University of Colorado Boulder Top Questions

The atmosphere. Great college town, pearl street is my favorite place for an afternoon of shopping or eating through happy hours, or why not hit the slopes?

Too big too spoiled too "free spirited"

CU Boulder is a challenging university when it comes to science, engineering and mathematics (I can't comment on the rest), but largely for the wrong reasons. Particularly in the Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology (MCDB) and Biochemistry departments (two of the three that will be awarding my degrees in about a year), the school has far too many professors teaching classes whose teaching abilities are mediocre at best. The math and physics departments have been great in my experience, however, so if you're looking for that sort of degree I think Boulder would be a good choice. I am not a lazy student, and it looks like I will be graduating with about a 3.9 or 3.8, but I feel the degrees will represent my ability to overcome abstruse teaching and unparsable English from professors who either did not realize that they are not very good at teaching or just didn't care. Most--and I'm very sad to say that it was the majority--of my professors, in MCDB especially, had a habit of making incorrect statements (and either dodging the question or getting defensive when called on it), coming to class without a plan and with powerpoint presentations they didn't make (the number of times I heard "Oh! Okay I guess we'll talk about that" from various professors surprised by their own lesson was just depressing), writing exam questions without checking grammar, spelling, or apparently having a grasp on the English language, or just generally displaying a profound disrespect for the intelligence of their students (even in the 4000 and 5000 level, upper division courses I have professors assigning unhelpful busywork under the insulting pretense that it "builds our critical thinking skills" as though we must be particularly lacking in this area). This was, by far, the biggest complaint of myself and my friends, hard workers and high performers all. Another thing I'm not sure is unique to Boulder or not is the use of these things called "iClickers," which are remotes that allow students to key in answers to so-called "clicker questions" as a way of, presumably, improving student involvement with the material and getting instant feedback for the instructor in regards to what the students are struggling with. As someone who has been teaching science and plans to continue teaching science for some time as a tutor and eventually a professor, I see the potential of this, and to their credit the physics department has made very good use of these to pose interesting questions about key concepts that highlight the subtleties of a given law or principle. This is not the norm. Most of the time, clickers are used as: -Punishment for missing class. -A way for the professor to waste time better spent teaching. -As a replacement for a lesson plan (one professor in particular "teaches" by asking question after question before teaching anything, which means all we learn is from reading and homework, which makes one wonder why one should bother going to lecture) -Without any thought whatsoever, leading a few professors to conclude, if a question was missed by most students, that the problem is with the students and not the teaching. That aside, the university has both the NIST and JILA on campus, and is actually well respected. The Bose-Einstein condensate was first observed here at JILA, for example, and this sort of highly valuable contribution to science and academics is something I think a lot of people expect from CU at this point. I recommend seeking out a lab position early and attending as many lectures, symposia and science club meetings as you can. I chose to work two jobs with 18 credit hours rather than taking advantage of the opportunities available here as soon as I arrived, and I wish I had been more active from the start, there really is a lot of academic opportunity here in the sciences, more so than many state universities. The school administration is abysmal. They do NOT have the slightest consideration for the students. I recall one semester in which 7 of the classes I needed to take, most of which were part of a sequence of prerequisites, were only offered on one day at one time; that is, they were all offered on that same one day and time, a Kafkaesque absurdity only possible with an administrative staff that is out to lunch. My advisors, again especially in MCDB, were not well informed, gave me little information of use, and were anything but approachable, leading me to rely on my own efforts to sort out my plans for the entirety of my stay using scattered resources containing conflicting information about degree requirements, which again my advisors were not helpful in demystifying. Several times during my stay, classes typically available during spring became fall only, co-requisites switched to a pre-requisite relationship, and classes previously required replaced with other requirements, often without notification in time to change schedules (not that that would have made things any better, as these changes were universally senseless and seemed designed to make us all apoplectic). The administration also has a tendency to prioritize football over academics, which is especially galling given that our football team has never been very impressive. Boulder is not solely a college town, though it can really feel that way. It's really divided (north and south) between the fairly wealthy middle aged with families and jobs and the CU students. These are two very distinct cultures, and have subdivisions within them, and many times you will find them both in the same places. The university does have a very large influence over the area, regardless, but so do the biotech companies. The city has it's beautiful bits, but it's the environment that will really take your breath away. Colorado is a gorgeous place, and Boulder is one of its better sides. The flatirons are a great sight for a busy morning walking to work or class, and I for one never tire of the beauty here. As negative as this all may seem, I still feel that I got a good education here. I may have not been taught very well by my professors, but they asked a lot of me and I taught myself well. I'm going to be leaving with a degree that means something, and in the end that's what is most important here.

If a larger university is right for you and you have the means, it's an incredible place to get your college degree. Some departments have teachers too focused on their research and not enough on their teaching. I loved every teacher in the J school. Every high school friend that visits loves it and wants to transfer. It's beautiful and there's a lot to do (especially if you like nature and things.)

The food is awful and the dorms are prisons, but other than that Boulder is the perfect place. Freshman year kinda sucks though.

300+ Days of sunshine yearly. Favorite quote, "there are too many things to do other than go to class." Boulder is an amazing town with unlimited easy access to: world class rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking trails, skiing, live music venues, and recreational drugs. Many students find it hard to go to class regularly, especially first year students fresh out of mom and dads house. If you are uncertain about whether college is right for you, what major to study, or if you can handle staying focused in a 500 person lecture hall - you may find your first year very difficult. If you are the least bit motivated or interested in academics, many programs at the school are first-rate, especially business and astro-physics. Do expect large class sizes for your first 2 years.

Favorite quote, "there are too many things to do other than go to class." Boulder is an amazing town with unlimited easy access to: world class rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking trails, skiing, live music venues, and recreational drugs. Many students find it hard to go to class regularly, especially first year students fresh out of mom and dads house. If you are uncertain about whether college is right for you, what major to study, or if you can handle staying focused in a 500 person lecture hall - you may find your first year very difficult. If you are the least bit motivated or interested in academics many programs at the school are first-rate. Do expect large class sizes for your first 2 years.

The University of Colorado is a large school and pretty much dominates Boulder. It's a college town in that there's a lot of drinking and plentiful bars, but if your interests lie in art shows or a vibrant music scene, Boulder can't help you out much. Denver is about 45 minutes away by bus or 30 by car, but I wouldn't say the city has a huge art scene, either. If skiing or snowboarding are your thing, Colorado provides plentiful opportunities for either, but if you're not a big fan of cold weather sports, the winter can get fairly oppressive. For a college town, too, the eating out isn't great, and is fairly expensive. The other thing to consider is housing - the dorms are really terrible, but the rentals aren't much better. Most properties are owned by big companies who just want to bleed students dry. In short, really expensive and extremely run down in most cases.

The best thing is the Flatirons and the hiking. I would change how it costs everywhere to park, rent is SO expensive, and the wind sucks. I really only spend time on campus for class or the Herd, or the gym otherwise I am elsewhere.

It's cool how much goes on and how many types of peopleand organizations you can find, but it's also kind of depressing cause it's hardtofind peopleyouhave a lotin common with,especially if you don't drink etc.