Founded in 1874, Colorado School of Mines. is a Public college. Located in Colorado, which is a city setting in Colorado, the campus itself is Suburban. The campus is home to 4,610 full time undergraduate students, and 1,459 full time graduate students.
The Colorado School of Mines Academic calendar runs on a Semester basis. In the school year the student to faculty ratio was 15:1. There are 300 full time instructional teachers. Degrees awarded at Colorado School of Mines include: Bachelor's Degree, Masters Degree, Post-master's certificate, Doctor's degree.
Quick Facts
Acceptance Rate
40%
Application Deadline
Application Fee
45
SAT Range
1250-1420
ACT Range
29-32
Admissions at CSM are considered More Selective, with ,37% of all applicants being admitted.
In the school year, of the students who applied to the school, only 8 of those who were admitted eventually ended up enrolling.
100% of incoming freshmen are in the top half of their high school class. 85% were in the top quarter, and 52% were in the top tenth. You can apply online.
STUDENT LIFE Reviews
We asked, and students answered these important questions about student life at Colorado School of Mines.
79 Students rated on-campus housing 3.2 stars. 5 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate off-campus housing?
69 Students rated off-campus housing 3.4 stars. 0 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate campus food?
82 Students rated campus food 2.5 stars. 6 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate campus facilities?
84 Students rated campus facilities 4.2 stars. 37 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate class size?
84 Students rated class size 4.1 stars. 38 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate school activities?
84 Students rated school activities 4.3 stars. 44 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate local services?
84 Students rated local services 4.3 stars. 46 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate academics?
84 Students rated academics 4.5 stars. 67 % gave the school a 5.0.
Colorado School of Mines REVIEWS
What's your overall opinion of Colorado School of Mines?
30 Students rated Colorado School of Mines
Miquela
Prospective04/30/2025
I fell in love with the Colorado School of Mines the moment I stepped on campus. Not only is it visually stunning, but the environment makes you feel like you are in a world of your own. Located in Golden, a small town just west of Denver, Mines offers a close-knit, small-town atmosphere while still being near a major city. Its location next to the mountains provides incredible views and endless outdoor opportunities. What excites me most are the hands-on resources available to students, such as 3D printers, woodworking shops, and other makerspaces, which make it easy to turn ideas into reality. With all these features combined, I am truly excited to begin my journey at Mines.
archie
Prospective04/28/2025
The culture stands out to me the most because it has such a gated community thats welcoming and teaches you how to improve yourself everyday. I love how the schools gets you ready for internships as well as job opportunites.
Zachary
College04/07/2025
Colorado School of Mine is a great school which will give me name recognition in the engineering world, in order to secure a better starting position at a company of my choice.
Grace
Prospective04/03/2025
I want to attend School of Mines for so many wonderful reasons. I love the culture of well raised kids who can have fun safely. I love the opportunity of a swim team, as I am a swimmer. I am so excited for campus life, I feel that I can relate to Mines students. I am very excited for the amazing level of academics offered at Mines. I also love how close to home it is, an easy hour drive! I can't wait to tour and apply!!
Grace
Prospective04/03/2025
I would like to attend the Colorado School of Mines because they are known for their good engineering programs and have a good computer science program. They are also known to have some of the smartest students in the country, ranking higher than Harvard, but have a much lower tuition.
Jacob
09/30/2023
It seems to be a good science school. The campus was easy to navigate and overall clean. Most people were friendly. It was easy to get help when trying to find a specific area or building (students were willing to give directions). The general feel of the campus was positive.
Sherel
04/05/2021
I think that the school is really good with some interesting things always happening and it is very easy to make friends. I find that you can always know where to go for whenever you may need help, there are so many available resources. I think that the culture is interesting and is definitely something to get used to.
Jaden
06/17/2020
Great school with a lot to offer those that desire an engineering degree from a top institution. The campus is great, athletics are strong, and the teachers make learning a priority. The class work is very challenging and your have to bring your A game to get to the finish line.
Roberto
04/10/2020
I think it's a great and tough engineering school. They provide a state of the are curriculum and the skills necessary for their students to succeed. In fact, most employers know that and constantly seek for new talent during career fairs held twice a year.
