University of Colorado Boulder Top Questions

While Boulder is a big campus, it's not difficult to find smaller classes. The only large class that I've been in has been about 150, because it was an intro level class; however, most of the classes are smaller and professors not only know your name but understand your interests and cater to that. Academics at Boulder are not involved outside of the classroom, where it earns its "party school" reputation.

Professors always knew my name just because I went to office hours all the time, which I highly reccomend!! If you want to get good grades get to know your professors and go to office hours, they are there to help but you have to go and get it, it will not just come to you. I love my major and am very interessted in all my classes. Do not take classes that you are not interested in because you wont do well. I have noticed to do well in a class I have to really enjoy the material.

Professors in smaller classes really do take the time to get to know you. If you sit in the front row of big classes, they will get to know you too. They are always willing to spend a lot of time with you outside of class, and instead of the conventional 'office' time - they usually take you out to coffee. its nice.

I'd recommends taking a RAP class. I took many my freshman year and I got to know my professors really well and take some interesting classes including Meditation, Literature and Social Violence, and a class on Gandhi and non-violent practices.

Academics at Boulder are challenging, but the professors will take the time to help if you, the student, take the time to get the help you need. It's a tough transition at first from high school workload to college level workload, but the professors and academic advisors want every student to succeed, so they are available to help. One of the really cool things about freshman year was that when I needed help, my classmates were always willing to study with me and/or help me. Especially in the dorms, it's really nice to meet up with classmates in the study rooms and help each other understand material. During finals, it was really cool to walk around the dorms or other areas of campus and see students helping each other and see all the knowledge at work. The professors I've had so far have all been extremely nice and really cool at the same time; imagine that, a cool professor. All in all, the academic situation is challenging but interesting at the same time.

At Boulder the classes can range from 15 or 20 people in a class to 200 people in an auditorium. The classes which are very large however have the recitations which allow you to ask questions in a smaller class setting. I also feel like there are options to let you explore what you want to do in the future, as well as many classes that are taken for the sake of learning.

Boulder has a wide variety of majors and areas of focus to choose from. Whether you are in the school of Business, Arts and Sciences, or Engineering, you will find that Boulder has plenty to offer and is well respected in every field of study. For your first two years of course work you will encounter large class sizes, some of them 500+ students, where professors do not know your name. After that and as you get into the more focused areas of study class sizes will drop off dramatically, most upper level classes average anywhere from 12 to 50 students. My favorite class at CU was Deviance in US Society, this class was one of those with well over 500 students and was one of the most challenging classes in terms of tests and grading. This class discussed the issue of deviant behavior in our society, it was very interesting to me to learn the sociological study of deviance and how it affects our society. My least favorite class was Public Policy Economics, this class was for my major and only had 15 students in the class. The material covered public policy topics in our government and the entire grade for the course was based on a 30 page paper of our choice in which we were asked to develop our own public policy economic model. Students study differing amounts depending on what major they are in, some courses require more tests than others. Students are very competitive and it is very difficult to earn an A in most courses. I think that the education at Boulder is more focused on learning for the sake of learning rather than gearing up students toward getting a job. I think this is one of the best things about Boulder, and this has taught me to have a great appreciation for the value of my education and the importance of learning just to learn.

Academics are excellent! I can only speak for engineering, but let me say this, I am so happy with my undergraduate education! My teachers have all been fantastic, and the department is so open! They will help you with whatever you need, and want to see you succeed. If you are going into engineering, regardless of what focus, track down a Janet De Grazia and ask her any questions you have! She's brilliant and knows everything about everything!! Stay on track as it is easy to get distracted in Boulder.

Most professors don't know my name and most classes are pretty big. If you go here, you have to take recitations which are ridiculous. Most colleges don't do that. Boulder students don't have intellectual conversations outside of class because they are too busy partying. Students aren't really competitive either because they don't care. Boulder doesn't really help you when you are struggling; it seems as if they want you to fail. Boulder isn't geared towards jobs or learning; it's geared towards them making as much money as they possibly can.

Academics are not tough unless you choose to take tough classes. If you major in a science or engineering expect to get your ass handed to you because those departments are first-class. We've got nobel laureates and our school is really proud of it, so science profs are always very involved in research in addition to teaching. I've had some amazing profs who inspired me to pursue their field of interest, and then some who suuuck at teaching, but it varies a lot by majors.