University of Colorado Boulder Top Questions

Most of the classes I have taken have been pretty big so the teachers dont really get to know your name. This kind of sucks as far as letters of recommendations go. The classes are pretty cool, but you get out of them what you put in. People spend a lot time studying outside of school, depending on their major. I dont really feel like the atmosphere is very competitive, which is nice. Class participation is common because of clickers but most classes are too big to be able to have group discussions or anything like that.

You can get as much out of your academics as you put into them. Yeah, there are tens of thousands of students here, but if you email your professors, even in a class of 300, you can get to know them if you want to. You are free to be as active or as passive as you want; nobody forces you to move, but you are allowed to move if you wish.

CU is a large campus, it is of course all walkable, but the classes for sure diverse in size. I have lectures with 400 people, and I have classes with 20 people. It just varies, and once you really get into your major your junior year, all of the classes because more intimate and small. Everytime you walk into a coffee shop in Boulder you can listen to all of the students and professors having some of the most intellegent conversations I have ever heard. you name it, politics, philosophy, athletics, etc. CU attracts people who know how to have fun, but also know when to study and do well in their classes.

Academics depend so much on your major that it's hard to answer this question accurately. Classes range from 400+ to less than 20, and these numbers play a large part in whether the professor knows your name, how competitive the class grading is going to be, and the experience of the class as a whole. I am a chemical engineer, and homework is assigned on a weekly basis. Some assignments take an hour, and others can take upwards of 10 hours. One nice thing about engineering homework is that if you do it, you are also studying for your test at the same time. I often work in big groups as well, which makes things much easier and much more fun. If you want to get to know professors, it's up to you. I know people that are on a first name basis with their profs, and others that don't even know their names at all.

I know my professors names. Favorite class- Sex, Gender, and Society. It is an open environment where anyone can say anything. We have really great discussions and share important ideas. My least favorite class was MCDB genetics, it was really dull and the material was extremely difficult. Most students I know study a lot! Many students participate in class. There are intellectual conversations outside of class. Students are very competitive. Sex, Gender, and Society is the most unique class I've taken so far at CU. I am actually between majors right now but have a strong interest in neuroscience. I go to many of my professor's office hours. I think Boulder's academic requirements are very manageable. I think Boulder has a good mix between educational emphasis on getting a job and learning for its own sake.

classes are fun, lots of choices. well-rounded core.

Profs usually only know your name if you introduce yourself, especially in the larger lectures. I'd say that study time varies greatly from student to student; some people are studying every day for a few hours while other study maybe a couple times a week. Some students don't need to study as often though. Academic rigour definitely varies from major to major and requirements often seem to vary as far as time spent on that major. I'd say that a boulder education is geared more towards learning for its own sake than job placement. There are no sort of direct trade majors associated with boulder like interior design, agricultural studies, etc.

The academics portion of CU might be the area where the size starts to affect you. Because most of your classes are huge lectures of 250-350 people, it's easy to feel unmotivated because you are just a number on a test. The good thing is that most large classes have a recitation section where you meet with 20-30 people once a week and talk about what you have been doing in lectures. You should definitely take advantage of these because they let you ask questions and better understand the material. Some classes, like calculus have around 30 sections of 30 students so you are guaranteed a pretty small class. Also, there are free tutors if you live in the dorms which is totally awesome. Even if your not struggling you can still get them. Right now I have 3 tutors and all of them are really cool and have helped me a lot. Inside a Boulder classroom, people ask questions and talk about what we discussed outside of class. There are always people in the library studying, but if you study all the time in Boulder, something is wrong with you. The nice weather and amount of activities going on makes it hard to study. I think most people do the homework to get by and then cram study before a test. I've found that classes in the Political Science department are pretty competitive as well as Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB). Some people really want to do well and feel that they should go about this by bringing other people down. But, you can always avoid these people and find others that are pretty laid back. Some departments have their own help labs or study groups to encourage people to work together to learn better. I find these to be really helpful and a good way to meet people. I'm an open option major, so I'm taking a wide variety of classes...from Survey of Western Political Thought to Genetics to Calculus. The classes are difficult at times, but it seems the intensity comes in waves. Around midterm time you might be pretty stressed out while a couple of weeks you might have nothing going on and you can do whatever you want. Professors are always available during office hours and although you are just one of the masses, they try to form a relationship with you and help you out as much as possible.

only some professors know my name, that is if you go talk to them several times, but even then the big lectures they still wont know your name because there are so many students. I would say my favorite class right now is either my cognitive psych class or child and adolescent psych class. My least favorite is Humanities 1020. Students take school very seriously and study at least a few hours a day. Students are very competitive, it seems as though, they are always trying to do better even if they did get a high A on the test. Boulders academic requirements are pretty high, especially for law, medicine, and the school of business. This school seems to be very competitive when it comes to getting into. I feel like the school is geared towards both getting a job and just a learning experience, as there are opportunities to get an internship within your department of study, but CU also gives you the opportunity to take other classes not within your department, to broaden your learnings.

As a current Communication Major, I remember being elated when I was accepted into the program. Since then, both my major and non-major classes have been challenging, and informative. All the professors have been approachable, and most know me by name. Office hours are a wonderful tool, and CU itself does not employ any professors exclusively for research. All the professors on campus teach a class, making them committed to education before research. The academic requirements are rigorous, but leave you with a degree equipped for the real world. The students here have a passion for learning, but rarely a competitive outlook. Instead, I feel they learn from each other, taking experiences from each person they meet, and using that to enhance their education.