How good are Colorado Colleges? (Denver, Colorado Springs: low crime, home, dorms)

[Reluctant Coloradan]

I am sort of new to Colorado, and my children will be looking for a college in a couple of years. How are the Colorado colleges compared to the rest of the country? I really think that age 18 is too young to ship a kid halfway around the country and would prefer to keep them near to home at least the first 2 years. But there is so much bad news coming from CU and CSU all the time. Plus, my oldest child is pretty exceptional and doesn't need a mediocre academic experience. Any advice from alumni or long term (maybe even "native") Coloradans? Thanks in advance.

[Crackerjack]

I am sure others will post about the universities you mentioned, but I know one source of information that you can look at and it is:
www.studentsreview.com
It is a website where students give you their reviews of the colleges and universities they are attending.

[BlueWillowPlate]

I like StudentReview.com.
There is also Peterson's as well as the Princeton Review.
I attended CSU and Metro. Our older son graduated from CSU. My brothers graduated from Ft Lewis down in Durango.
You know, any school at any level is what you make of it; you do what you can with what you are given.
You can go private, but be prepared to pay.
I have heard really good things about Colorado College.
For us, spending $32K on the University of Denver or CC was not an option.

[sandycat]

If this helps, I have a friend whose child turned down Harvard to go to CU. Now her circumstances were different than most and her reasons for turning down Harvard are personal, but she's quite happy there and in a real good program. Am I saying that CU is the best school? No, I think there are much better schools out there, but I truly believe that it doesn't really matter where you go to school as long as you take the rigorous classes and do well in them, especially for undergrad. For graduate school, I think it might make more of a difference of the program you select. As far as the bad reputation, I think you will find underage drinking, etc on a lot of college campuses and as a parent, that would worry me the most. Good luck. Oh and by the way, in Boulder, your kid wouldn't need a car. If you get him a nice bike and lock, he can get around very easily. The bus system here is unmatched as well.

[gpraceman]

I graduated from CU and really liked it. It is a beautiful campus and has a very good engineering school. Colorado School of Mines is also a very good college. Though, it really depends on what your kids are interested in studying as to what college is going to be the best fit for them.

As far as the bad news surrounding CU an CSU, a lot of it is sensationalized, blown out of proportion, and only represents a small fraction of the student body. The underage and excessive drinking thing though is not a small issue, and is plaguing many of our nation's colleges and universities, not just CU and CSU. With that issue, as parents, we can only hope that we have raised our children to make good decisions.

[COflower]

I am not one that is into acedemics as I am ADD (even at 38) and the school system failed me.

Outside of that, my brother attended CU at both Denver and then at Boulder and had a solid education. He now owns his own marketing company along with various other side investments and is doing well in life. I am very proud of him and his accomplishments.

My other brother went to ASU and had a solid education there as well despite it is known as a party school too. Perhaps more so than what CU was known for back then.

Seriously, you only get out of school what you put into it and what the system helps you with. My older bro graduated magna c um laude from ASU and my other bro had a double major.

Both are rockin' in the business world and I am dang proud of them.

CU is a great school. CSU is also a great school as well. Heck had they had more opportunties for add/adhd students when I was in college back then, I would have sailed through the community college system with good results.

Colorado is "high" on education despite the scandals of recent years. If you want, subscribe to the Denver Post and you will get a glimpse of various towns and counties around the state every week or two and you will find that the populations around our state are higher in college graduates than the national average (some counties don't apply simply because of economics in their area).

But the colleges and comm. colleges here are very good for upcoming graduates. Can't wait to see my oldest neice enter college next year. She was initially going to go to a trade school but has elected to go to a university instead. Where she's accepted in another topic entirely.

[.gif]

cu and csu are your basic public universities. i think cu probably has a better academic reputation than csu, but neither are highly ranked. that doesn't mean you can't get a good education there. cu has a pretty nice, small campus and i think most students enjoy going to school there.

[bashep]

I have to say, my dad went to Regis University here and he is a muckymuck at one of the top DOD company's here. I am not sure how important it is where you get your education, but how your GPA is and your people skills. Just my 2 cents. bashep

[trailrunner1516]

Where in Colorado do you live? The University of Colorado actually has three campuses, including one in Colorado Springs. The Colorado Springs campus has good academics, brand-new dorms, a conservative atmosphere and a low crime rate. A good economical choice!

[ew2x4]

Have you looked at surrounding states? I currently attend Kansas State University. It, KU, and WSU, as well as a couple smaller schools are very good. Between all of the universities, most majors are covered, and covered well. For reference, KSU is 8 hours straight east on I-70.