Housing Issues

This discussion was created from comments split from: Class of 2023 undergrad/Class of 2021 grad: The Tours, the Auditions, the Journey.

Class of 2023. Avoid CU Boulder. But if you have your heart set on it, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Apply for housing as soon as you get accepted, even if you aren’t sure you are going. You could end up living in off-campus housing - yes - moms and dads - off campus housing for your children heading away from home for the first time. My child has to ride her bike to school (in traffic) because bus doesn’t run as often or fast as they say. Why would you put kids who are in their first year, who don’t know the area, the school, etc. in off campus housing. I worried for weeks at the beginning of the school year about her safety. How about some transparency on the tours that “oh btw, we have dorms that are off campus, and your child may be living there.”

Below is excerpt of data collected by the university that if your child gets stuck in off-campus housing, they are starting at a disadvantage. CU Boulder conducts studies on student RETENTION and PREDICTED GPA by the resident halls the students live in. My daughter got stuck in probably the oldest dorm in Williams Village; her room is like a prison cell. No sunlight, poor lighting, old. With the living conditions, no real college experience because you live off campus, no wonder retention and GPA of the kids living in Williams Village is lower than the overall student average.

Here’s the link: https://www.colorado.edu/oda/institutional-research/student-data/campus-life
File name: Freshman retention and graduation rates by residence hall (Excel)

This first table is for Retention, the one below is Predicted GPA (excerpts).

RETENTION
Group Res Hall Name Measure _2013 _2014 _2015 _2016 _2017
All Aden Hall Resident 76% 77% 80% 72% 78%
All Kittredge West Hall Resident 65% 66% 76% 74% 77%
All Brackett Hall Resident 72% 64% 60% 81% 72%
All Andrews Hall Resident 77% 82% 65% 68% 69%
All Smith Hall Resident 69% 66% 70% 63% 68%
All Crosman Hall Resident 68% 65% 62% 72% 67%
All Cockerell Hall Resident 55% 54% 53% 58% 65%
All ZZ - No Res Hall Resident 79% 77% 70% 60% 65%
All Cheyenne-Arapaho Hall Resident 54% 60% 59% 61% 61%
All Kittredge Central Hall Resident 68% 70% 62% 74% 54%
All Baker Hall Resident 63% 51% 53% 54%
All Libby Hall Resident 59% 49% 54% 50% 52%

All All Students Resident 55% 53% 53% 52% 51%

All Willard Hall Resident 52% 50% 46% 43% 50%
All Hallett Hall Resident 52% 50% 51% 55% 49%
All Farrand Hall Resident 46% 36% 48% 46% 49%
All Arnett Hall Resident 49% 46% 57% 48% 48%

WILLIAMS VILLAGE (this group of dorms)
All Darley South Hall Resident 41% 44% 48% 42% 45%
All Darley North Hall Resident 45% 41% 40% 47% 44%

All Stearns East Hall Resident 44% 42% 41% 35% 42%
All Sewall Hall Resident 40% 42% 41% 44% 40%
All Stearns West Hall Resident 45% 29% 43% 43% 39%
All Buckingham Hall Resident 39% 47% 49% 46% 39%
All Williams Village N Resident 48% 40% 47% 38% 36%

All Athens North Hall Resident 49% 49% 36%
All Reed Hall Resident 50% 33% 26%

PREDICTED GPA

Group Res Hall Name Measure _2013 _2014 _2015 _2016 _2017
All Smith Hall Predicted GPA 3.46 3.47 3.47 3.48 3.47
All Andrews Hall Predicted GPA 3.32 3.39 3.52 3.48 3.45
All Brackett Hall Predicted GPA 3.21 3.19 3.31 3.36 3.44
All Cockerell Hall Predicted GPA 3.19 3.22 3.34 3.35 3.43
All Crosman Hall Predicted GPA 3.23 3.29 3.32 3.39 3.42
All Kittredge Central Hall Predicted GPA 3.10 3.15 3.14 3.26 3.28
All Cheyenne-Arapaho Hall Predicted GPA 3.00 3.12 3.20 3.23 3.26
All Aden Hall Predicted GPA 3.26 3.34 3.26 3.19 3.18
All Kittredge West Hall Predicted GPA 3.09 3.06 3.10 3.20 3.17
All Arnett Hall Predicted GPA 3.00 3.02 3.01 3.11 3.13

All All Students Predicted GPA 3.02 3.05 3.08 3.12 3.12
All ZZ - No Res Hall Predicted GPA 3.03 3.06 3.04 3.11 3.10

WILLIAMS VILLAGE (group of dorms)
All Stearns East Hall Predicted GPA 2.95 2.96 3.02 3.10 3.09
All Willard Hall Predicted GPA 2.97 2.95 3.04 3.11 3.08
All Darley North Hall Predicted GPA 2.95 2.98 3.04 3.09 3.07
All Darley South Hall Predicted GPA 3.02 2.98 3.01 3.07 3.06
All Williams Village N Predicted GPA 2.96 3.01 3.07 3.03 3.05
All Hallett Hall Predicted GPA 2.97 2.99 3.05 3.09 3.04
All Stearns West Hall Predicted GPA 2.91 2.98 2.88 3.03 3.04

