<p>I posted this in the College Search section of CC but I wanted to hear the parents experience on this too. Thanks</p>
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<p>Two of my daughter's safety schools are Northern AZ University and UC-Denver; they are two completely different types of schools. For those of you that have been on the campus, what can you tell me about UC-Denver? We are planning a trip there in March and we've done lots of web research but what are your experiences and knowledge of the school?</p>
<p>Know UCD well. It shares a campus (and some dorms) with two other schools, Metro State College and Community College of Denver. Nice, walkable and urban campus, just across a major artery from the downtown area. Since it’s so close to downtown, lots of food options, lots of social life opportunities. Campus is considered as safe as most urban campuses - that is, you will be fine with basic common sense. The dorms are sort of scattered - some fairly close to the campus downtown, some located a couple of miles away & requiring a shuttle. Until a few years ago, UCD was strictly a commuter school, and one favored by working adults. Recent changes, including the building of the dorms and the weakened economy that makes staying locally more attractive, have really changed UCD. It’s much more of a traditional school in terms of vibe, although it still does attract a lot of older students. School spirit is so-so partly due to the schools commuter-campus past, and partly due to the shared campus. Because UCD is not the flagship campus, you and D should carefully review the kind of majors it offers because it IS more limited than Boulder (the flagship.) Also, Colorado traditionally really underfunds its higher education – it’s usually ranked around 48th-49th in per student spending on the college level. That, combined with restrictive taxes, has resulted in all kinds of problems associated with perpetual money shortages and a constant budget crunch. Big classrooms, tight lab space, difficulty getting certain courses and an ever-rising tuition.</p>
<p>katliamom - Good info … thank you. I did not know they shared a campus/dorms with 2 other colleges … does that cause any conflict? Speaking of dorms, how are they … standard fare? </p>
<p>Of course, we haven’t been on campus yet but I’m surprised by your “traditional school” vibe comment. I didn’t get that vibe via the web … we look forward to the visit. UCD doesn’t have any of their own sports teams do they? Isn’t UCB the keeper of the teams?</p>
<p>By ‘traditional school’ vibe I meant that there are many, many more college-age students today than in the past, when the average student age was in the late 20s. We live in Denver, and know a lot of kids who go to UCD right out of high school. That wasn’t the case even ten years ago. It’s true that in terms of sports, UCD won’t be traditional school experience, though Metro State has some teams. </p>
<p>The sharing of the campus doesn’t cause confusion. Each school has its own administrative buildings and some classroom buildings. Students can take some of their classes at the other schools, too. And I don’t believe it’s an issue in the dorms. As to how they are inside, I think it depends on the dorm. Some of the dorm buildings are converted hotels so I’d think they might be nicer than ‘standard dorm’ but that’s speculation on my part.</p>
<p>Haystack - We live in Arizona and NAU is both a financial and academically safe school for her. We can do UC-Denver using the WUE program (150% of in-state tuition) and she likes the thought being in the heart of a big city. We have considered others and are still looking … got any ideas?</p>
<p>She wants to get out of the Phoenix heat. She’s doing well with her GPA (3.85 unweighted) and is close to Top 10% of her class. She’s expected to take the SAT in Spring and she should do fairly well (1,900-2,100) if her PSAT scores are any indication.</p>
<p>Personally, we are focused on financial safeties at this point because my income won’t qualify for much need-based aid and I don’t see significant merit coming. She is a strong well above average student. Larger cities would be good … she’d love Northeastern or GWU but they are just too expensive. We are also looking into SUNY-Albany.</p>
<p>*She wants to get out of the Phoenix heat. She’s doing well with her GPA (3.85 unweighted) and is close to Top 10% of her class. She’s expected to take the SAT in Spring and she should do fairly well (1,900-2,100) if her PSAT scores are any indication.</p>
<p>Personally, we are focused on financial safeties at this point because my income won’t qualify for much need-based aid and I don’t see significant merit coming. *</p>
<p>well, if she does score in the 2000+ range, then she will have more merit scholarship opportunities. Also have her take the ACT! If she scores in the ACT 30 or SAT M+CR range of say 1350, she could have options that cost less than instate…certainly less than 150% of tuition at UC-D!</p>
<p>*
Food options*</p>
<p>I don’t know about the food options at UC-D specifically, but I can tell you from the experience of my kids, nieces, nephews, and children of friends, that kids often quickly tire of on-campus dining venues and soon are looking to off-campus venues for meal variety. </p>
<p>Instead of eating 2-3 meals a day on campus, many kids will quickly change to eating maybe 1 meal a day on campus during the school week…and few (if any!) weekend meals on campus (much to the frustration of the parents who’ve paid for a 2-3 meal-a-day meal plan!). </p>
<p>Larger schools tend to have more on-campus dining venues, but that doesn’t always translate into staying on campus for all/most meals. So, be sure to check out what the off-campus venues are…easy to walk to, prices, variety, etc. It’s nice when a school has an area or two right off campus that has a lot of “student hangouts”. </p>
<p>I can’t suggest any urban schools but I can suggest some mountain schools that are inexpensive and will give her more of a traditional college experience…</p>
<p>University of Wyoming (also the highest rated of all the schools you are looking at)…
$21,500 Tuition/Fees/Room/Board for OOS. She would receive WUE so the cost for her would be about $15,000 per year.
