Colorado College Top Questions

The best thing about Colorado College are the opportunities there are to study abroad. With the block plan you have the chance to study abroad for one block, an entire semester, or during the summer. Right after my freshman year I w able to study in Spain for two blocks and it was something I will never forget.

CC is a nice small school where everyone is incredibly friendly and enthusiastic. Students all seem to love the school but are lacking school spirit regarding sports. It is nice to be able to walk around campus and see familiar faces everywhere I go. Unfortunately the majority of Colorado Spring dislikes the school, but there are a few cute coffee shops and an excellent ice cream place downtown, which luckily is walking distance from campus. Campus is absolutely beautiful in the winter when the christmas lights illuminate the snow along the walk ways.

Awesome size, totally perfect for me. CO Springs is pretty lame, and you neeeeeed a car to not feel trapped on campus. But its a fun community and you can usually find stuff you want to do. There's a weird sense of school pride, like we know our school is weird but we totally rep it. One issue - when I tell people I go to CC, they're like, "Oh, Boulder, nice." IT'S NOT BOULDER.

colorado college is way different then colorado springs, it is much more liberal and kind of in its own bubble. the opportunity for study abroad is amazing though

The best thing about Colorado College is the block plan on the honor code. It filters into our lives not only academically, but socially as well. We do things at full volume academically with hours of studying, homework, fieldwork, labs, and extensive essays. We ARE cramming in a semesters amount of work into three and a half weeks. The honor code allows our professors to teach us like adults, with no test at CC ever being proctored because they trust that we will not violate the honor code by cheating. Not only is this a great way to learn with great class discussions and in-depth analysis, but social lives on the block plan are equally as amazing. As intense as our academic lives are, our social lives are two. Block 1 and 8 follow the "Senior Calendar" with a party every night of the week, and the weekends are even better. The majority of parties here are theme parties, with people parading around in outrageous and silly outfits. Advice to incoming freshmen-bring a lot of neon and spandex. Since students are required to live on campus, our campus is really tight and quite the bubble from the conservative bastion of surrounding Colorado Springs. I love the CC Administration, the President is an incredibly cool guy who holds regular office hours in the worner campus center, and is always willing to listen and loves the school. The dean is amazing, and everyone responds when you need help. I needed money or a place to stay in Washington DC for an internship this summer, so I sent out an email to a ton of administrators, and after a week, one admin found a family of CC student willing to host me. You can do anything you want at this school, and with the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, including Pikes Peak-thats the literally beauty of it.

CC is first and foremost a great place to learn. You are inundated by a population of people willing to learn and also have fun, and you are with them all the time because you live together. I usually spend most of my time on campus either in the student centre getting a coffee with friends or alone to study, or in my house/hall with my roommates, or if it's warm studying or hanging out outside.

"Work hard, play hard" is the perfect motto for CC

The best thing about CC is the block plan. Many professors tell us that we work harder than most undergraduate programs, but we don't know the difference. We are all capable of writing a 10 page paper and reading 100 pages for the next day. Thats life here and everyone gets used to it. Because generally, even if you have that much work to do, you'll still go out that night, go nuts, get your work done, and probably end up with an A in the class. Thats entirely possible. Another awesome thing about the block plan is that lots of classes travel because that professor owns you for the block. I've been to Santa Fe twice, Alaska once, Chile once, and to several different places in CO numerous times. My friends have done better: one went to Italy, London, one to Greece, many to Chile and Argentina, and so many students go to Taiwan, Somolia, and Spain. Those aren't abroad programs, those are BLOCKS! We're the only school that does that much traveling, and simply because we can. I'm from a huge high school, about 4,000 students. CC is close to 1900 students. And this school has never felt too small for me. People react in different ways when I tell them I go to CC. Some people think I'm naming some community college, and that sucks. But for people who know the name, they're impressed. Colorado Springs isn't much of a college town, but we have good areas. This is also the Air Force town and a HUGE Christian town. Areas here are great for us, but most of the time the area is too conservative for CC students.

I feel like the size and number of students at Colorado College is about just right. The campus is small enough to make getting to classes bearable when the weather is just dumping snow, but big enough to allow for alot of different activities and places to go. As for the number of students, its just enough where everyday i see someone I don't know, but when I go out and party I usually recognize everyone there as have seen them around campus.

The best thing about CC is the block system. Bottom line. It's why people all over the world come here. And it just makes sense. Followed closely are the quality of professors, small class sizes, and Colorado Springs setting--the ideal college town with a 400,000 population so you feel like you're in a real city, but close enough to the Rockies that you can get away from civilization within minutes.

It's a small school of about 2000 students with students from almost every state and some International Students; Most students are focussed and know how to exert their time management skills. My best place to pass my time is the Olin fishbowl, which is a study facility located in the Science building. It is quite comfortable and in sense, away from the school, because not many people go there. My best experience was my first day in College. It was exciting meeting new people and just exploring the place.