All Buckingham Hall Predicted GPA 2.88 2.94 3.04 3.00 3.03
All Baker Hall Predicted GPA 3.05 3.03 3.00 3.03
All Athens North Hall Predicted GPA 3.06 3.04 3.02
All Sewall Hall Predicted GPA 2.89 2.92 2.99 2.98 2.99
All Reed Hall Predicted GPA 3.34 3.39 2.99
All Libby Hall Predicted GPA 2.97 2.94 2.92 2.95 2.98
All Farrand Hall Predicted GPA 2.89 2.90 2.93 2.96 2.95

Eastcoastmom22 is entitled to her opinion, however several dorms listed as Williams Village are not:
Sewall, Buckingham, Willard and Hallett are not in Williams Village, just to keep the record straight.
There also is another dorm under construction, now in Will Vill, which will hold 500 students. Discussions
have indicated it will be for upperclassmen.

Yes, I stand corrected. What I highlighted to indicate the group of Williams Village dorms did not translate when I published my comment. My child is there for the program, and it is a good one. But this thread is about Housing Issues, and I want other parents to go in with all information available in order to make an informed decision.

By the way, my opinion is that Williams Village is on the south residential campus . There is an entire residential south campus at William Village, . Williams Village is about a mile south. Its exactly 1.3 miles from Williams Village to
the engineering center on campus. Its a very nice and easy walk, I walk it all the time and enjoy it.

Look at U of Michigan, and there freshman live more than THREE MILES from classes, North Campus is a full three miles, and its much much much colder in Ann Arbor.
There are few safety issues in Boulder, its about 100,000 and has very little crime. We are not talking a city, Boulder is a very small town, with about 25,000 students and there is always someone to walk with.

With that, I would NOT use a bike from Williams Village, although its possible, I would walk. Its a nice walk
and we have a lot of sunshine in Colorado , all through our nice winter. Snow melts, its NOTHING AT ALL like the east coast. I grew up in New Jersey, lived nine years in Boston, and have been out in Colorado for 28 years, and
our winters are very different.

Please come to Boulder to understand and tour Williams Village where freshman live and thrive. Yes, a lot of freshman live there, like any public school, its a big campus with a residential campus. Tour any large public school, and all of them are similar, few are compact, and all have 1 miles walks! Guess what, thats good for your student!

Most do not offer the nice student housing and food that Boulder offers in fact.

Here is the nice REC CENTER on South Residential campus, (Williams Village) please do walk there when you tour CU Boulder:
https://www.colorado.edu/recreation/facilities/williams-village-rec-center

Here is the food area at Williams Village:
https://calendar.colorado.edu/village_center_dining_and_community_commons

Its amazingly convenient to all classes, and a beautiful walk! Kids need exercise,
and they will get into the groove. Coloradans walk, bike, ski and get fit.

Your child will get a lot more fit if he/she lives in Williams Village. Its a great school
and a wonderful housing system.

Much nicer than Berkeley, Rutgers, and U of Michigan’s three mile trek in five feet of snow!

GPA averaged at different housing may be a moving target , because of the RAP and Living and Learning Community housing system at CU. In fact there is an LLC for exercise focused students now!

https://living.colorado.edu/get-involved?qt-get_involved_main_tab=0#qt-get_involved_main_tab

There are honors housing as well, if high GPA is what your student is after, but I think that any student
can study in any dorm, and I know a lot of straight A students who did live in Williams Village dorms
and did fine.

Those GPAs look very low because upper classman at all public schools, including CU Boulder, move off campus.
So those are largely freshman GPAs. I am not sure they are accurate. At least at CU, your child can live on campus, but if he goes to Berkeley, there is no housing for sophomores, juniors or seniors that can be had, they have to join a co op, or get an apartment. So I see Boulder as offering much nicer housing, much better food, and much shorter walks than any other equivalent public school. Purdue is the one campus thats more impact, as is Georgia Tech,
though, GaTech does offer four years of on campus housing for students. Purdue, no, even FRESHMAN live in apartments at Purdue. Williams Village is a dorm setting, wth nice cafeteria, and Recreation Center.

A college experience is what you make of it. Living in Boulder, is FANTASTIC, and living one mile from the engineering center, is basically on campus. Boulder has a lively scene. It seems that OP’s daughter was shy or did not get out of her room that much. I don’t understand that, as CU Boulder is very friendly. No one hangs in their room in Boulder. Yes, all dorms are pretty small with a bed. They are not designed to be lived in, they are for sleeping.