[Cost</a> of Attendance | Scholarships | Admissions | University of Wyoming](<a href=“404 - Page Not Found”>http://www.uwyo.edu/admissions/scholarships/cost-of-attendance.html)</p>
<p>mom2collegekids - very true about the food options on campus getting very tired very quickly. Interestingly, NAU has 25+ food options on campus with several near the campus and UC-D has many options around since they got 3 pro stadiums (Broncos, Nuggets, Rockies) within 1/2 mile from the school. </p>
<p>Haystack - thanks for a few more schools to review. Always willing to take a peak at something that may have missed my radar.</p>
<p>“She wants to get out of the Phoenix heat. She’s doing well with her GPA (3.85 unweighted) and is close to Top 10% of her class. She’s expected to take the SAT in Spring and she should do fairly well (1,900-2,100) if her PSAT scores are any indication.”</p>
<p>Those are pretty good stats. She can do better than UC-D. She may get some merit money from UA and Tucson is about 8 degrees cooler than PHX.</p>
<p>glido - Though I’m a UA grad and her cousin currently goes there, she only wants to attend NAU if she stays in-state.</p>
<p>The biggest issue is not getting into a better college but trying to complete college on a $20k per year budget (room, board, tuition) with little to no need-based aid and no debt. Of course, doing all this in a place she wants to be … don’t we all love this. ;)</p>
<p>CatnPhx, what about looking at University of Oregon or University of Montana through WUE? With her stats she may get enough merit $$ to stay within your budget. The Montana schools are in particular affordable to OOS, and offer merit money as well.</p>
<p>Katliamom: I beat you to it…see Post #9 above. :)</p>
<p>But seriously, have your daughter visit Missoula and the University of Montana (or MSU). Once you visit, I can’t see how anyone could turn that location down especially if she has a fondness for outdoor recreation.</p>
<p>You’re right Haystack, you beat me to it. Great minds. </p>
<p>FWIW, my own Colorado-born son is in Montana. LOVES it. He’s at Montana State because it’s much stronger in the sciences than U of Montana. But we all loved Missoula, home of University of Montana, and he would have enjoyed it there too. And both schools give merit money plus have low OOS tuition.</p>
<p>U of Oregon has a very limited number of WUE spots, and isn’t likely.</p>
<p>Western State College of Colorado (Gunnison) is one of my favorites. Great support network, lots of recreation opportunities, and not an impossible drive from the Phoenix area. Quite a bit cheaper than CU Denver. It is set right in the downtown of Gunnison, which while not a big city is by far the biggest city for quite a ways around, and thus has lots of city-type services. </p>
<p>Two nephews have gone to NAU and had great experiences there. Flag is certainly a lot cooler than Phoenix at all times of the year. </p>
<p>CU Denver (I’ve lived here twenty-five years and still don’t understand why they say CU instead of UC) has some cool programs. I have the impression that they make more use of adjunct faculty for the graduate programs, but I don’t know how that plays out for undergrad. It might be a good idea to check into the actual availability of cross enrollment with classes offered by Metro State. I know that there is theoretical cross-over capability, but I don’t know if kids can get into the classes at Metro they might want. CU Denver student do not use a dorm meal plan to the same degree as kids do at a lot of other colleges. There are a plethora of places to eat both in the vicinity and all over LoDo.</p>
<p>^^Too funny. I happen to love the western slopes…but city kids dreaming ski and snowboard dreams wearing Bogner would be in for the shock of their life in Gunnison! We happen to know quite a few grads who wouldn’t change their undergrad years for anything…but then they loved the Gunnison/Crested Butte area and appreciated living somewhere with no Target, no mall, etc. etc. and the beautiful nature of the western slopes not to mention skiing with your profs on a great powder day. It’s definitely not for everyone. It’s a pretty special place. A friend of mine’s D stayed, graduated and never left but my friend has a great place to visit her grandkids. I like Flagstaff, too, and it is bigger and has big box stores.</p>
Also have her take the ACT! If she scores in the ACT 30 or SAT M+CR range of say 1350, she could have options that cost less than instate…certainly less than 150% of tuition at UC-D!</p>