The best thing about Colorado College is the location. We have a spectacular view of the mountains and I spend all of my free time in the mountains. The school is not too small, it is a perfect size. There is no college town, but there is the "CC Bubble" and most people make fun on campus instead of the town. The bars are less than impressive. Colorado College is cool because you can go to a D1 Hockey game and then have class with the hockey players.

okay so Colorado College has the block plan. I don't really have a good idea about how many people at CC really love the block plan but i have talked to quite a few myself included who dont like the block plan. a couple of things you may want to consider about the block plan before you dive in: three and a half weeks really isn't enough time to cover some topics so when you finish the class your knowledge of that subject may not be complete. the block plan requires a certain way of thinking. if you are a slow learner this is not the place for you. in any given class you move from topic to topic so quickly that maybe one topic didn't sink in the first time around. on the block plan you just have to move on with out a concrete understanding of that topic. the block plan isn't all its set out to be.

the best thing about CC is probably the block plan and the location. i would probably make more classes available more often--sometimes it's difficult to get the class you want. people don't really react to CC, it's not super well known and it is often confused with UC Boulder. i spend most of my time on campus in the dorms, outside if its nice, in the climbing gym, and with friends (at off campus houses). not a very good college town, Colorado Springs is definetly big and has everything you need but the school doesn't really interact with it very much. the administration is pretty fair but they've been cracking down more lately on drinking policies. the block plan is the most unusual thing about CC--we get four days off every three and a half weeks and only take one class at a time! TONS of school pride--people who go to CC LOVE CC.

Nobody knows about CC. If you tell someone that you go to Colorado College they think its a community college or something. People dont know about us.

CC is a really intimate place, which can be both a downer and an upper. There are no secrets unless you don't talk to anyone here about anything about you, and if you say something at all, it will get to everyone in about 3 days. Many people don't know what CC is, but those that do recognize it as a top school that is both challenging and rewarding. I find it challenging, but I am ready to move on. Colorado Springs isn't exactly CC-friendly, as there's a big military and Christian right influence in the city, but the few blocks of downtown that CC is near is quite great, with some cute shops, great bookstores, and fun bars. Jack Quinn's is probably the best place to go, and Shuga's has great food and delicious cocktails. This year there has been several incidents of intolerance on campus. We had a blackface incident, a homophobic incident, an anti-Semitic incident, and an extremely sexist incident, not to mention several instances of sexual misconduct. Something is going on here at CC, and I'm not sure what, but I am glad to leave this changing climate of seeming intolerance. The administration seems unwilling to take a firm stance on any of the issues, and makes blanket statements that attempt to please everyone but end up exacerbating the issues. It's very frustrating to try to act and realize anything you do will be forgotten in a few months.

CC has a lot of great experiences to offer. Warm afternoons filled with frisbee playing, campus golfing, and just about any other sport you might be into. Great block-break trips. And an academic experience like no other.

Colorado College is all about the block plan. It is what makes it unique and interesting, as well as what makes it a particularly challenging academic environment, its understood that only certain people do well on the block plan...its sort of a self selective program. I think the size of the school was great up untill senior year when you run out of new people to meet other than the freshmen (not always the most desirable friends for a senior), so it could probably go a little bigger, but I wouldn't want the size of the classes to increase.

I love this school with all my heart. I transferred here sophomore year from Duke, fleeing the university's large classes and research-minded professors and bad location. At CC, I've found people who are passionate about everything, who love to discuss classes outside of the classroom, who are driven and intelligent but so down to earth. The size has never been a problem for me because you feel safe when you go out and see a party full of people you know. Every party at CC is a theme party. A party without costumes and 80's music is no party at all here. Although Colorado Springs is a pretty sketchy location, (meth labs, military presence, the extreme religious right of Focus on the Family and the New Life Church), our school is a haven of sanity and safety. Our relationship with the community is an interesting one. Yes, there is a "CC Bubble," where few people venture off campus and we believe that everything in the world is as good as it is at our school. Those who are 21 rarely go to bars because campus weekends are so much fun. The school organizes so many events for us like Llampalooza, the big concert festival, bagels and brewfest for seniors, hundreds of speakers, comedians, winterball and homecoming, etc. The professors here really care about their students and many of them become our friends. It is rare to find a professor who won't have you over to his or her house for coffee and conversation. Few go by anything other than their first name and laugh when you call them "Professor __." They are always eager to help and know everything about you, from your hometown to your particular style of writing to what you are doing for block break. Many help you find jobs. Classes are rarely lecture based and you spend as much time learning from your fellow students as you do from your professors. CC is unique in that it doesn't require it's professors to "publish or perish," so unlike Duke, where professors are researchers first and teachers second, CC profs live for their students. Of course of the most unique things about our school is the block system. It allows you to get completely immersed in a subject to the point of an obsession for some classes. It also allows you to get all your credits taken care of pretty easily. You actually retain the information you learn because you think of nothing else for three and a half weeks. You never have homework on breaks because each block ends in a break, so you take your final for that class and that's it. The block plan also enables students to take blocks abroad or time off for skiing. I went to Ireland for a whole month to research and write poetry. Yes, it is a stressful system if you are taking science classes or if you are a procrastinator. You simply have to do your work when it's assigned or you are screwed. Missing class is not an option because one day is like a week on the semester plan. However, if you're sick, you only have to make it until noon and then you can go sleep for the rest of the day. Everyone here is involved in something. There's always some student activity going on and most students juggle multiple commitments with ease. It doesn't matter what your parents do, it matters what you do. These aren't the kids with 800 SAT scores and a house in the Hamptons. They are the kids who spent a year doing a Knolls trip, volunteered in Africa, researched Chilean weaving practices, wrote poetry books, worked with some White House senator, and somehow managed to get great grades at the same time. Block breaks are times when students volunteer or go backpacking. When the temperature gets above 50, every grassy space is filled with people playing frisbee, slacklining, reading, or just hanging out.

CC is pretty amazing. i really appreciate the block plan, and we have outstanding professors. it's in a decent town, gorgeous campus