I lived right by Williams Village when I was a senior. I walked through the passage under the highway (28th), up through engineering and by the basketball arena (when they were building it). Every day. All of my classes were up near the Hill.

If you don’t like the fact that big flagships have dorm villages, then pick a smaller school.

Also here is the health services center at Williams Village, so kids can get to a health clinic there as well, as on the main campus. I believe there are some academic buildings planned over there. CU is expanding all the time.
https://www.colorado.edu/healthcenter/hours-and-contact
I believe a large percentage of
freshman live at Williams Village than on the main campus, so there is a lively social life, and even nighttime cafes now.

As soon as they build the 500 student upper class dorm at Williams Village, there will be more students there than on the main campus, which houses the Law school and Business college, as well as academic buildings and the quad of dorms and some graduate housing.

Also campus has spread east down Colorado Avenue, many academic buildings are also in the east part of campus, such as the Biotech Center, and the Aerospace Physics research center, called LASP. Many students take classes
and walk that direction every single day.

Prospective Parents and Students, please print out Campus Maps (3 Main Areas) before you arrive for a tour or
if you are contemplating attending CU and as Eastcoastmom22 stated, apply early!!! However, there are certain
Living & Learning and Honors Programs, which are limited to certain dorms, so if you wish to participate, you’ll
want to check out location. Yes, you can be enrolled in the programs without staying in that dorm, but you won’t
be taking the Special/Honors classes, which are only given to the DORM students. You will take same type courses with all other student.

1.There are 3 GREEN areas on the Campus Map, which indicate Campus Property. Main Campus is in the middle
(to the left), where all the Colleges are for your studies and activities, extends down to Kittredge area on the fringes
of Main Campus, ending at Baseline Road.

  1. To the Lower right is Williams Village also on Baseline Road, which has 5 High Rise Dorms containing 500 or more students each; another under construction (Note: Baseline Road, is the end of Kittredge complex on the South end of Main Campus). So you aren't leaving the county - if you are in Williams Village. You can walk from Will Vill to main campus in 10 to 15 minutes, take the free bus, or ride a bike. Skateboards become a nuisance, as too many students...and NO brakes!
  2. Northeast Campus (to the right and higher) is the New Aerospace Bldg. (will be completed in July 2019) and will include other current associated studies, making up the New AERO Complex, as well as some residences currently for Grad. Students. Will this change to Aero student housing...no idea!

This University was built in the very late 1800’s, thus it has spread out since that time to 600 acres. Is now the
7th richest Public University in the Nation. Boulder, the city, has a very affluent population, thus Boulder is the
number 1 college town. So you won’t find much Diversity in the Student body, but they do come from 50 States
and many foreign countries… The Dorms on Main campus are old, mostly 3 stories high and the oldest Dorm is
Sewall built in 1934. Some have been refurbished in recent years, but not all have A/C. The weather is mild considering it’s Snow Country and World Class Mountains for Winter Sports.

So students, it’s for you to decide, do you want the hustle and bustle of 33,000+ people all of you heading to
classes, pretty much in the same area on Main Campus. You’ll all eat at 3 main places. Or do you prefer getting
some elbow room, your own sports field, rec. center, parking and new eating Hall. I guarantee you, you won’t be
lonely with over 3,000+ other students in Will Vill, unless it’s your choice.

You want friends…then smile, start a conversation, tell them your name, where you’re from and what your major
is. Ask them the same! What do like doing for fun! Doesn’t matter where you will be living, this works for any dorm!
Leave your dorm room door open when you aren’t studying. Others will take it as an invitation to drop in an chat.

My child is currently in Arnett, which has the lowest GPA!! but it’s very quiet over there in the Kittredge Loop so plenty of opportunities for study if one chooses to do so. Also close to the C4C. So it seems, as others say, it’s a large campus with pluses and minuses to living in different dorms. I did hear that the dining service/hall at Williams Village is amazing. My child actually went there to eat. So, indeed walking a lot is definitely on for students there, and potentially biking and busing. Not a huge issue for me or my child since it is so beautiful and the weather usually cooperates.

Now I know what carpet bombing looks like.

I think @Eastcoastmom22 makes a valid point, that should be absorbed by students and parents alike. . CU has a really good social life and the drop out rate is pretty high, but that is also pretty normal at many public schools If you look at say U of Missouri, you will see the drop out rate is even higher, and its something parents should be aware of, that public schools allow in state kids to attend college for a good price, and many run out of money, flunk out, or decide to take a break and work to think about what they want to study. Its not the same level of financial commitment as a private school, and the criteria to get in are lower, thus the drop out rate is higher.

Although out of state parents are paying a lot, so I do feel Eastcoastmom’s pain.

I hope @Eastcoastmom22 feels OK to fill us in on how its going. Your chart contained some good information , and
its good to know CU tracks GPA, and thinking about how to get students to study more.

Thanks to whoever made this a string. Not that many CU students have time to comment here, unfortunately.