type at all. Just a kid who finds math easy and has a problem solving kind of brain. He does not know anyone going to Boulder… But he is not concerned, feels it will be easy to make friends. He is sooo looking forward to going there! He also got admitted to UCLA (not an easy feat!) but he is turning it down to go to CU! By the way, he picked Baker because he really wanted to be around Farrand Field…</p>