How is anyone paying for CU Boulder OOS?

Popping back in to say one thing - Alabama is a great deal if you can get your scores up. I raised my ACT score from a 29 to a 32 (from December 2013 to April 2014) because I took an ACT class, and I received the Presidential Scholarship there (full tuition). It was hard to turn down, and if you’re looking for a great deal for your bachelor’s, Alabama is definitely worth looking into.

FYI for Engineering CU Boulder is in the top 10! Still, my son was accepted too and even instate he got the lowest merit aid offer from CU…less than any other school he applied to.

@rdtsmith I’m sure that UC-Boulder has very fine eng’g, but it’s not in the top 10. It’s not in the top 10 for undergrad engineering nor graduate eng’g.

These are the top 10 Eng’g. I suspect that UC-Boulder is somewhere between 30-60.

MIT
Stanford
UCB
Cal Tech
GT
UIUC
CMU
UMich
Purdue
Cornell
Princeton
UTexas

There are more than 10 listed because of ties

It is a very strong school in aeronautical/aerospace/astronautical engineering.

But to the OP’s question: CU Boulder is a lifestyle choice school for most out-of-state kids. So is NYU, or UCSB for students not from California. If you can afford the lifestyle, great. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Hi, I mentioned that a 29 got the second to top scholarship, which is $21,000 I believe, because it happened to my co-worker’s son. He did have a high weighted GPA and applied early, with a total of 10 AP’s. I know that it was in the top 25%, not the top 10%, but that’s what he got.

@Maggpie thanks for the heads up! I’m hopeful my ACT score will be way better than my SAT score just because I did very well on practice ACT tests. U Denver may be an option for me financially wise if I can receive the 21k scholarship.

Aerospace engineering, excuse me. http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/about/facts/rankings

My point is that CU Boulder has top engineering programs period. It’s one of the reasons it made my sons list after extensive research. But yes, measly merit aid and the price tag in general for a public is nuts!

If you are looking for a campus near mountains, Montana State University would be less expensive. Also Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO is in a great area and has a general engineering major.

It’s been awhile since I’ve visited this thread but I’d like to update everyone that I have been accepted into CU Boulder and just received an email informing me I have received the Presidential Scholar reward of $55,000 over four years. Go Buffs!

Award Amount
Presidential Scholarship $55,000 total
($15,000 per year freshman and sophomore year)
($12,500 per year junior and senior year)

congrats. Your remaining cost will be about $35k per year for years 1 and 2.

Is your brother going to UC Boulder as well?

I forgot to mention I also received 15k combined with grants and financial aid. Leaving around ~14k for the first two years which is completely doable. My brother is actually getting married this year (1 year earlier than expected) and because of that is finishing school with his fiancé here in Texas at UNT and then moving to Boulder in about 2 years for a graphic design internship.

I just wanted to say that I have two friends planning on going to Boulder. One is very wealthy and cost isn’t really an issue for him, the other recently had a wealthy relative die and leave him $100k. Nobody else I know could really be looking at going there.

Boulder is pretty expensive. My nephew asked me to review his lease for next year and I couldn’t believe how much he would be paying - about $1300/month, plus utilities, to share a lower level apartment with 3 others. I think the rent is about $1100, but there are a lot of extras that they have to pay with their $7000 (yes SEVEN THOUSAND) deposit, about half of which they won’t get back because the landlord will deduct costs for snow removal, re-keying the building, carpet cleaning, etc. And this landlord has a really GOOD reputation for being fair!

Boulder is just expensive.

@evanizer Did you get a Pell Grant? If so, how much? What is your EFC?

Congratulations, @evanizer on your acceptance and scholarship! Thanks for giving an update. UT Austin is a great school, but you seem like one who would take advantage of an OOS experience. Best wishes for your future!

Congratulations and thanks for the update. What did your final test scores end up at ?

@evanizer – I am very curious about that too! Did you receive the $55,000 Presidential Scholarship with a 1300 SAT and top 8% class rank?

@momfactfinder Since this post was made I bumped my GPA up to a 3.92 (4.3 weighted) and moved to the top 5%. SAT scores stayed the same though. The school I attend is a career tech high school where a 90 average is required to attend, therefore ranking is extremely competitive and basically by the decimal point. I’m wondering if they took that into account while reviewing my application? Or maybe I just got lucky with the incoming applicant pool not being as competitive as years past. I have also completed about 42 hours of college credit while maintaining a 4.0, those are considered “dual credit” and factored into my high school GPA as well. I’ve also been invited into the Honors program at CU and encourage me to also live in the Honors RAP. I definitely want to participate in honors courses but I’m not sure if I want to live in the Honors RAP solely because of the fact it sounds like I’d have to pay extra which doesn’t sound that appealing to me. I also have another potential scholarship opportunity from the PEAC program which I got an invitation to apply to. It’s a 5 week summer long program paid for by colorado and from what it sounds like I can receive up to another $3500 in scholarship money.

@mom2collegekids I actually read the financial aid estimation wrong. Apparently the $15,000 was the scholarship, family contribution is about $6,000. I haven’t gotten my actual acceptance package yet so I’m waiting to see what my actual financial aid package or grant package will be (if I receive one).