My son is considering all of the above. All have qualities that he really likes. Does anyone have any insights/opinions on these schools? I know he’ll get a good education at any of them. At this point we’re about to throw the names in a hat and choose. He’s the type of kid who can be happy wherever he goes. Tuition is not a factor. Thanks!
There’s a BIG difference between UChicago (urban, selective, intellectual) and Boulder (big party public in small college town) and Mines (academically challenging tech school in even a smaller town.)
Each offers a very different experience and education. I think your son should really think about what kind of atmosphere and focus he wants.
If your son wants Physics, I recommend UChicago; if Engineering, Mines and UW; if Business, UW and Santa Clara; if party/skiing, UW and CU.
Does he want to study engineering (which kind?) or physics?
And if he wants to study engineering, did he get Direct to College of Engineering admission at Washington?
He has visited each campus, and as I said above, he’s found positives with each school. He loves to snowboard and is athletic, thus the Colorado schools and UW. While at Santa Clara he was told many kids go to Tahoe to snowboard, and he also loved the location and the readily available internships they tout. UChicago is hard to dismiss because of its prestige, but I believe he is not seriously considering it since he wants a more balanced college experience. From what we have gathered, CU Boulder’s engineering is quite good, even if the school is considered a “party school”. UW seems to have the best engineering program. And I beleive he is concerned about how small Mines is and what seemed like a less than social campus.
He’s planning on engineering, not sure which engineering major, and yes, direct admit to UW engineering. UChicago does not offer engineering, thus the physics or math major there.
If he has ANY inkling that he wants engineering, then he should pass on Chicago. It’s simply not an option. Mines is well respected, but at the time my son was looking had the reputation as a grind, where students can be miserable. Even with direct admit to college at UW, which is a HUGE step up, it is not direct to major. He won’t get shut out of engineering, but will have to compete for his first choice of major. Santa Clara is MUCH smaller. That’s a love it or hate it thing. I personally don’t think UW engineering is better than CU. The rankings are highly flawed. Essentially, they are peers. In the end, all good options, with strengths and weaknesses. It’s easy to see why he’s conflicted.
Yes, Washington Direct to College of Engineering frosh will have to apply to their majors later, though the process will probably be much less competitive than the old free-for-all system.
https://www.engr.washington.edu/admission/directtocollege/faq
Colorado requires engineering frosh to earn a 2.250 GPA to declare their engineering majors.
https://www.colorado.edu/engineering-advising/get-your-degree/first-year-freshmen/confirming-your-major
Sunnyside4, You’re right that CU engineering is considered quite good, particularly within the aerospace industry. (Major government/industry ties.) I also agree with eyemgh that Mines is often described as a grind; a student wanting a balanced college experience (as opposed to a likely top salary upon graduation) may be unhappy there.
And about skiing: the better/bigger Colorado resorts aren’t that close to Boulder, minimum an hour (but often closer to two hours) drive one way. If your son wants to ski/snowboard regularly he’ll likely need a car. (And an expensive pass.)
Thank you, katliamom…I had not considered travel to the resorts. It prompted me to look it up and there is a ski bus for CU Boulder students and discounted rates on ski passes for Colorado students (but granted, even with the discount, still expensive). He’s grown up snowboarding all over, but loved our trips to Colorado.
Trust me, CU students know how to find the ski slopes.
Mines is great for engineering, but if he decides to go in another direction, it will be tough - look closely at other majors. My son wasn’t happy with the male to female ratio (around 70/30 last he heard). Golden is a great, (SMALL) town, but Denver and Boulder are only 30-45 minutes away - by car, not sure about public transportation out of Golden since we only drive up there.
@sunnyside4 again incorrect info on UChicago, they do offer engineering, molecular engineering to be exact, with emphasis in chemical, biological or quantum engineering.
I have a colleague whose son is now at Boulder in the physics department. He raves about the program, and opportunities. He has had great internships and faculty interaction.
CU123, thank you, he’s aware of the Molecular Engineering program at UChicago. It’s relatively new (2015).
I don’t believe UChicago’s undergrad engineering program is ABET accredited.
My D is an engineering major who visited Boulder, Santa Clara & Mines and only applied to Mines. She thought Boulder was too big and too party/football focused (she didn’t like UF either for the same reason). She thought Santa Clara was beautiful but wasn’t happy with the depth of the engineering department (didn’t have Chem E or Aeronautical E).
She’ll probably end up at Mines, although her favorite was Caltech (didn’t apply again, admissions tour scared her off). She likes the wide variety of engineering options, rigor, hands on opportunities & local hiking/climbing at Mines.
Also, there is a train from Denver to Golden and the students can get passes for a very low rate. The train ride took us a little under an hour from the train station to Golden in a snow storm.
Golden is now on the Denver light rail system, so transportation is easy to anywhere. It’s 15-20 minutes to downtown Denver, to Coors field or the Pepsi Center, to the state Capitol, and all the downtown concerts, ball games, hockey games, museums, zoo, or to get to DU where a lot of other concerts and games are offered. Boulder isn’t on light rail but has express buses. Skiing at Eldora is easy from Boulder and everywhere else is a couple hours.
I know a lot of School of Mines kids from the olden days when they were very short on girls so we’d come down from Boulder (to parties), and a few current students (mostly girls). I also know a lot of CU students, mostly engineers. The Mines kids are a little more geeky, but they know how to party too. The CU kids were a little out of control as freshmen but seem to have matured a lot. The big group that I know (includes my nephew) at CU are all graduating on time from engineering or business, have jobs or are heading to grad school, and enjoyed their time in school with some skiing thrown in.
CU and UW have PAC 12 athletics and top notch rec athletic facilities for all students. Mines has good swim teams and did win the D2 football championship a few years ago but it is athletics on a much smaller scale.
@CU123, Chicago has no ABET accredited engineering. Molecular Engineering at Chicago is really more of a subset of Biology, Molecular Biology, to be specific. It’s engineering in name, but not per se.
@SnowFern, not one, but two Caltech profs warned my son away from applying. Their words…“Caltech is not an undergraduate institution.” Word is, the grind aspect of Caltech makes Mines look friendly by comparison. It would take a special personality to thrive there.