What is DU's reputation for STEM majors?

Sweetbeet
Thu, 13 Jul 2017 08:41:01 +0000

DU is not historically thought of as a strong STEM school. However, they have really been beefing up their engineering school over the past few years. They got a huge gift about 3-4 years ago, which funded the construction of a gorgeous new engineering building, the hiring of new professors, and a lot of financial aid to encourage engineering and CS students to attend. DU has an ABET-accredited program for mechanical engineering and one or two other engineering fields (I forget, maybe electrical? ) and a couple of interesting computer science specialties, including BS and BA degrees in video game development and programming. A lot of work is being done in robotics and prosthetics, I believe.

My son is a rising senior working toward a BS in CS/video game dev., and he’s enjoyed his time at DU. He’s not really a “hard-core” math wiz or coding genius, but he has learned a lot and feels confident that he will be able to work in the field after graduation. He’ll graduate in 4 years (total) and has had time to do a minor in theater (along with the math minor required for his degree), and to spend a semester studying in Scotland. Study abroad is a big thing at DU, but his friend who is a mechanical engineering major was not able to go abroad still finish in 4 years. CS and most other majors can, and DU is very supportive. This summer and last summer he’s worked at IdTech camps, teaching programming to high school kids, which he enjoys.

DU has a lot of gen ed requirements, but being on a quarter system allows more class slots every year, so it’s not that hard to fit everything in. It might not be good for a student who wants to do nothing but math, CS or engineering, but if there’s some breadth of interest it’s a good school. Lots of opportunities to do sports, go greek (my son did neither), do music, art, or theater, etc. Class sizes are small, which is nice. The quarter system gives a 6-week break, from just before Thanksgiving until after New Years, which is nice if you’re far away (we’re in Hawaii, so if he was at a semester school he wouldn’t be able to come home for Thanksgiving and go back for finals).

It’s expensive, but they give generous merit scholarships and at least a couple of years ago, they were meeting full (CSS Profile, but fairly generously determined) need for engineering and CS students. If you have a high EFC, though, it can be pricey even with a $20K annual merit scholarship.

Denver is a great city, and of course there are ample opportunities for skiing, hiking, and the like.

If you have any specific questions, I’m happy to answer here or by PM.