UVM or CU Boulder

[skatecow45]

Just to play devil's advocate, if you can easily get into CU or UVM are you sure that's where you want to go? Neither is a top-tier school, or second-tier for that matter. Choosing where to go is complex, of course. A top-tier school doesn't guarantee a bright future, nor does a non-top-tier school mean a bleak one.

All I can advise you to do is to give it plenty of thought.

yes, i have considered this factor. i have quite good grades. all a's and b's in college (ap) classes throughout high scool. i will be an eagle scout in a month, i have also played vasristy soccer for 4 years. my list of achievements is not short.

however, i want a nice school where i can have an awesome time. i want to be able to ski a lot, meet cool people, and have a nice bio degree after four years in heaven.

[skatecow45]

Molecular, cellular, developmental biology (MCDB) is one of the hardest majors at CU, right up there with engineering. I don't think the community college plan is an option if you want to have an MCDB major, because it's basically a 4-year pre-med program, but I could be wrong on that.

ok, i really do need more information on this. i was looking at the website and almost immediately wanted to go to CU after reading about this. this degree seems like 110% of what i want to study in. i also noticed the double major with biochemistry which intrigued me SO much more.

is this degree hard? fun? whats the deal?

[dewey]

Warthog -
Funny you mention the lungbrowner. I used to drink alot of their Pabst and get schooled on their pool tables. That place is a staple for people who prefer no-nonsense drinking as opposed to all of the bars selling a lifestyle image.
Start off with a few margarita's at the Rio, and you're talking guaranteed stumbly blackouts.

[MOHSHSIHd]

yes, i have considered this factor. i have quite good grades. all a's and b's in college (ap) classes throughout high scool. i will be an eagle scout in a month, i have also played vasristy soccer for 4 years. my list of achievements is not short.

however, i want a nice school where i can have an awesome time. i want to be able to ski a lot, meet cool people, and have a nice bio degree after four years in heaven.

you went to hopewell right?

if you want some nice people to show you round town when you get to boulder PM me.....can intro you to some nice younger ladies as well

[skatecow45]

along the lines of tougher schools i am considering are bates, tufts, and colby. all very academically challangeing to be accepted. i just feel like these colleges arent for me. i see a university like CU or UVM as a big place, where i can get everything i want.

[MOHSHSIHd]

Warthog -
Funny you mention the lungbrowner. I used to drink alot of their Pabst and get schooled on their pool tables. That place is a staple for people who prefer no-nonsense drinking as opposed to all of the bars selling a lifestyle image.
Start off with a few margarita's at the Rio, and you're talking guaranteed stumbly blackouts.

scumdowner/lungbrowner....what a fine establishment

[A-wreck]

-420 on farrand field, if you are into that kinda stuff

from 2003:

Christ almighty, Cartman was right, Colorado has a serious hippie problem.

[skatecow45]

from the CU website. i dont think that im getting instate tuition fees.

Summary of Tuition Classification Regulations

These tuition classification regulations are explained in greater detail following this section.

1. In-state status requires domicile (legal, primary residence) in Colorado for the year immediately preceding the first day of class. The only exceptions to the one-year domicile requirement, as provided by law, are for active-duty military personnel on permanent duty station in Colorado and for Olympic athletes in training at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

2. Domicile is defined as your true, fixed, and permanent home and place of habitation. Domicile is a legal characteristic that everyone has, and you can have only one domicile at any one time. Your domicile is your legal, primary residence.

3. If your parents are not Colorado domiciliaries, you must be a qualified person to begin the one-year domiciliary period. A qualified person is someone who is either: at least 22 years old, or married, or emancipated, or a graduate student. Persons who are not citizens of the United States should read the section regarding aliens, below, for additional information.

4. Unemancipated minors (students under age 22) are eligible for in-state tuition if a parent or court-appointed legal guardian has been domiciled in Colorado for one year.

5. Emancipation requires that your parents cannot provide financial support of any nature for any purpose. Parental support includes funds your parents may have previously set aside for your current support even if those funds are in your name. Parents may provide reasonable incidental gifts consistent with emancipation but may not provide significant funds that would be characteristic of a continuing parent-child support relationship.

6. To begin the one year domicile period, a qualified person must be residing in Colorado with the present intention to reside permanently in Colorado. To demonstrate this intention, you should take all actions that would be expected of any permanent resident of Colorado in your circumstances. These actions include severing from your former state of domicile such usual domiciliary connections as voter registration, driver’s license, vehicle registration, employment, and income tax filing, and establishing these connections in Colorado.

