Hi all. I’m asking for a friend who is in a tizzy. She lives in New York State and her high school senior son has gotten into a number of colleges on the east coast. It looks now like she may be moving to Denver this summer for a job and he would like to go with her, requiring him to try to find a school there for September. He’s a pretty good student with good SATs and would probably like a mainstream LAC. She would like to get him into a state system school but doesn’t know one from the other. We’re wondering if anyone can help her narrow it down, as to difficulty level or reputation, or anything anyone can offer to help figure out where to focus on, where to avoid, etc., given that it’s so late to apply.
She’s never been to Colorado at all!
Thanks for any help.
She needs to look into the residency-for-tuition-purposes rules in both New York and Colorado to see where he may get in-state tuition. Best case (unlikely), he may be eligible for both states; worst case is that he may lose eligibility in the state they are living but need to wait a year or so before becoming eligible (or not even be able to gain eligibility if he starts college classified as a non-resident) in the new state.
I live in a neighboring state and we have many students that go to school in Colorado. Colorado has 3 major public universities, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State University, and the somewhat smaller University of Northern Colorado. Also the much smaller Colorado School of Mines, mainly for engineering majors. There is also a private University of Denver. Most of the kids I know are at Colorado State because it is considerably cheaper for OOS students than UC Boulder and merit scholarship money is much easier to get.
All have posted application deadlines that are past for Fall 2016 admissions, but Colorado State specifically states that new applications will be considered on a space-available basis. Many schools have this policy even if they don’t advertise it. Best to call and ask.
These are all respectable schools. It really depends on what the student is looking for.
Fort Lewis College is a public LAC in CO, but it is no where near Denver so it might defeat the purpose. Colorado College is a private LAC a couple of hours from Denver.
If he wants to live at home there is CU Denver, Denver University, and Metro State.
He won’t have instate tuition until his mother has been here a year. That would not matter for Colorado College, an LAC in Colorado Springs, or U of Denver. There are plenty of other smaller private schools too, like Regis and Colorado Christian College.
Plenty of state schools too, but it is late to be applying and of course OOS tuition - CU in Boulder (also campuses in Colorado Springs and Denver), Colorado State in Fort Collins (also campuses in Pueblo and other smaller ones sprinkled around), Western State in Gunnison, Fort Lewis, Adams State, Mesa. Lots of community colleges.
Is she a single mom? Is the dad involved at all? If so, will he be staying in NY? I’m no expert but it might influence how residency is established and how aid would be calculated.
Should the son go to Colorado with his mom and take a gap year, he might want to look at U of Denver - it is pretty generous with aid for solid students that aren’t at the tippy top. I believe it’s Catholic but not intensely so. Colorado College is a very good LAC that is on the one course at a time plan. Regis is small, Catholic, and nurturing.
If the son seeks admission to a Colorado school at this late date, options will be limited. A later transfer to another school as a non-freshman will limit merit aid possibilities.
If money is no object, of course, then strategies would be somewhat different.
I’m pretty sure University of Denver (also known as “DU”, which can be confusing!) is nonsectarian. Pretty campus right in Denver. Ft. Lewis is in Durango, in the southwest corner of the state, so if your friend’s son wants to be near-ish his mom, it’s not a great option.
This region is not swimming in LAC’s the way the northeast and Midwest are.
FYI - I believe that Colorado College, which is a selective LAC in Colorado Springs, follows a block format of taking only one class at a time in depth for about a month. This is a very different educational format and not for everyone. CC is in Colorado Springs which is a very conservative city; however, CC is a very liberal campus.
Quite a few of the kids from my son’s HS go to University of Denver. The campus is fairly contained in a nice Denver neighborhood. This is a fairly small school and I would say that the majority of the students come from upper middle class families.
CU is in Boulder. The campus is very spread out and it is hard to get on-campus housing after freshman year. Boulder is a beautiful city and CU has a very nice campus setting. If you like the outdoors, Boulder is a great place to live. You are close to many hiking trails and skiing is not very far away. Boulder is a very expensive place to live. My son’s friend is sharing an off-campus house with four other people. His portion of the rent is $1,000 a month. He is not living in a luxurious rental.
The weather in Colorado is MUCH better than the weather in NY.
As someone else posted, moving to Colorado this summer won’t get the student in-state tuition. You have to live in the state for at least a year I’m sure.
FYI, out-of-state student tuition at the U. of Colorado in Boulder is well more than $50,000 per year.
My sons attends the U. of Denver and loves it, and we’re out-of-state. DU is a private university.
If cost is a critical component and if the student is a probable STEM major, give some thought to South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. The drive to Rapid City SD from Denver is 6 hours. SDSM&T is still accepting applications but you would need to hustle. The cost for an OOS at Mines is slightly more than in-state tuition at SUNY.
@musicohana You are correct about DU, my bad! My husband insisted that it was Catholic, maybe he was thinking of U Dallas? Anyhow, a number of kids from my daughter’s school have gone there - merit scholarships are fairly generous.
DU is not catholic, but was founded by Methodists. It has a school of theology, but it is separate from the undergrad school. Not physically separate, but separate administration.
Tuition for OOS in Boulder is not $50k, but COA certainly can be. COA for instate can be close to $30k depending on the housing, major, transportation or car expenses. There are also CU campuses in downtown Denver, in Colo Springs, and the medical campus in Denver/Aurora (medical, dental, nursing, and related majors).
Metro State, which is a four year university, is mainly a commuter school and is located downtown. There is some on-campus housing, but not a lot. Apartments near the campus are pretty pricey. A one-bedroom near the campus rents for anywhere from $1,200 to $1,500 a month. The campus is almost directly on the light rail line, so getting to it from one of the outlying suburbs with light rail wouldn’t be too difficult.
Metro is not ‘almost’ on the light rail. There are two light rail stops on campus. Passes for light rail, and all city buses) are included in student fees for all colleges in the metro area (Metro, CU Denver and Boulder, DU, all the community colleges). There is a light rail stop at DU too.
Starting April 22, you can take light rail to the airport. Not that we’re counting or anything… Light rail is wonderful.
@twoinadndone - When I said ‘almost’, I was referring to the light rail that is right on Colfax right next to Auraria. It is like saying that the bus drops you off at 36th street and you have to walk to 34th street. Almost being that you have to walk to get to your classroom once you get off the rail stop. I wasn’t trying to indicate that it was miles away. Thanks for the clarification.
I live in Colorado and know quite a few people whose kids have gone to CU-Boulder and CSU. CU is better known, but my D will be applying to both (along with a number of OOS schools) and I would be perfectly happy with either one if it came down to those two. One friend has a D who is a senior at Fort Lewis and has been very happy there. My oldest D and her boyfriend are both at CU and have been happy with it, though D would have preferred a small LAC (too much $$).
Boulder is expensive, but you can definitely live there for less than $1000/month. The complex where D and her bf live has 2-bedrooms from $1300 and it is a very nice place. They do have to take a car or bus to campus, but the bus is quite convenient.
