Colorado College Top Questions

Professors at CC almost always know your name. Participation is always a part of class time; most humanities courses are discussion based and in the sciences you are free to ask questions or make comments during the lecture. Students are much more cooperative than competitive. Continuations of class discussions can often be heard in the dining hall or walking around campus. Colorado College students are known to be smart, hard workers who also know how to play hard.

The academic experience at Colorado College is a totally unique experience seeing as you only take one class at a time for a period of three and a half weeks. The block plan has many pros and cons. One of the best things about the block plan is that is is rare to get blind-sighted by a really hard semester because you are able to stagger your easy and difficult classes so you don't get overwhelmed. The downside is that when you have a bad block, you have a really bad block because you are in the same class every day. Students usually figure out if they like the block plan very quickly, they either love it or hate it by the end of the first semester.

Because it's so small, the classroom setting is very comfortable and personal at CC. The professors definitely know your name, and you can go in to talk to them almost any time because they are only teaching one class at a time. You get their full attention. A large majority of classes are discussion-based, and participation is often included as a part of your grade, so you are truely held responsible for keeping up on the material. There are lots of pre-med students at CC, so grades tend to be a big deal, bigger than I'd like.

The most notable academic feature of CC is no doubt the block plan. Not only does it enable us to focus in depth on one subject, it creates an amazing opportunity for experiential learning. In some schools you learn about the geology of the west in the morning and then Shakespearean literature in the afternoon. At CC you will be immersed. After reading about rock formations in the morning your professor may (or more likely will) take you into the field to see the kinds of things he has been talking about. This concept is not just applicable to geology though. Language classes are often offered in foreign countries and the immersion continually proves to help studnets hone their skills. Want to learn how to draw? What better place to try than in Italy where CC offers Introduction to Drawing. Students are generally not competitive and the small size of the student body allows for discussion-driven classes. Being a history major, I have had the opportunity to form relationships with many of my professors and seek 1-on-1 help whenever I need it for research papers or test prep. Typically we have class from 9-12 and then the rest of the day to work (we generally have a hefty amount of homework). It is nice to work on your own schedule and have from 12-whenever you go to sleep to do reading or write a paper. When its nice out, you can play football all afternoon and get work done after.

Classes are almost always great. You learn a lot depending on how much effort you give. The professors know your name by the end of the first week and some will have class meals at their house where they provide the food. My favorite classes were probably my spanish classes. i love the spanish department and thier attitude towards life so we got along pretty well. While you go to class for 3 hrs, depending on the class, you devote a decent amount of time to it after class. Sciences and art classes require a lot of time for labs, projects, reports. Other classes do not require a lot of time. Usually I would say on average a student will spend at least 2 hours studying outside of class up to a lot more based on the difficulty of the class. However, it's up to you what you want out of the course so really the amount of time you spend on a course is up to you. Classes aren't competitive with students competing to get the best grade. however you will not excel enless you stick your neck out, participate and speak up. you almost need to draw attention to yourself and show others you are opionated, know the material and have an interest in the subject matter. The education you receive at CC is geared towards learning and nurturing the desire to learn. It's geared toward teaching you to think, create an opinion and express that opinion in a mature well thought manner.

