<p>Ok, I finally have my college choices narrowed down to two. I'm really torn between these two schools, so to help with my decision, I've decided to seek the wisdom of the great CC gurus. My major is political science, and I'd like to double major in urban studies if I went to U of M. But hopefully I'll be going to law school afterwards. I'm a relatively conservative person, both academically and socially, but I'm not condescending towards people who aren't. </p>
<p>The University of Colorado at Boulder Honors Program
Pros:
-Three hours from home.
-Beautiful campus
-Lot's of stuff to do in the area
-Generally well respected, from what I've heard
-I'll be in the honors program (which I don't know much about)</p>
<p>Cons:
-Three hours from home.
-Lot's of pot-heads.... big time party school.
-Total cost for the first year would be about $30,000</p>
<p>The University of Minnesota
Pros:
-Sweet city with lots to do.
-Ranked higher than CU.
-Their political science grad program is top 20, so I assume their undergrad is pretty good too.
-Total cost: about $17,000 for the first year. </p>
<p>Cons:
-COLD
-Further away from home</p>
<p>I know it will ultimately just come down to where I feel most comfortable and what is best for our family. But given the information about me, what would you advise?</p>
<p>I think it should boil down to cost, in this economic climate. Cheaper is better!</p>
<p>Also, as someone who doesn’t live that far from CU-Boulder either, I know that a fair percentage of my high school peers are going there next year. Idk – if I were you I’d want something totally different and outside of my comfort zone, something new.</p>
<p>I’m already kind of you and I want something new.</p>
<p>Can I ask for some clarification? Why is Boulder (three hours from home, 30,000) while Minnesota is 17,000? Which state do you get in state tuition at? Given these two options, that seems like that may be a relevant question.</p>
<p>Boulder is a fun city and has a very (politically) liberal bias. I would have gone there if they had had more to offer in the biomedical sciences. The campus is, as you mentioned, beautiful. The school is decent in some fields, though I can’t say whether legal studies, political science or urban studies are good or not. I certainly wouldn’t incur 13K a year more debt just to be in Boulder as compared to Minnesota though.</p>
<p>I attended Wisconsin and lived in the midwest for a number of years. I applied to Minnesota for grad school as well. This is a terrific university in a world class city. While it is super cold, you get acclimated to that kind of weather. Unfortunately, the campus is less appealing and is physically separated by a bridge.</p>
<p>I think that you have made some good choices in choosing large, public, flagship universities. I am sure whatever decision you make, you will find a community of individuals that will help you along in your undergraduate (and maybe professional) career.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Boulder, but the U is actually a pretty good school. I feel that it is underrated. I’m doing dual enrollment at the U right now, including a poli sci course. Their undergrad political science department is very good. They have some great profs. Just as an example, my current professor got his bachelor’s at Princeton, did a lot of research at Harvard, then got his Ph.D. at Columbia. He’s an awesome professor and I’m sure there are others as well! He was also telling us today about how one of the most renowned HR people nationwide also teaches poli sci at the U. The cold isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be, although I have lived in cold weather all my life so that may be why I think that. I’d imagine Colorado would be cold as well, though.</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to help me out, everyone. =)</p>
<p>To clarify my residency situation… I live in Florida right now, but my dad recently moved out to Colorado for a new job, and we’ll be moving out there after my graduation. So although we’ll be living there when I start college, Colorado law requires that you live there for a year before you can establish residency. So for the first year, I’d be paying out of state tuition, which is about 30K. Minnesota already has a really low OOS tuition rate to begin with, but I also got a scholarship that covers the difference between OOS and in-state tuition… hence the 17K. I know, it’s a weird situation, but that’s how the finances will work out for me. </p>
<p>I could attend a Florida public university with in-state tuition, which is very low. But I don’t really want to be that far from my family (most of my relatives lives around Sioux Falls/Brookings/Mitchell, South Dakota, so even U of M wouldn’t be too bad), and I don’t really like Florida all that much. So whatever college I chose, it will be someplace new and exciting!</p>
<p>^ Minneapolis is much closer to your relatives in South Dakota (Minneapolis-Sioux Falls = 236 miles, Denver-Sioux Falls 679 miles). Minneapolis-Denver is a hefty 914 miles but there are almost always cheap airfares on that route because Northwest (with a major hub in Minneapolis-St. Paul), United (with a major hub in Denver) and Frontier (with its only hub hub in Denver) all fly it non-stop and are in keen competition for the business. It’s usually only about $200 r/t.</p>
<p>Minnesota is a better school and in your case cheaper to boot, probably even after you establish Colorado residency. I think Boulder is a great town, but when you’ve got academics and finances pointing in the same direction it seems like an easy call.</p>
<p>^ I totally agree with bclintonk.
