I am fairly certain that my son will be attending Boulder in the fall. He is waiting on a few reach schools and won’t hear until March. How quickly does housing fill up? Is it possible to put down a housing deposit before committing to the school? I don’t mind losing a little money but don’t want to lose hundreds of dollars.
I’m basing this on things I hear not my actual experience.
I rarely hear of freshmen housing being full, but the “good” dorms fill up fast. Read the details on the housing deposit to be sure you’re comfortable, and if so I’d write that check. If your son gets into a reach school then it’s a small cost compared to the COA.
Hi @Marcie123 . Congratulations on your son’s acceptance! I’ve been through this four times with sons/daughters. My oldest is now a graduate student at CU. She lived in Andrews (Engineering Honors). That one fills up quickly and requires acceptance. I think many of the RAP dorms do as well. I believe the other dorms are a bit more easy to get a spot (e.g, “Willville”). That is not to say one is better than the other, just how it turns out IMHO.
My other two daughters applied and were accepted to CU but chose other schools in the end (Ohio State and New Mexico). Like you, I was OK losing a bit of money to get the dorm of their choice.
Here’s how we handled it… We had our child accept their offer and pay the $300 to the school. This money will be lost. Then, about 5 days later, they get a confirmation of their acceptance on the portal. This allows them to apply for dorms (starts on Feb 3 this year). You pay $250 (guesstimate) for a dorm deposit. THIS CAN BE REFUNDED. In order to get a refund, it takes a written e-mail referring to the section in the housing contract that states you can get a refund. Again, in the end my girls chose to “defer” their acceptance. In that way, if the school they chose didn’t work out, they would be re-accepted the next year without worrying about transfer issues.
My son is a HS senior and is now deciding between CU and Montana State. He’s accepted to both and we are pursuing the exact same strategy. Again, we lose the $300 for school acceptance, but we will possibly get refunded for the housing.
Hope that helps.
@Frogs12345 thank you! That helps a lot! I am fairly confident that he is not going to get into his reach schools and am willing to risk losing a few hundred dollars I think. I need to do some research but are the RAPs the major specific dorms? He will be a communication major. Do you recommend that?
Hi @Marcie123. I bet you’ve already done a Google search and found out about RAPs. They’re basically dorms with emphasis on something. My daughter was in the Engineerng RAP. I’m not sure of all of them. They also have LLC’s which are more about a dorm with people wanting an experience (like study abroad LLC).
https://www.colorado.edu/living/housing/undergraduate-housing
I’ll go ahead and give my preference, based on my daughter’s experience. I think the Honors dorm (Smith) is a great opportunity for a Communications major. I thought Kittredge was a good place to live and had a lot going for it. Again, I’m not knocking the others. Smith does require getting into and accepting Honors (I think). My daughter loved the quiet study rooms in the dorm and having serious students around her. Obviously not everyone is serious but we felt you have better odds around students that accept an Honors invite.
Again, congrats to your son and good luck to him next year! I hope my son chooses CU and is walking alongside him someday. 
@frog12345 he submitted his intent to enroll yesterday. I did some research on RAPs and dorms. Unless I’m reading it wrong, it looks like he is not eligible for all the dorms based on his college, which is CMCI. He will not be in Honors. His choices are Buckingham which houses the comm RAP, Hallett and Willard on the main campus and the ones further away in the Village. He’s going to do some research and make decisions over the weekend on where he would like to request to live.
How fast does the Honors dorm fill up? My son was accepted into the Arts and Science Honors and eligible for Honors housing. I definitely want him there as he will be happier in a quiet setting but we haven’t accepted yet. While right now our plan is to accept, it seems odd to accept before visiting which we are doing this weekend.
I’m not worried about the deposit but they’ve offered a large scholarship and it feels wrong to accept if for some crazy reason things go bad on our visit. I know that people accept without visiting schools but I had horrible altitude sickness once in the mountains and I want to be sure he’ll acclimate okay. I really don’t want to miss out on the Honors housing though. He’s a serious Physics major and I know he’d be miserable around too much partying.
