Regis is indeed a Jesuit school with a vibrant campus and so many academic and social action opportunities. You just can’t beat a Jesuit education. Regis is located in northwest Denver on Federal BL. I suggest you look at the Regis website. I absolutely endorse Regis, even though it ate my Catholic women’s collge.
The University of Northern Colorado is the formal normal school. It has grown in size and range of areas of study. Colorado State University is research oriented with STEM majors even when including vet training of all sorts and sizes of animals.
Now, a point from the peanut gallery. Students can obtain an excellent education outside the top 25 or so elite schools. So, a school accepts more than a tiny percentage of applicants. That does not mean the school is academically poor, but has the opportunity to accept more students. Do you require your doctor, attorney, banker, childrens teachers, neighbors and all the other people you know submit transcripts from elite schools before you can have a personal or professional relationshp. What if your child brought home a fiance who was not a graduate of an elite school. Would you forbid that marriage. The author, historian Jon Meacham graduated from the University of the South. Of the horror!!!
“University of Denver isn’t ANYWHERE NEAR Ivy level. Its acceptance rate is over 75%.”
Agree not near an Ivy. Acceptance rate per 2017 admission cycle common date set was 58%
“CC is more selective than DU, so it is closer to the Ivies in that respect.”
Much more, around 15% acceptance rate this year.
Given your daughter is only 15, IMO I wouldn’t limit the schools you visit by either size, selectivity, or major (engineering). She could easily change her mind over the 2-3 years. It would be good to look at a variety of schools to give her an overview of what is out there. On selectivity, she’ll also need a range to create a balanced list of reaches, matches, and likelies.
My wife and her kids grew up just outside of Denver, and most of the top kids at their HS couldn’t wait to get out of the state. Because of the very high acceptance rates, I think many view the state flagship school U of Colorado as a backup. The kids both went to universities in the Boston area.
Boulder and most of populated Denver is liberal, the rest is well, not liberal. Including Colorado Springs. Your $40K per annum for U of Colorado is probably better spent elsewhere, unless she likes to ski. Having said that, both U of Colorado in Boulder and the Air Force Academy are beautiful campuses, worth a visit regardless.
It is possible for out-of-staters to find good values at western public universities – but typically not at the most popular campuses, like the UCs, UW, or CU. The best values would be at places like the University of New Mexico (which offers lots of out-of-state merit awards) or the University of Utah (where it is easy to qualify for in-state residency). Or at engineering schools like New Mexico Tech or South Dakota Mines (as opposed to Colorado Mines).
This is family vacation, but given the interest in Colorado for college, I want to st least check out 1 or 2 so I can let her know that she’s still loved even though the last three years have be spent researching colleges for her brother. I’m only partially kidding.
In general, oos publics with limited merit are off her (my) list before she even starts it, but she is the type who just could make it happen.
U New Mexico is on MY list! Also anywhere in the southeast with mountains or winter. Tennessee? Western Carolinas?
Can you visit students at the Air Force Academy? We know someone starting in June.
Re: Air Force Academy, other than the checkpoint(s), I would think it works pretty much like any other campus. The campus is huge. The visitor center is very nice. We didn’t mingle with any of the cadets, but we would see them in formation marching to probably the mess hall. Obviously the cadets will have a code of conduct that will be pretty strict.
For “southeast”, “winter”, “engineering”, and “good merit aid”, try U of Alabama in Huntsville.
You may not associate Alabama with “winter”, but UAH is at the far northern end of the state, just below the Tennessee line. They don’t have a football team – their sport is ice hockey.
Huntsville is a regional tech center with a lot of government-related R&D. The school is relatively small but strong for engineering. Higher SATs than the better-known “flagship” U of Alabama campus.
Fort Lewis is 6 hours from Denver, so really shouldn’t be in this thread.
While in Colorado Springs visiting CC and the AFA, check out UCCS it has full tuition scholarships available.
Tourism in that area - Garden of the Gods,
CU-Boulder, CSU, and UNC could all be seen in 1 day if you start early. CSU has WUE and good scholarship, probably the best value of the 3.
Tourism - Pearl Street Mall or go for a hike. If you have an extra day Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.
In Denver proper, visit DU and the Auraria Campus (CU Denver and Metro State both primarily commuter schools). If you’re into religious schools then Colorado Christian U and Regis.
Tourism - Elitch Gardens or Water World, Several Museums, Botanical Gardens,.
CO Mines
Tourism - catch a concert at a Red Rocks, hike Lookout Mt. or Dinosaur Ridge.
@mom2cats Bringing this thread up again. I’m just curious whether you started your Colorado “tour-cation” yet. I have 5 more nieces and nephews local to Denver who will be doing this process over the next few years. I personally know very little about Colorado schools except for CU-B and the 100 pieces of literature that we got from CSM, so as an outsider it would be nice to get another OOS person perspective.
NOT an engineering school, but Sewanee is on a mountain in Tennessee. It’s one of the best schools for living and learning in nature. Excellent academics. I’m not sure how generous it is with financial aid. Check out their video:
Alabama–Huntsville is a great suggestion, especially with financial considerations in mind. Huntsville is home to NASA operations. The New Mexico idea seems really good too.
Just to put in the back of your mind, if she really is still gung-ho about engineering down the road, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is in Troy, NY, across the Hudson from Albany. The campus is beautifully sited, though they could definitely do more with the setting, and the area around it not not nice, at all, and it is just a short drive into southern Vermont, and skiing at Stratton is not far. Excellent engineering school that does give merit aid. It’s heavily male, so I’d think a well-qualified female applicant might do well with merit aid. You could also check out their Rensselaer Medal, which schools can award to one student. It comes with merit aid.
Personally we really loved WPI, which is not in the mountains, though Mt. Wachusett (skiing) is nearby. Great New England LAC type campus, great students. Is much closer to gender balance in recent classes, achieving this, at least partially, it seems, with being more generous with aid for accepted female students. Very hands-on, project oriented program, if that appeals or doesn’t to her.
You can visit the AFA but you will not be visiting a first year who is just starting at the end of June. They aren’t allowed contact with the real world all summer. We used to go to the AFA all the time with out of town guests, and usually went to church there, looked around, etc.
DU gives good merit aid. It is a really nice school and I think well balanced with engineering and business, and the music school is tops and has a beautiful concert hall. The three biggest sports are hockey, lacrosse, and skiing, but has a respectable swim team, gymnastics (w only), and other sports.
If you only have time for a few schools, I’d look at Colorado school of mines to see a STEM school, CU Boulder to see a big school (which happens to be gorgeous), and Regis, which will show her a much smaller school. Regis has added nursing and pharmacy in the last few years and is very popular for those. It also has Div 2 sports, and does give scholarships.