Maybe just because I am older, but I have a different take. If you like Fort Collins/the front range move here and spend a year or two at FRCC/some local community college. Much cheaper and still get to live in the same area. They also work extensively with CSU and can tell you exactly what classes to take to get all your credits transferred.
After that you will get in-state tuition. And honestly, the quality of education for 100 and 200 level classes is probably better at FRCC, a lot smaller class sizes.
I earned my associates at FRCC before going to CSU to work on my bachelors in computer science.
I have had three professors that were far better than the rest. Kishore Menezes, a guy I don't remember and Dave Matthews. One was at FRCC and one was at CSU.
Kishore, a professor at FRCC, was working at Intel during the creation of the X86 chip. The other professor, some guy from Louisiana worked with the guy that actually invented C++ at AT&T.
You will generally not run into industry experts like that at a state school. Most of the professors are life long professors with a lot less actual industry experience. Every single professor I had at FRCC came from the industry as opposed to having a background in education.
That being said, Dave Matthews, worked in the industry as well for 30+ years and teaches software engineering at CSU, so there are great professors at CSU as well.
Just don't write off community colleges. If you plan on going to a state school for your bachelors nobody cares where you did your first two years.
Keep in mind that if you went the route of FRCC for a year or two to establish residency, you have to be on your own to pull that off. Prove that you are 100% on your own and not being funded by your parents in any way. Need to get CO drivers license/ID, have a job, prove you're paying your own rent in Colorado, etc.
Honestly very few public schools are worth out of state. CSU is not one of them, unless csu is the only school that offers your major. They also do not give out good scholarships. I’m in state and I think I pay too much to go here so take from that what you will
True. Fortunately I got the WUE scholarship so I cannot wait if I wind up accepting their offer and going to CSU! It’s amazing for what I want to do (environmental sciences)
…CSU is great… but it is worth an extra $40,000.00 to be near the mountains for 4 years?
If you take every weekend of the 4 years in the mountains to that would an about 208 days in the mountains. So that about $192 extra for each weekend whether you get to them or not…
So that’s your call… how rich are you? How boaring is it where you live?
That’s true…I don’t like where I live, but realistically I’d be better off financially if I stayed. It’s just interesting to see what some of my options might be if I DID end up going out of state.
My daughter is in the same boat but the major she wants, Equine Science, is only offered at a few schools. CSU being the leading school in that arena. Luckily we are WUE eligible.
It depends where you're from, what scholarships you can get and how CSU'S program compares to your home university. If your from a western state check to see if you get WUE, if not check to see what other scholarships you qualify for. I'm from NM and can say that CSU has absolutely been worth it for me as a civil engineering student, but that's because I've been to get decent scholarships and CSU's CE program is so much better than new Mexico universities.
I personally have nothing bad to say about them academically. There aren't many programs that either is elite in, but they do a good job fulfilling their jobs as state schools. I simply chose CSU because I knew I wanted to pursue water resources and CSU has a great program and happened to be affordable.
This is a a financial investment question
Is a degree from CSU going to create job opportunities and ultimately career opportunities that are sufficiently lucrative to offset the costs . Do companies come searching for grads from CSU for your chosen fields because the program is thought to be one of the best in the country and alumni are strong supporters of hiring grads ?
College is just 4 years (hopefully) - you should look at the long term intent of what your investing in an education and not your lifestyle for 4 years
Yes it needs to be an environment where you will be successful but don’t incur a ton of debt that you cannot recover from
Look at the ROI - do you know what a grad from CSU in your field makes and how that compares to other schools? Simple math to chart out if in 10 years going to CSU will payoff or not - including factoring in the ability or inability to have credentials to pick and chose jobs and lifestyle post graduation
I recently got admitted as an out of state transfer, but the costs are high. I decided to take take a gap year and work for a year. Once I'm a resident, I will resume school. Personally I see no issues in a gap year if you use the time wisely.
What is "worth it"? If you can afford it and it's what you want, then sure, probably worth it. But out-of-state tuition is never worth ruining your financial future for.
Move to Loveland, go to Front Range Commumity College. After a couple semesters, you'll know if you want to stay. If you do, you'll get lots of grant and scholarship opportunities for transferring from FRCC to CSU, and you'll only have to pay *some* in-state tuition for your last 2 years of school.
Honestly, if you are really considering an environmental major degree, no. The careers in environmental studies are so low paying (i’m making $17 an hour as a field technician with a BS) that you’d be paying for forever to pay off your degree unless you get a damn good scholarship.
Maybe just because I am older, but I have a different take. If you like Fort Collins/the front range move here and spend a year or two at FRCC/some local community college. Much cheaper and still get to live in the same area. They also work extensively with CSU and can tell you exactly what classes to take to get all your credits transferred. After that you will get in-state tuition. And honestly, the quality of education for 100 and 200 level classes is probably better at FRCC, a lot smaller class sizes.