I have the utmost respect for many of the professors at CC. I think many are challenging but fair and really care about their students. I am constantly in awe of many of the professors but I wouldn’t say I idealize them because many students are taught to view the professors, other students and texts with a critical eye. I think many professors learn so much from their students and I have also learned a tremendous amount from my fellow students. The reason so many classes are discussion based is because we have smart students going to this school and their opinions should be heard and challenged. Going abroad I was often faced with silent classrooms where students simply didn’t participate because the either didn’t do the reading or they felt that since participation didn’t affect their grade why should they do it. At CC even if participation isn’t taken as part of your grade oftentimes you still need to wait in line to talk. People don’t see participation as a way to boost your grade but instead as a way to boost your knowledge. And people often have amazingly deep conversations outside of the classroom I just wish more of them consisted of politics. We don’t have a very politically active campus but I think this current election is changing things. I once took a Comparative Literature class comparing the movie “Mean Girls” and high school social hierarchy’s in general with Machiavelli’s the Prince. That was pretty cool! I’m apart of the psychology department and while I’ve had my fair share of difficulties with the department (it’s a very hard major to get into if you don’t plan early and in the right way) I do appreciate that they take a natural science approach to Psychology. Sometimes they take themselves too seriously but then again I think most departments do. Taking Neuroscience last year however, was life-changing. The most intense academic experience I’ve ever had and I was on the brink of tears through most of it but it’s something I know I’ll look back on with nothing but pride and fulfillment. I also made some great friends going through an experience like that and a wonderful example of my peers being some of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had (that’s not to say that my professors weren’t also unprecedented). I really like the academic requirements but I think they’re probably pretty standard for a liberal arts school. I had to take the History of Philosophy for a requirement and I thought I would absolutely hate it but it turned out opening the door to one of my favorite fields of study. I also really like the block plan but it’s important to keep in mind it’s not for everyone, it suits certain learning styles. I really like being completely immersed in a class. If I like it, it’s wonderful to have that take over my life for 3 and a half weeks and if I don’t like it it’s over in no time at all. I definitely learned stamina at CC. One of my friends from a different school commented when we were traveling on how he didn’t realize how much you could fit into a day but I think that is the whole principal of CC. Getting the most out of every day. There are a lot of really ambitious people at CC but I don’t think it’s just about getting ahead or getting the best job (although there is definitely some of that), it’s also about people who love to learn.

almost every professor i've had knows my name, and the few who don't will make up for it by inviting the whole class over for dinner. professors at cc generally teach there because they have an enormous respect for the students, colorado springs isn't exactly at the top of the list of places to live for academics, but regardless, cc draws incredible teachers. i've had a bunch of different favorite classes, most of which involve field trips which can be more than a week long and only work because of the block plan. i spent a lot of time with professors outside of class, especially as i figured out my major and my years progressed. whether it was at baca (our mountain campus in southern CO) or at cc, they would come over for dinner, come to class parties, or we would go out in downtown colorado springs.

It's very hard for a professor not to know your name at CC. I say this because the largest class that one will ever see, will be composed of no more than 27 students. Most of the classes have 25 students or less. This number of students enables for a one on one student teacher interaction, which you don't see at big schools. I have had a class with only three people before and this enabled the teacher to have a flexible schedule were at times we did not even have to meet on certain days. The days that students don't meet in class, they meet in their groups and discuss projects/presentations/or just the general study session. Also, people interact intellectually outside of class (dinner/lunch, parties, small get togethers,etc)

Students get to know professors really well and have really strong relationships with them. They provide a lot of support in addition to things like The Learning Commons that the College provides. The requirements are really easy to fullfill. Some of the bigger majors require some planning, but that's why it's great that CC gives each student one free summer class. Students are competitive, but not with eachother. For example, there is no, "what did you get?" but students do take a lot of pride in their academic studies and work really hard. One of the best parts about the block program is being able to take blocks (and semesters) abroad. With the block program I was able to travel to Chile for a month to take a Chilean literature course from Antonio Skarmeta, a very famous writer. One of my roommates went to Italy for a block to study Dante, and other friends have gone to Spain for Landscape Drawing, Africa for Hemingway, London for Drama, and the list goes on.

Although towards the beginning and middle of the year I frowned upon the poor social structure of CC students, I would never leave the school because I absolutely love the block plan. It is difficult for me to imagine taking more than one class at a time. People question whether the block plan is a positive aspect of the college or not. Personally, I love being completely immersed in one subject. It reflects what it is like in the "real world": having one job/career path, and focusing on it strictly. Also, being a geology major, I rave about my ability to travel everywhere with my class without having to worry about missing anything back at school.