<p>Have son admitted to engineering schools at UC Boulder and Penn State and after attending student admit days at both universities unable to decide between what appear to be too great opportunities. Aside from higher cost of living in CO and travel expenses, tuitions are comparable due to merit awards - although both are out of state rates. Coming form the midwest Penn State seems like a more comfortable fit but he loves the Boulder campus and weather there. Aware that both schools have party reputations but everyone keeps commenting on the Colorado rocky mountain high and he doesn’t want to attend a school where drug use is too heavily woven into the social scene (though of course you can find it most anywhere). Also wondering why the UC campus seemed so empty last weekend. Is this because everyone moves off campus after Freshmen year and only comes to campus to attend classes? Finally, since he has not applied for housing yet is he likely to be shut out of on-campus dorms and placed in Williams Village and if so will this negatively impact his Freshmen year? Bottom line, is there a strong argument to be made for Penn State over UC-Boulder or vice versa? Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s true that Boulder has a party reputation (not entirely undeserved) but I think the vibe will be different among engineering students. It’s a competitive program, the kids won’t stay in it if they party too much. </p>
<p>My concern would be the ability to graduate in 4 years. I don’t know the specifics in engineering per se, but I do know that it can be tough to get all your classes in the humanities/sciences. Colorado has always been bad at funding its universities (48th-49th nationally in per student spending) and the recent recession has made things that much tougher. I would try to find information on 4-year graduation rates in engineering and reasons behind it. </p>
<p>As to housing - yes, a lot of students move off campus. But part of that is that they can afford it: there are A LOT of rich kids at Boulder for whom pricey Boulder rates aren’t an issue. I’m told you can easily live on campus all 4 years - but I would check into that as well.</p>
<p>Our son graduated from CU a couple of years ago, and he was a CS major (in the school of Engineering). Because he came in with loads of AP credit, he graduated in 3 years. Never had difficulty getting classes. His roommate, an EE major, took 4 years. They lived on campus freshman year and off campus for the remainder. Our neighbors’ kid, a junior, has lived on campus for 3 years. The most desirable dorms, IMHO, are the engineering dorms. Quieter. More convenient. I’m not sure how quickly they fill up. WillVill, while less convenient, really isn’t bad. DS had friends in WillVill and they were fine. The party scene/drug scene? It seems to be similar to most campuses. There are plenty of students who are serious about their studies and find other ways to entertain themselves. The 4/20 event is getting lots of media attention. A huge number of the people who participate are NOT students. As to the quiet campus on the weekend you visited…I don’t know. In general, the campus is busy and full of students unless it is a break. On weekend mornings, it does tend to be quiet. I’ve noticed this on most college campuses :-)</p>
<p>Engineers are not the party-hearty types people might think of when they think of CU. (And I’d guess the same would be true at Penn State.)</p>
<p>The engineering students at CU I know of all seem to be on-track for four year graduation, except for one who changed which type of engineering he was doing fairly late in the game. Personally, I love the Integrated Teaching & Learning Lab at CU’s Engineering School, along with the opportunities for first-year engineering students to do hands-on engineering projects. YMMV.</p>
<p>Most campuses are not that lively weekends where most live off campus. Boulder is no more party than PSU. But it does have even worse finances.</p>
<p>I alreay knew that the engineering programs at Boulder are very good - so it’s doubly good to hear engineering students at Boulder can in fact graduate in 4 years. Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>The CU system in general has a very good engineering program. Bolder is a good city.</p>
<p>Many engineering students take time off to do a very valuable co-op which pushes out graduation to 4.5-5.0 years.</p>
<p>True, barrons - but all too often these days, kids stay longer in college simply because they can’t get the classes they need. And in Boulder that means, among other things, staying longer in a pretty expensive city.</p>