FYI - I believe that Colorado College, which is a selective LAC in Colorado Springs, follows a block format of taking only one class at a time in depth for about a month. This is a very different educational format and not for everyone. CC is in Colorado Springs which is a very conservative city; however, CC is a very liberal campus.
Quite a few of the kids from my son’s HS go to University of Denver. The campus is fairly contained in a nice Denver neighborhood. This is a fairly small school and I would say that the majority of the students come from upper middle class families.
CU is in Boulder. The campus is very spread out and it is hard to get on-campus housing after freshman year. Boulder is a beautiful city and CU has a very nice campus setting. If you like the outdoors, Boulder is a great place to live. You are close to many hiking trails and skiing is not very far away. Boulder is a very expensive place to live. My son’s friend is sharing an off-campus house with four other people. His portion of the rent is $1,000 a month. He is not living in a luxurious rental.
The weather in Colorado is MUCH better than the weather in NY. 