Greetings from the Campus of ….University of Colorado at Boulder!
(originally written 4/13/09) First, let’s get the terminology straight… it’s called CU Boulder (the reason being that they didn’t want the UC abbreviation to be confused with the UC’s in CA. Other CO schools follow this tradition such as University of Denver - DU). The campus is absolutely “stunning”, and it is at the base of the Flat Iron Mountains. The newer side of campus is all Tuscan-style sandstone architecture and it blends in well with the older part of campus dating from the early 1900’s. It almost reminded me of an east coast college, if it wasn’t for the soaring mountains nearby. There are sprawling lawns and stately buildings and you definitely feel like you are at a very important and academic University.
The campus seems surprisingly compact, despite its documented 600 acres, with the freshmen dorms conveniently located near classrooms and the all-important Buffs football stadium. Stories abound about the incredible school spirit at home games with a filled 50,000+ fan stadium, and Ralphie, the live buffalo mascot (“Go Buffs” – get it?). Her handlers try to parade/charge her around the stadium as close to the opposing football team as possible to intimidate them before the start of the game!
Both students and alumni love CU with a passion. What’s not to love? It’s a beautiful campus located in a vibrant city, less than 2 hours from the popular ski resorts, and at the base of stunning mountains. Students do admit that the ski resorts are a bit of a distraction and many students will commit at least every Saturday to the slopes. The weekend “ski bus” helps, as do rides from friends. (One side note: many of the guys at CU have that “snowboarder look;” the girls are overall attractive.) Other popular outdoor activities include hiking, mountain biking (with trails leading into the mountains), rock climbing and white water rafting.
CU prides itself on its research as well as many outstanding programs such as Engineering, the Sciences, Aeronautics (18 astronaut alumni), Business and Journalism. Admitted students tend to be in the 3.3 to 3.9 GPA range, with a slightly higher GPA of 3.5 for Business and Engineering.
Boulder is an exciting town, with many upperclassmen preferring to move to off-campus housing on “the Hill,” which is also the very active “college town area” just across from campus. Older students also frequent the bars on Pearl Street in downtown Boulder and sometimes the night before a big game the marching band will do a playing bar tour. Pearl Street reflects the general liberalism of Boulder and the campus; Boulder is not a town for conservatives or the timid. A student told me that while some people do come to CU Boulder primarily to party and ski, most students take their academics seriously and get a lot out of their education.
Please view my photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/maritasurace/UniversityOfColoradoBoulder# and visit my website at http://www.collegeapplicationadvisors.com/
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