SheaLynn
12/17/2019
I am so thankful I found this school when applying for colleges upon graduating high school. Class sizes are small, professors care about your success, and I feel like their are so many resources to reach out to when I need help. Yes, it is a tough school and engineering is a tough major, but people are here to help you succeed.
Adam
08/14/2019
So far the school is great. I'm learning so much about Computer Science and I love getting to know the professors. The environment at Colorado School of Mines is awesome and the people here are very motivated to learn and be astounding in their respective field.
Robert
06/03/2019
I made some fiscally irresponsible decisions to go to the Colorado School of Mines, and I have no regrets. I really wanted to swim in college, and their DII swim team is the perfect place for me. The only problem with the school is that the ration of boys to girls is particularly lopsided. I personally love the intellectual culture, and have stayed up talking with my friends about religion world view and politics past 1 am on many occasions. In short, I love it!
David
05/01/2019
Though, I admit my experience with other colleges is limited, I think I would be hard pressed to find one as excellent as Mines. They are a university that is heavily focused on community and learning, and as one of the top engineering schools in the country, I'd say they're succeeding at both. They have a small campus with highly selected attendees. That allows for a small-town atmosphere which provides a closer connection to the students and faculty around you. The curriculum is tough, but that should be expected if you wish to succeed in the real world. Mines does well to prepare its students in life with its robust academia and professors who are always ready and willing to help.
Luis
12/27/2018
The thing about Colorado School of Mines is that it truly knows how to break a student down in order to build them up as a high-demand engineer/chemist/scientist/etc. It is by no means an easy school but it manages to pride itself on that and it's somewhat small attendance to provide students with everything they could ever need to succeed in their stem futures. Some of the classrooms are dated seeing as the school is older than the state of Colorado itself but many plans to renovate the campus are already underway. The teachers and staff mostly care about the students and the subjects taught rather the fact that teaching is their job and the source of their income. In my experience, my professors were always easy to approach with set office hours and were always willing to spend a little bit of extra time with me in order for me to completely understand the material. As I stated earlier, Mines is by no means an easy school. It's full of those kids in high school that thought they could get away with not studying for exams and putting in minimal effort in class and many of them face a harsh realization that Mines isn't a place where they can get away with that mentality anymore. It's teaching me, and it has taught thousands before me, that I'm not special and I have to put in the same hard work, if not more, like everybody else if I want to be successful in life. So this is my review on the Colorado School of Mines, the place where students go to die, but engineers are born.
William
12/27/2018
Mines is an amazing school. Nowhere on campus do I feel unsafe, which I can't say for many campuses I've checked out. I'm gay, and I've heard horror stories of some other schools. The RAs are all super friendly, the rules for the dorms are lax enough for everyone to feel like they have some elbow room, the food in Mines Market is always changing, and the professors I've worked with want the best for students. I worked on a project for Engineering Design; not only was my professor bragging about it, he found some people to help me and my team pursue it into the future and make it more than a mere prototype!
The fall 2020 acceptance rate for Colorado School of Mines is 40%. That means, out of _____ applications received in 2020, _____ students were offered admission.
What should every freshman at your school know before they start?
The advice that I would give my high school senior self is to either join a few clubs and/or a sport in college. I did not do either of those this year, and while I have enjoyed not having to worry about making practice for a club or a sport, I do miss swimming and having something to do. I would tell myself to join a club because they are fairly relaxed, yet there are so many on campus that I am bound to find one that will peak my interest. There are a few martial arts clubs and a Frisbee club, and I enjoy bot of those sports. I would encourage myself to join one of these clubs and be a part of it. I would also encourage my high school self to continue swimming after high school swimming finished and try to make the cuts for the Mines swim team. I didn’t want to do it because of the time commitments and I didn’t want my grades to fall, but after seeing the work load, I realized I would have been able to manage it.
Here's your chance: Say anything about your college!
