The University of Colorado - Boulder

Date: Sep 01 2010
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
I came to CU through an unorthodox path to college, and it was only my third choice of schools. Now that i'm here, though, I wouldn't rather be doing anything else with my life right now.

The city of Boulder is, to me, the perfect college town. The Hill, right next to campus, is where all the best restaurants (for college students) in town are, as well as some of the more popular bars and head shops. Pearl Street is downtown Boulder, where the higher end retail outlets, bars and restaurants are. It's also one of the best places in the world for people watching - Boulder's amazing variety of people of all different backgrounds and appearances is most apparent there. On weekends you will see people out and about well into the early morning in both these places. Both have been affected by the recession, and more than a few Medical Marijuana dispensaries have appeared to fill vacant lots.

There is no shortage of things to do if you love the outdoors, as there is a myriad of hiking, swimming (boulder reservoir), mountain biking, and rock climbing opportunities - and everything else you can think of that does not include an ocean. The town itself is obsessed with fitness, and the school is no exception. Everybody's obsessed with working out, even the multitude of kids who smoke pot and cigarettes like fiends. Colorado has the lowest rate of obesity In the time i've been here, I can honestly not recall ever seeing an obese person. And such a person would stick out like a sore thumb in Boulder. If you like wading through oceans of attractive people, you'll like it here.

Back to CU, If you want a school with a huge variety of people, CU is for you. In-state / Out-of-state is split 53%/47%. On my floor in the dorm, only 4 out of the 12 kids were from Colorado. About half of out of state people come from California (about 10% of the school's total population comes from Cali), Illinois, New York and Texas in roughly that order. The other half comes from a fairly even mix of states, usually states that don't have many mountains. Around 10% (!) of the school's population coming from California. I, for one, love the kids here, but if you come from a modest background, you may find you have much different values about money than your peers, as the majority of CU kids are rich (you have to be rich to afford out-of-state, anyways).

Just like the town, CU is a school people come to when they're tired of their hometown.

If you have objections to people smoking pot, you might not want to come here. I would conservatively estimate that 2/3 of the school smokes. I haven't been in a group for class yet where every member doesn't smoke weed. It seems like it grows on the streets here, there is a dispensary for every 1,000 people in Boulder, supplying the city and CU kids with an abundance of cheap, potent cannabis. The party life is hopping with no shortage of parties, though you might have trouble getting in if you're 1. a freshman and 2. male. Greek influence is pretty average. Drinking is also fairly average. The party life is usually strongest at the beginning and end of the year. Come winter time, CU becomes more of a

Get stoned, play videogames, and snowboard

school than a party school since nobody wants to go outside and has to wake up early to go skiing and snowboarding on.The mountains here are also awesome if you like to ski or snowboard. The best are at least 90 minutes away, though. Just about everyone I know goes to the mountain with their circle of friends on the weekends.

The humanities and environmental studies departments are fantastic. They really want you to learn something and succeed once you graduate. I have never had trouble reaching my professors or getting help for classes. Academic difficulty is slightly higher than average for a state school, from what I know from friends from other schools and friends who transferred here from somewhere else. There is generally not much busy work, and I haven't felt like any professors have graded me unfairly so far.

If you live in the dorms, try not to live in Williams Village or you will have to take the bus to campus and may end up skipping class a lot because of it. If you can get a dorm such as Sewall or Baker with an Residential Academic Program, do it. Your classes are taught in your dorm with very small class sizes compared to regular freshman intro classes. I met my current roommates through this.