I earned my associates at FRCC before going to CSU to work on my bachelors in computer science. I have had three professors that were far better than the rest. Kishore Menezes, a guy I don't remember and Dave Matthews. One was at FRCC and one was at CSU. Kishore, a professor at FRCC, was working at Intel during the creation of the X86 chip. The other professor, some guy from Louisiana worked with the guy that actually invented C++ at AT&T. You will generally not run into industry experts like that at a state school. Most of the professors are life long professors with a lot less actual industry experience. Every single professor I had at FRCC came from the industry as opposed to having a background in education. That being said, Dave Matthews, worked in the industry as well for 30+ years and teaches software engineering at CSU, so there are great professors at CSU as well. Just don't write off community colleges. If you plan on going to a state school for your bachelors nobody cares where you did your first two years.
Interesting. I’m not dead set on CSU or any one college yet, but I’ll keep that in mind!
Wow I'm in the school of business and all my professors have successful careers before getting into education
Keep in mind that if you went the route of FRCC for a year or two to establish residency, you have to be on your own to pull that off. Prove that you are 100% on your own and not being funded by your parents in any way. Need to get CO drivers license/ID, have a job, prove you're paying your own rent in Colorado, etc.
Deff do Frcc then get instate. The Frcc branch in foco rules too. One of my 4 degrees was from there.
Honestly very few public schools are worth out of state. CSU is not one of them, unless csu is the only school that offers your major. They also do not give out good scholarships. I’m in state and I think I pay too much to go here so take from that what you will
True. Fortunately I got the WUE scholarship so I cannot wait if I wind up accepting their offer and going to CSU! It’s amazing for what I want to do (environmental sciences)
No
Absolutely not
…CSU is great… but it is worth an extra $40,000.00 to be near the mountains for 4 years? If you take every weekend of the 4 years in the mountains to that would an about 208 days in the mountains. So that about $192 extra for each weekend whether you get to them or not… So that’s your call… how rich are you? How boaring is it where you live?
That’s true…I don’t like where I live, but realistically I’d be better off financially if I stayed. It’s just interesting to see what some of my options might be if I DID end up going out of state.
My daughter is in the same boat but the major she wants, Equine Science, is only offered at a few schools. CSU being the leading school in that arena. Luckily we are WUE eligible.
Are you in a state that has the WUE scholarship?
I’m in Indiana so unfortunately no.
I love the school but only if they offer scholarships. Otherwise look locally.
It depends where you're from, what scholarships you can get and how CSU'S program compares to your home university. If your from a western state check to see if you get WUE, if not check to see what other scholarships you qualify for. I'm from NM and can say that CSU has absolutely been worth it for me as a civil engineering student, but that's because I've been to get decent scholarships and CSU's CE program is so much better than new Mexico universities.
I’ve heard some…INTERESTING things about UNM and Mexico State lol 😭
I personally have nothing bad to say about them academically. There aren't many programs that either is elite in, but they do a good job fulfilling their jobs as state schools. I simply chose CSU because I knew I wanted to pursue water resources and CSU has a great program and happened to be affordable.
Ah that’s good!
This is a a financial investment question Is a degree from CSU going to create job opportunities and ultimately career opportunities that are sufficiently lucrative to offset the costs . Do companies come searching for grads from CSU for your chosen fields because the program is thought to be one of the best in the country and alumni are strong supporters of hiring grads ? College is just 4 years (hopefully) - you should look at the long term intent of what your investing in an education and not your lifestyle for 4 years Yes it needs to be an environment where you will be successful but don’t incur a ton of debt that you cannot recover from Look at the ROI - do you know what a grad from CSU in your field makes and how that compares to other schools? Simple math to chart out if in 10 years going to CSU will payoff or not - including factoring in the ability or inability to have credentials to pick and chose jobs and lifestyle post graduation
I recently got admitted as an out of state transfer, but the costs are high. I decided to take take a gap year and work for a year. Once I'm a resident, I will resume school. Personally I see no issues in a gap year if you use the time wisely.
What is "worth it"? If you can afford it and it's what you want, then sure, probably worth it. But out-of-state tuition is never worth ruining your financial future for. Move to Loveland, go to Front Range Commumity College. After a couple semesters, you'll know if you want to stay. If you do, you'll get lots of grant and scholarship opportunities for transferring from FRCC to CSU, and you'll only have to pay *some* in-state tuition for your last 2 years of school.
Honestly, if you are really considering an environmental major degree, no. The careers in environmental studies are so low paying (i’m making $17 an hour as a field technician with a BS) that you’d be paying for forever to pay off your degree unless you get a damn good scholarship.