Colorado School of Mines is unique in that the dormitory life cultivates incredible comradery. Although many universities and colleges utilize the traditional residence hall setup, at other institutions, a mathematics major could be paired with a photography major, who are down the hall from biology and english majors, for example. However, at Colorado School of Mines, barring testing out of prerequisite courses taken in high school, the courseloads of all first year students are almost identical. This allows for more effective study groups, and more immersion into subjects. By working with hallmates, the incredibly difficlut courseload becomes somewhat more manageable.
A person that is determinded to do well in college and is looking forward to making LOTS of money straight out of college and a good job, also the student should be at least a little outgoing.
I would have never made it in Engineering without Mines. It is incredibly difficult to study hard and do well at a party school. At Mines, everyone works hard and plays hard. It is really nice that everyone around you is working as hard as you and is supportive and helpful.
What's the most frustrating thing about your school?
The most frustrating thing about Colorado School of Mines is the difficulty of the course material. Even for a student who attends class every day, the tests are incredibly challenging and require knowldedge of topics never covered during lecture. Also, the lab portions of Chemistry, Earth and Environment Systems, etc. are almost impossible to succeed in without prior knowledge of important concepts in the topic. Granted, this is a specialized institution, and most students who are enrolled have chosen this school by their interest in high school and subsequently prepared for the subjects, the level of expected preparedness is astounding.
Colorado School of Mines is known for it's prestige in the engineering fields and other major mathematical and scientific fields. If you're wishing to pursue a career in any of these areas, Colorado School of Mines is for you.
Mines is great because the student to teacher ratio is low. Since we are a smaller school (around 3500 undergrads), we have many of the benefits and setbacks of other small schools.
Mines is great if you want to get involved. There are many opportunities for extracurricular activities with the school and community. Also, we are practically an hour from many of the major ski resorts in the state.
One of our benefits is also a setback in that we are a Division 2 school. This means that Mines doesn't have the capacity for a sporting experience like that at a Division 1 school.
Having said that, you can still have fun at games and show your school spirit!
What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?
Generally Mines students are thought of as geeks or nerds that have no athletic abilities and are socially awkward. In some ways, this stereotype is accurate. Most students at the school are engineering students, are into gaming, and relate every day experience back to classroom knowledge. I think Mines is also not given enough credit for the athletes they do have, though.
What are the most popular student activities/groups?
As a student at mines, Intramural Sports are huge! IM sport leagues for students can act as an outlet from the rigors of study and our IMs are well organized and offer something for everyone.
Mines has a great student council. They typically organize a least two social events a week, whether it's a new movie in the Student Center or a comedian on a Friday night, student can always find something to do.
Golden is in a great spot; we're 20 minutes from Denver and about an hour from the major ski resorts. Most importantly the Coors Brewery is located in Golden, where you can go and get complementary drinks!
Academics at Mines are very rewarding. Class sizes are small and content is challenging which makes for a competitive atmosphere. Most students who come to Mines were great students in High School and excelled in math and science. As a result, classes move quickly and you have to work hard to set yourself out from the pack.
Having said that mines is very academic oriented. There are many opportunities for students to seek help on a concept or assignment if need be. Teachers are accessible during office hours and there are numerous study sessions and help sessions outside of class.
Most classes are tough. Every major has a few classes that aren't too hard, but for the most part, everyone has difficult classes. The classes with more homework usually require about the same hours out of class as in class. Labs can be that way too. Time management is extremely important at Mines.
Where is the best place to get work done on campus?
If the computer labs are not over crowded I enjoy working there, If they are I often work outside on warm days or in the student lounge on cooler ones. There are a lot of places on campus to get school work done.
There's a large number of students that participate in sports, but there isn't always a crowd at the games. Student classes will host tailgates for games to encourage more participation at the games. There are some games where free t-shirts are given out. The school is so challenging that students just don't have that much time to go to a lot of the sporting events.
All students must apply yearly for financial aid. This process starts with the FAFSA.
Though financial aid deadlines vary by school, it is a good idea to apply as soon as possible. For the upcoming school year, you can apply as early as October 1 for the FAFSA. Additional school aid will be dependent on the FAFSA results.
90% of students attending Colorado School of Mines receive some sort of financial aid.
11% were awarded federal grants.40%received federal loans. Many students do also need to apply for additional private student loans.
