My son applied to the Leeds School of Business and was accepted into the School of Economics a few months back. He received an email today with his new acceptance to the Pre-Business program. It says in the Pre-Business Program, you are invited to join the Pre-Business Residential Academic Program. The Pre-Business Residential Academic Program is offered exclusively in Williams Village North and in order to participate in the Pre-Business Program, you must choose to reside in this residence hall. I read somewhere this is is “not” the place to live as a freshman and he still has the opportunity to remain an Economics major. Any recommendations on this? Thanks!
The same exact thing happened to my son today. I’m happy that he’s been put on the pre-Business track but I also read on one of these threads that North Williams is not the desirable dorm. I’m not sure if that’s because it’s not one of the livelier, party dorms or because it’s far off the beaten path. I also read on the school website that it is one of the newer buildings so that part sounds good!
Parents/Students…Williams Village North is significantly newer, looks like a large hotel for 500 students.
Has larger rooms than you will find on main campus, each room having it’s own sink. Lots more areas to
study and socialize. They take older students as well, which can be helpful to new freshman. There are
7 different classrooms in the bldg. Last year they got a brand new dining hall for the Williams Village
Group.
The big disadvantage is being off main campus and having to take the free bus in winter, seems to
be their main complaint. Students with cars have access to parking not found on main campus.
SO it depends on your students. Main campus you have over 32,000 students going every which
way.
At the end of the day, does your son or daughter prefer to get away from campus…or does he or she
want to be in the middle of everything and newness means nothing! Which becomes the basic choice!
@Ann of the Hill Thank you for this helpful information. Are ALL the Pre-Business students placed in Williams Village North? Being in a new building with extra space sounds like an ideal situation for my son as long as students there aren’t isolated. I’m assuming they would still take most classes on the main campus. My son will not have his car at school so I’d hope that bus would come frequently
I’ve now read up on Pre-Business. Other than the bus situation, it sounds like a perfect way to transition into college and get prepared for Leeds.
boys2mama
I can’t give you any significant info on the program, as I don’t know any students currently
taking pre-business. Here is a link that may give you what you’re looking for. The Students
accepting the program will take courses within their dorm. They are smaller and more personal.
https://www.colorado.edu/business/undergraduate/admissions/non-business%20major/pre-business-program
@CollegeboundMA Is your son going to stay in the Pre-Business program? After reading about Williams North and the RAP, my son feels like it will be a good fit. He’s going to start looking for a roommate soon. We are OOS (Washington). Maybe we can introduce them
Williams Village is great because it is so new. The rooms, the grounds, and the new dining hall are so nice that high achieving students are choosing to live there. I have heard students especially like Williams Village because it is quiet and easy to study.
A significant portion of the CU Boulder freshman class now live at Williams Village. Its not isolated, because so many students are living there. Its quieter than the dorms near the football stadium on campus, on Folsom. Williams Village is walkable, to campus. Its located on Baseline and 30th. Its a nice walk and winters are not that bad here, dry and warm and sunny. April is the “hard to get around month” in Boulder, as April has wind, snow and rain. The winds have been blowing 80 miles an hour through the Conference on World Affairs this last week! Very windy, and will continue to be very windy.
We can still get snow in May, but remember, we don’t even plow our residential roads in the winter, as the snow melts off so quickly. All the major roads in and out of CU Boulder are plowed, and bus routes are usually plowed. Its not a problem getting around here in the winter. April weather can get old for some that are not used to living at 5000 feet above sea level. April is the most variation, from snow to 80 degrees, and it swings back and forth. April the cloudiest month of the year in Boulder.
By June 2, it will be 95 degrees though. We have hot summers, some years. Its the west, with clear skies, lots of sun and very dry air. We get afternoon thunder storms every day in July and part of August. It rains every single day
for 30 seconds to 15 minutes at about 5 pm. NO umbrellas needed.
I think a Leeds undergrad degree, is a bit better than a BA in economics, for students who want to go to banking, management consulting, become a CPA, or work in marketing, than Economics at CU Boulder, but the economics department is still strong. Economics can be a “catch all” major for so many arts and science students, that there will be a lot of drop outs in that particular major. (However CU Integrative physiology, the easy premedical major
has more students than economics right now. )
Note that any Arts and Sciences student can choose to transfer into Leeds School of Business,
see the rules here:
https://www.colorado.edu/business/undergraduate-advising/transfer-leeds-iut
So your student does not have to live at the RAP, but the RAP will be more serious students over in Williams Village
and living there makes it more likely that your student will be successful. RAPs are focused on studying a bit more, and that really helps.
Students that live in regular CU dorms on campus, can still succeed, but the distractions are greater.
Some RAPs are located near the law school, by the way, Kittridge, which is just as walkable and Willaims Village,
but a bit closer in to the academic buildings.
Most CU students move off campus after a year, but students can stay in dorms if they want to.
Williams Village has the best dining hall close by. Its essentially a residential south campus now, not off campus.