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Boulder is great if you want to go to college in a beautiful setting. The campus is absolutely gorgeous and Boulder itself is set right up against the mountains of Colorado. From Boulder it only takes about an hour and a half or so to get to the ski resorts! Boulder itself feels like a smaller college town with so many activities to do. Pearl Street and the Hill are two of the main hang out areas in Boulder. There is also the 29th st. mall with a new movie theatre, but be warned the shops there are ridiculously high ended. If you're into rock climbing the Boulder Rock Climbing Gym, The Spot, and the climbing center (cheaper) inside the CU Rec center are all great places for indoor climbing. Boulder is a happening campus with different lectures, cultural events, sports, and all other sorts of activities going on all the time. The UMC is the main student center where you can find any activity to suit your interest or start your own. You'll also be sent a ton of emails from the buff bulletin that tells everything happening with the university. Boulder is a large campus but it's easy to find your way around. One of my favorite hang out spots between classes when it's warm outside is the Norlin quad a long grassy area with tall trees and beautiful views of the Flatirons (large rocks juttin up against the mountains- Boulders pride and joy) Classes at Boulder can be very large with sometimes 500 students in one lecture hall. Once you start taking upper division classes they tend to be smaller but as a general rule expect big classes. The administration tends to be more conservative than the student body and therefore butts heads with them sometimes, (4/20 is a good example of this) but generally as a student you don't have any interaction with them. Most of my friends, myself included, have had good, helpful academic advisors within your major department. I would reccommend the psychology program at CU to anyone. Overall I would say my experience with Boulder has been great! Boulder is definately more of a social campus in the sense that while students do work, you're more likely to find them out and about than stuck in a library studying all the time. One of my favorite things about going to school in Boulder has been having the mountains so close at hand, and making friends who are active open-minded people.
shadow1032 Senior
Boulder is a good combo of city and nature. City in a sense that you are pretty close to night life, restaurants, and such, but you can go on hikes and road bike and still do the outdoors stuff. It definitely has the college town feel, but there are parts that get away from that as well. Football is pretty big here, even though our team isn't exactly that great. Like I said before, very little diversity. It looks like all of the students of color on campus are part of the CU athletics teams.
Y Senior
I don't really like boulder. This school is not too big, but the people here are very judgmental and all they care about is partying. It is definitely a college town. The "Hill" would be a very cool place to hang out if everyone wasn't always drunk when they hung out there. There is so much drinking. There is school pride but it's the wrong kind. It's dirty and drunken, whereas some schools just have plain school spirit. The only thing the students are concerned about is getting drunk or high.
Tiffani Freshman
The best thing about Boulder is the variety of activities available for everyone. I have never been somewhere or experienced anything where whatever you put into the University, it gives back you you even more. Boulder is a college town, and everyone here is a Buff Fan, most for life. You meet the friendliest people here, and would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't love it here. The weather is a bit unpredictable, but the mountain views are breathtaking. The administration has undergraduate education in mind, and never loses sight of that. The students have challenged the University to give them a degree that they can take pride in, and CU has answered that challenge, and made our degree something to prepare us for the world. My favorite part of my 4 years was the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life, and make friends for life.
Kristina Senior
The best thing about Boulder is the environment and surroundings. The campus is nestled next to the snow capped flatirons. The buildings on campus are also unique in that the architects attempted to make the buildings blend in with the surroundings so you can't help to be captivated by the nature. One thing I would change about CU is the parking situation. If you do not live within the vicinity of the campus or do not live on a bus route, driving and parking your car on campus is almost impossible. Tickets are handed out left and right and there parking passes are astronomical in price. CU's size is just right. You get the feeling of a large University, yet there are not so many students that you feel like a small fish in a big pond. When I tell people I go to Boulder they usually react by saying that it is a great school and I am lucky to be attending. When I am on campus I spend most of my time in the UMC, University Memorial Center. This is a place where students can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and catch up on homework. According to ESPN if Heaven was a college town, CU Boulder would be it, enough said. The biggest recent controversy on campus was the hiring of Bruce Benson as CU's president. Many students were concerned with his nomination because he is staunch Republic with a shaky past.
Jordan Junior
CU boulder is a large and active campus. Many students come here for the Rockiy Mountains; skiing, biking, camping, etc. Many come here for the laid back, liberal atmosphere. It is a large school, so finding a group or club is essential to meeting people and "finding your place". The town of Boulder is large, has everything you could need in terms of shopping and entertainment. It is considered a suburb of Denver, but it's its own city too. When I tell people I go to Boulder, their immediate response is "oh, so you have a good time there right?" and yes, we have fun, but as an engineer, I am confident and proud of the work and my courseload.
bw Freshman
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