7. Your in-state eligibility will be lost if you or your parents (depending on your age and parental support) maintain domicile outside Colorado for one year. However, if you are an unemancipated minor, you may retain in-state status if your parents have lived in Colorado at least four years (see FOUR YEAR RULE, below). Regaining in-state status requires a new one year domicile period.

[MOHSHSIHd]

Christ almighty, Cartman was right, Colorado has a serious hippie problem.

yes...thank god most of the wooks dont actually go to school there...they just come out of the woodwork for 420 and Disco Biscuit shows.....i think many of them must live in a secret camp near nederland or something....

[skatecow45]

nice picture of 420. i like partying. i like that stuff.

[CUBUCK]

yes, i have considered this factor. i have quite good grades. all a's and b's in college (ap) classes throughout high scool. i will be an eagle scout in a month, i have also played vasristy soccer for 4 years. my list of achievements is not short.

however, i want a nice school where i can have an awesome time. i want to be able to ski a lot, meet cool people, and have a nice bio degree after four years in heaven.

I was in a similar position and got into a handful of better schools but chose CU for basically the same reasons you are so interested in going. I wouldn't trade my experience for any in the world. CU has tremendously strong academics in a number of areas, unfortunetly this is often over shadowed by the rioting and partying. I met some incredibly smart people here and unlike many ivy leaguers they are able to tie their own shoes.

[skatecow45]

any other pictures?

[Arty50]

OK, I have an idea.

The only exceptions to the one-year domicile requirement, as provided by law, are for active-duty military personnel on permanent duty station in Colorado and for Olympic athletes in training at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Bribe the US ski team. Seriously. There's a really nice side benefit to it also. Let's say the difference between in-state and out-of-state is $15,000. What if you donated $6,000 (or even a little extra) to the US Ski Team and asked them to put you on the athlete list for their training program. They wouldn't have to spend a dime on you cause you'd never show up; but if the school calls, you're a member of the reserve Olympic squad or something. Additionally, when you donate $6k to the US Ski Team you get the pass to end all passes. The US Ski Team Gold Pass gets you 50 days of skiing at every resort in the United States. That's 50 days at each resort, not 50 days total.

Edit:
I almost forgot. I moved to Boulder after I graduated from college and lived there for 2-3 months. It was a shitty winter, so I didn't ski much. However, the trip was still awesome. It was an early spring and the apartment I was sharing had a deck overlooking the pool. Translation: there was mad tang right outside my apartment almost every day. There are tons of bars and parties there; and even better, the Fox Theater gets some great shows. I saw Luna and John Mayall there. The couple of outings I made to Denver were fun too.

[Viva]

ok, i really do need more information on this. i was looking at the website and almost immediately wanted to go to CU after reading about this. this degree seems like 110% of what i want to study in. i also noticed the double major with biochemistry which intrigued me SO much more.

is this degree hard? fun? whats the deal?

If it's not hard, you're wasting your time there. If you're looking for fun only, don't waste the college's time. Go when you're ready to challenge yourself.

[sftc]

If it's not hard, you're wasting your time there. If you're looking for fun only, don't waste the college's time. Go when you're ready to challenge yourself.

Viva's right, unless your an real genius I don't think I would call MCDB fun, and if you are a genius I don't think you would be considering CU. One of the smartest guys in my high school went to CU for pre-med with an MCDB major and he didn't struggle a lot, but it definetely wasn't a breeze. And he is the type of person who can sit down and study a biology text for 12 hours straight before an exam and retain the material. He partied and recreated his fair share, but he also did a lot of work. He graduated with close to a 4.0 in one of the hardest and most respected programs at CU and he still didn't get into his first choice of medical schools.
If you come in and screw around end up with a crappy grade point average after the first year or two you're fucked because you will never get into a good graduate school, if that's your plan.
If you are not 100% commited to the program you should probably take a year off and work for a living in a ski town. After a year of making $8 an hour and stuggling to pay your bills you will be excited to go back to school, or you'll just stay in the ski town and be a under paid ski bum.
Worse things could happen.

[skatecow45]

what do you mean? its just extremely hard? and i would have to spend tons of time?

[acostiga]

i want to major in science, i want to ski a lot, i want to meet a lot of people, and i want to have a great time.

major in "science"? what does that mean? why do you want to major in "science"? unless you are more focused, don't be shocked that you might get to school- take some required freshman courses or whatever- and decide to change directions. it happens. maybe a larger school would be better if you needed to make such changes... but expensive at out-of-state tuition rates. dunno. the only skiing i did during school was while studying abroad or while on vacation. during school i was too busy working/studying...

have you looked at any schools west of the mississippi besides CU?

