<p>My HS junior son wants to go to CU for engineering. At 3.80 GPA UW and 33 ACT I think he will get in. My concern is he cannot tell me why he thinks CU would be a good fit for him, only that "Mines is too dorky" and "CSU is for people who can't get into CU". He does not see any reason to visit the campus or talk to the Reps who come to his High School.
CU is a large research university. How good is the education for the undergraduates? How large are the classes? Are TA's routinely used in labs and discussion sections? If the TA's or profs aren't native English speakers, can they be understood?</p>
<p>CU is a large research university and your son will get both the benefits and problems. My D is a physics major there. Yes there will be professors and TAs with accents who are not particularly invested in teaching. But there will be opportunities to learn at a level that cannot be matched at a non-research U. My D literally fell into a lab position doing nanotechnology - turns out CU’s Atomic / Molecular / Optical physics program is ranked #1 by USNWR. Taking advantage of this does require some degree of motivation and ability, but your son’s grades suggest he would be up to the challenge. (Assuming he survives freshman year - engineering students are reputed to be hard partiers).</p>
<p>I haven’t been to Mines but CSU does not remotely compare campus-wise - CU is beautiful and has a true college feel.</p>
<p>I actually like the CSU campus too, but my son didn’t want to apply there. YOu should konw that all of the state schools seem to have only enough room on campus for the Freshman class and a few more. Not a big deal if you live near enough to do an apt easily, but good to know ahead of time. If he does Engineering, encourage him to accept early enough to get into the Engineering dorms. Also, if you want small classes for humanities there is an option to do so with Engineering majors (or there was a few years ago when we looked).</p>
<p>Mines is a great school too. Dorky, a bit. But for a few thousand more you get a campus more like a small private (but geeky) school - no chance to change your mind on major though.</p>
<p>Agree that while you would get a great education at Mines, if for some reason your son changes his mind and DOESN’T want to be an engineering major, chances are pretty strong that he’d have to transfer. I’ve got two kids at CU (senior and sophomore) and have been very happy with their experiences there. Campus is gorgeous and we love visiting for the wide variety of wonderful local restaurants to eat at.</p>