<p>Can anyone contribute some first-hand info on life of an OOS student at The Mines? I’m reading that there are many commuters and majority in-state students, which makes OOS students (freshmen) rather lonely?? We are from the mid-Atlantic area and strongly interested in the school, but concerned about the life of a freshman who cannot travel home once a month or more frequently. Thanks.</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Hey there! Freshman year everyone is required to live in the dorms (with a few exceptions for non-typical students) so you’ll meet people from all over. The school is predominantly Coloradan followed by Texan and then all the other states. People from colorado may or may not travel home often, it depends on the person. I know one girl who travelled home on a fairly frequent basis and others who rarely if ever went home.</p>
<p>Additionally a lot of the people who do travel home may invite their friends and what not. But I would say the majority of people here don’t travel home on any frequent basis.</p>
<p>Over breaks (thanksgiving, winter, spring) the campus pretty much dies. Dorms are closed over winter break so all the freshman either go home or go stay with a friend. </p>
<p>Sophomore and up are all off campus unless you’re an RA. At that point Golden becomes home and traveling to see the parents can become very much like going to see out of state relatives. Something you do maybe once or twice a year. It all depends on how close and family oriented your family is.</p>
<p>Not sure if that really cleared up your question… But as an OOS student I rarely noticed the whole in-state vs out of state thing except Coloradans are very defensive about their state! 
Freshman year I went home thanksgiving and winter break. Took a road trip to Cali over spring break and if it had been up to me I would have stayed in the dorms over thanksgiving and gone home with a local friend. Now I travel home briefly (~1 week) over winter break and then briefly (a couple days) over summer if it works out with internship schedules.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Thanks very much, Devilbird. It gives us a good idea. Do you like your experience at CSM so far, and was it as challenging as you may have heard it would be? Do you think it’s possible to finish up in 4 years, because that’s a big worry.</p>
<p>Leyland - I have an in-state 16-year-old son headed to Mines next month. Even though we are 45 minutes away, he’ll live on campus. CSM strongly suggest even their “local” (Denver metro) students live on campus. They also have a LOT of weekend programming to make sure students do not get bored on weekends. They have a ton of activities going on. Plus there’s Greek life, which we were told at orientation last Friday is not your typical college experience…like everything at Mines!</p>
<p>I would suggest possibly doing some dual/concurrent enrollment or AP/IB classes in high school to help spread the load better and have a better chance of finishing in 4 years. It is NOT a cheap school, especially for OOS!</p>
<p>Also, get on their “Golden Application” list so you can apply right away in September.</p>
<p>Some stats that were quoted to us last Friday about the Class of 2017 - the “most prepared they’ve had to date”:</p>
<p>13,000+ applications
1020 freshman
150 transfer (my son had 47 of 55 community college credits accepted but enrolling as a freshman)
57% Colorado
43% OOS and international
Average ACT: 30
Average SAT: 1320
Average H.S. GPA: 3.8</p>
<p>Make that Class of 201<em>8</em>, not 2017.</p>
<p>Thanks, JulieCC, and congratulations on your son’s placement. Would love to hear first impressions around October timeframe when we plan to get the application in. Still worried about the low four-year-graduation stat, though. </p>
<p>Hey sorry for the late reply Leyland! I don’t check here often but here are my answers to your questions.</p>
<p>Do you like your experience at CSM so far, and was it as challenging as you may have heard it would be?
I personally have loved my time at CSM so far. For myself it is a very unique experience that pretty much no other college could have given me. Between location (“Oh hey look it’s snowing! Time to go get some fresh powder on the slopes!”) and a major that almost no other colleges offer at the undergraduate level I’m in love. It honestly hasn’t been challenging for myself at all. CSM was at the time of me applying a safety school to others on my list (Northwestern, Notre Dame, Vanderbilit, Purdue, GA Tech, etc.) but I ended up choosing it anyways because I fell in love.</p>
<p>My classmates freshman year were struggling at times with courses like physics but I had come in well prepared by my HS and breezed through them. I’ve continued to do so with my upper level classes thus far as well. The biggest change for me has been time. It used to be in HS I could go be at school 7-3 and not worry about anything including hw outside of those hours. Now I find myself at school for class, at school for projects, and spending a significant amount of time doing assignments at home. Rarely though would I call any of it challenging. It’s difficult, but your professors have taught you how to get to the solution or your classmates can help you or you can find the answers a hundred other ways. Really the biggest secret is time management and self discipline. That way you’re not spending all your time on hobbies and when you really need to buckle down and work you do so.</p>
<p>Do you think it’s possible to finish up in 4 years, because that’s a big worry.
It’s easily possible to finish in 4. My roommate (before he switched majors) was looking at 3.5 years, I am looking at 4 years (well actually 5 but that’s with a MS as well as my BS). Those who take more than 4 years are often doing so for a couple of reasons. 1) They’re working full time or near full time on the side. 2) They failed a key class somewhere along the way and got set back a semester or entire year. 3) They don’t like 16+ credit hour semesters and are taking it slow. The biggest one of those would be failing as certain classes are only offered once a year so if you fail it sets you back big time, but in my opinion if you’re failing you really shouldn’t be making it in the long run as it’s pretty difficult to actually fail so if you do you either don’t have the right work ethic or simply aren’t good enough to make the cut in a difficult academic environment.</p>
<p>My son is absolutely LOVING Mines! He wants to live there all the time (we are 40 miles away), year-round.</p>
<p>It’s the first time he’s really had to study in his life, but he came in as a first-year student but with 50 college credits so next semester there (Spring 2015) he will be a junior. So he has a much harder class load than most other students. He frequently helps them with Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, etc.</p>
<p>He is in a traditional residence hall and has NO LACK of friends. Yes, many students are from CO like him, but from all over. You <em>can</em> live in the halls after freshman year, but only at Maple or Mines Park (student apartments).</p>
<p>The vibe is soooo cool! There are social things all.the.time. So much so that we were really worried at the first of the year that he was doing too much. The campus is safe, the RTD - Regional Transportation District, that is “free” ($48/semester this year) is awesome since our son doesn’t yet have a driver’s license. Last weekend he and some buddies got on the light rail (bus from campus to the closet station) and headed to downtown Denver for a movie and sushi.</p>
<p>My son had a bike accident and the health services (also “free” with a fee) staff were awesome for him! He also got a free flu shot there.</p>
<p>He has finally found “his people”.</p>
<p>Devilbird hit the nail on the head about the 4-year grad rate. FWIW, my husband is an electrical engineer and took 5.5 years to graduate at a <em>much lower quality</em> state school, as did many of his friends. For instance, my son missed getting into Organic Chemistry (for ChemEng) next semester because it’s only offered in the fall. That will put him back a bit for pre-req’s since he has to skip over that and fill in with something else. He’s decided on a math minor and will most likely do the 5-year BS/MS program. He may do a dual major, too…maybe bumping that math minor or adding in Engineering Physics.</p>
<p>As for his grades, they are equivalent to his community college grades. He just had to learn that he has to actually study now. He also learned that the profs do LOTS of tricks on their multiple choice questions.</p>
<p>Design I (EPICS) is an awesome class that starts out teaching students what engineering is and how to work on projects as a group - something my EE husband has to do daily.</p>