[cj001f]

what do you mean? its just extremely hard? and i would have to spend tons of time?

In the sciences, possibly yes and yes. Unless you have a specific aptitude (you'd know that by now) they are more demanding than the non-sciences. The more "sciency", the more work. Unlike reading or papers you can't blow off a lab class and you'll have at least one a semester the whole time you are in school. They also have more homework and exams. Even if there'd been good skiing near my school I wouldn't have had the time or energy to go.

[warthog]

Warthog -
Funny you mention the lungbrowner. I used to drink alot of their Pabst and get schooled on their pool tables. That place is a staple for people who prefer no-nonsense drinking as opposed to all of the bars selling a lifestyle image.
Start off with a few margarita's at the Rio, and you're talking guaranteed stumbly blackouts.

Yup- that's the place.

I actually had a little different game plan. I worked across Pearl Street at BJ's Bar and Grill. After closing, we would suck down 9% ac Tatonka Stouts, and then stumble across the street to school people at pool and drink PBR pitchers. Love that place. No-nonsense drinking at its finest

[funkendrenchman]

Well, I'm late to the party, but my vote obviously goes to CU. I was an Environmental Science major and became a science teacher. Once you get past the intro classes I can recommend some top professors.

Things I LOVED about CU:

College town vibe
Easy to get everywhere in town
Good professors
Lots of people to meet
Hot girls
Sunny mild weather with cold snowy snaps where the snow melts a day later
Best looking campus I have ever seen
Ski club plans some good trips
Right at the foot of moutains
Denver is close

Downsides:
Shitty traffic, faster to bike than drive
Frat boys in their shiny mud slinger Wranglers
Big freshman year classes
Expensive rent

The negatives don't even begin to outweigh the positives. I, like you, also got A's and B's in high school, but I really wanted a school that fit my lifestyle not necessarily a top tier school to impress the employers. Within 2 months of graduating I got a job. My friend was an MCDB major and within a couple months she got a job.

Some things to remember:
-Plan your courses carefully, if done right you can graduate in 4 years and get Mon, Wed, and Fri off at somepoint. I graduated in 4 years and had MWF off my jr spring semester, and MF off my sr year semester.
-On campus jobs give good pay, hours, and are often closed on weekends so u can go ski.
-Don't party so much you don't ski.
-Don't ski so much you fail out ( many people mess up here)

HAVE FUN!!!!

edit - oh yea... I don't know one person who has gone there that regretted it.

ONE MORE THING: Even if you follow all of those rules for in-state tuition you are not guaranteed to get it. My roommate did all of those and she had to petition the school for a semester to get in-state after being denied. It was a PITA for her.

[Pedro]

Go west my friend, You live on the east coast now, and may not get the opportunity to do this again, i went to college in Upstate New York, but i got lucky when i joined the army and assigned to Colorado.

Like everyone else said the weather is awesome out there.

[funkendrenchman]

OMG, there are TWO black guys in that photo. (Sorry I think had 3 total in my classes during my 4 years at CU). I forgot to add that CU is not known for their diversity no matter what their brochure says or what questions they put on their application.

edit - make that 3, maybe even 4!

[This End Up]

If you can afford out-of-state at CU, you mind buying me a new car?

What about CSU (Ft. Collins), UW (Laramie) or Utah (SLC)?

Wise words Mr. Twenty, and nice avatar!

MWC schools just don't have the image on the east coast like CU does, and it is all about image.

Another CO school that caters to eastern kids is Colorado College, but CC doesn't have any real science or engineering.

[Viva]

I had a looksey at faculty on the MCDB homepage and I know one of the profs there. Min Han was a post doc in the lab next to mine when I was at Cal Tech. Nice guy. I've also met William Wood. I don't know the others, although one of the names sounds familiar.

[DJMingus]

ECHO what everyone says about Boulder. It rocks.

Instate tuition - PAY ATTENTION to what sftc and others said. Make sure you're doing everything you need to or you'll be fucked for another semster. Biggest (and most difficult for some folks) thing is you have to be able to show that you are truly independent. If your folks live in another state and claim you as a dependent you are fucked. If you don't make a certain amount of money that year you are fucked. I don't know how much that is but you are going to need a real job and to pay taxes for a year in CO to show that you're not a dependent. You walk in there and show 'em a tax return that says you made $3600 last year they'll laugh you right out. Insisting that you dirtbagged it in your van all year won't work - they have some kind of hard and fast minimum number. Sorry but I don't know what it is but there is an office at CU that is devoted to this whole issue and will tell you exactly what you need to do.

Get a driver's license as soon as you arrive - that's part of it.