I was born in Minneapolis while my dad studied at U of M. (well i live in Arizona now, but) In my opinion, I dont think it worth 30 grand to go to Colorado although it is only one year. Minnesota is way much better school in general and Twin cities is one of the best place to live (according to my parents). Well, though you may get attacked by a snow storm in April (!!!) once in a while. Though, I definitely vote for Minnesota; their campus is pretty good also.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the opinions. And yes, in the end it would be cheaper to go to Minnesota. Regardless of whether or not I’d be paying in-state tuition at CU after the first year. Any other advice?</p>
<p>If your parents are rich, I’d say take Colorado. University of Minnesota is good, but everyone nationwide knows about Boulder and I’d say the University of Colorado is better respected nationally, especially if you are going to stay in that area of the country.</p>
<p>The Twin Cities are also fairly overrated. They have a lot to do, but also not really. Not for a College Student, at least, and most of it requires you to drive quite a distance. Furthermore, the environment there is not great and there are a huge number of commuters and people maintaining their cliques from High School. The campus is also laboriously huge and spread out haphazardly. </p>
<p>Not to the mention ****ing mountains and mild winters in Boulder. I’m in Minnesota right now and it’s still not over 40, and hasn’t been consistently since probably early November. If I had a lot of money, that would easily be worth 13 grand a year.</p>
<p>You will have to deal with extreme snobbery in Boulder, though. Possibly the most extreme in the country.</p>
<p>Colorado-Boulder is an awesome place, but maybe not so much if you consider yourself conservative… in any sense of the word. It’s also true that there are some really wealthy kids there, as well as some pretty snobby kids. But I’ve met some very cool and down to earth kids as well, and it’s an excellent school.</p>
<p>And the weather in colorado is tough to beat.</p>
<p>A tough call. For something like undergrad Poli Sci I’d probably go by price all others things being close. However Boulder is an awesome college town with great scenery, a beautiful campus and much better weather. There are plenty of serious students at CU to make it worthwhile. I’d go to CU. I spent a year there and really liked it. Feels like a very tight-knit school and is much smaller than UM. Also much more national student body.</p>
<p>"Colorado-Boulder is an awesome place, but maybe not so much if you consider yourself conservative… in any sense of the word. It’s also true that there are some really wealthy kids there, as well as some pretty snobby kids. But I’ve met some very cool and down to earth kids as well, and it’s an excellent school.</p>
<p>And the weather in colorado is tough to beat. "</p>
<p>I spent a summer in Boulder, and even when I got to know the “down to Earth” kids, they had an extremely warped view on life, drove BMW SUVs around campus, and generally looked down upon me from being from the midwest and not having millionaire parents. It is a little offputting, but there is still that conservative Colorado base of students there to at least offset it a little bit. Conservatives are accepted so long as they aren’t the type that hold up signs like “I kissed a girl and I liked it. Then I went to hell.” </p>
<p>In Minnesota you’ll also have to deal with the “Minnesota Freeze,” similar to the “Seattle Freeze,” and more or less present throughout the entire upper midwest. That is, people are just not that social or outgoing, and generally do not get close or make many new friends. This is even more true because of the commuter nature of the University. If you are from Florida, you’d have a much harder time fitting in with other kids than at Colorado. People from Minnesota/Wisconsin/The Dakotas are just in their own little comfortable world.</p>
Cheaper is better!</p>