Though I will likely end up at Boulder (because it will likely be the only college that accepts me out of the 4)… I am curious. Which school is best in terms of campus, academics, surrounding area, location, campus life, and business school?
I know everyone has their own opinions, but I am curious to see how these 4 schools stack up against each other.
And as for why I am looking into UCSB, UCSD, and UC Irvine even though I think I will attend Boulder, it is because I am thinking of transferring if I do not like Boulder. UCSB, UC Irvine, and UCSD are basically my second options, and I want to know what they are like.
But even before I go to Boulder, how is that school too?
Boulder is notorious for being liberal, laid back, and not generous with their financial aid. As a Colorado resident, I’ll be honest, the rumor around school is that Boulder is your “hippy town where everyone smokes weed”. HOWEVER I’ve only been to the town twice (driving through lol) and it looks nice. Can say anything about the rumors though.
All these schools are similar, actually: large publics in a beautiful setting that tend to attract good students where said students work hard (business programs are selective and weed out the weaker students early on) and play hard.
Boulder students also tend to be very outdoorsy, many ski/snowboard/hike/mountain bike. It’s a pretty town, with lots of restaurants and cultural events, but it can seem like a bubble (surrounded by open space, a good 40 minute-hour car/bus ride to Denver, nearest city.)
Most students love it, though some complain that it’s an expensive place to live, frat-oriented, with little diversity that you’d find on every UC campus. There is lots of upper-middle class or well-to-do kids (usually from California) whose parents can afford the annual $55K+ OOS price tag.
Personally, I think that’s an outrageous amount to pay for a public school that has all the issues faced by large public campuses: bureaucracy, overworked advisers, lots of classes taught by TAs, difficulty in getting popular classes, etc.
OP, you would be smart to check how easy it would be to transfer to the UCs from Boulder before you commit to it. Don’t forget that the UCs tend to favor transfer from California community colleges before they take other transfers.
I got the impression OP is from California, since he’s asking “how is that school,” in reference to Boulder, and since it’s common for Californians who can’t get into the popular University of California campuses to go to Boulder, which loves the OOS tuition these Californians are shelling out.