I doubt it fills up before Monday, but if you’re worried give them a call and tell them the situation and ask if the honors dorm is almost full.
Enjoy your visit! It’s been a very snowless winter, but we received a nice coat Tuesday and a bit more on the way. Boulder is beautiful right now.
Thank you! The snow is a good and bad thing for us. Good that he’ll get a feel for winter in Boulder but bad that I’ll have to drive in it. We had a smattering of snow flakes and sleet here last night and people went crazy posting on FB and texting each other- that’s how rare it is for us so I’m out of practice.
I called and this year they have a different process. Not first come first serve. They are taking them in batches with the first being 2/3-2/20. I’m hoping to get a definitive feeling this weekend - provided they don’t cancel the tour, of all weekend I get the snow storm- and get our housing application in before 2/20.
I believe the first phase ends March 20 not February 20
Still snowing…
As an OOS accepted student considering CU Boulder (Engineering) is there any feedback on post freshman year housing off campus? Looking for ideas on general costs per unit and assuming you can share, and if difficult to get? Heard it can be challenging. As an OOS student, looking to see how to reduce costs after Freshman year.
Costs depend on quality and location. You can use a site like padmapper to get an idea.
Housing isn’t really difficult to find, but a deal is always tough. The affordable apartments are not in Boulder, but the student has to commute in. Look into the price of a parking pass or apartments served by RTD. The farther you get from campus the lower the cost, but the harder it is to find a roommate.
I don’t think there is a big savings in rent vs dorm when you consider location. The savings is generally from getting off the meal plan and cooking for yourself.
Off-campus rentals are plentiful in and around Boulder but prices will vary with location. Rentals closer to campus are usually more expensive due to convenience, but public transportation is reliable and easy to use so getting to campus won’t be an issue even from surrounding towns. Broomfield and the L towns (Longmont, Louisville, and Lafayette) are all easily accessible and will have a variety of rentals from which to choose.
My D rented a spacious room less than 3 miles from campus for $600/mo including utilities; her friends who lived on The Hill (the business district adjacent to CU) paid $900+ for similar rentals. D also lived in the on-campus Bear Creek apartments in a 4bdrm/2ba/kitchen for $900/mo including utilities and cable. Upperclassmen have priority for the apartments so those are another option to keep in mind.
Off-campus rentals begin pre-leasing in the summer for the upcoming school year so you’ll need to be strategic and organized in your rental search.
Thank you @AlwaysMoving and @mountainsoul for the great feedback. Very helpful
@scdmom How was the visit?
We really enjoyed it. The city and campus are beautiful. We had a great tour of the physics department with Dr Dubson. Right now we’re pretty excited about him attending.
As long as your student applies for Housing during Phase 1 they have an equal chance of getting their first choice(s) This is new this year. Please see time frame in the chart https://www.colorado.edu/living/housing/undergraduate-housing/application-process/new-student-housing-application-process
This is a different process. We are OOS and I have a junior there now and an incoming freshman
My son is an OOS junior Engineering student and I have an incoming freshman. Off campus housing isn’t necessarily difficult to get, but it is expensive. However, there are many options. If your child is an Engineering student he might consider the Global Engineering RAP which allows you to live on campus after your freshman year. My son lived in that dorm his first two years. There are also limited spaces in Bear Creek apartments which are university owned and managed. If your son doesn’t mind not being in the center of the action on “The Hill” there are many more affordable options. If they want to live on the Hill or in one of the very nice complexes like U Club of of 28th then they are probably looking at $1000-$1500 per month for their own bedroom. My son shares a VERY basic apartment just one block from campus on the South Hill area and pays $1075 for a bedroom in an unfurnished unit which included some utilities, but not cable, wifi or electric. He is moving to the North west Hill ext year and is paying $1100.It’s actually slightly further from campus and only one bathroom as opposed to 1 1/2, but is bigger. Hope that helps