Would you rather go to colorado college or Western State/Adams state?

I went to a school ranked higher than CC, actually considered transferring to that institution about half way through and sort of regret it.

That said, it is expensive. One of my kids applied there and got a good academic scholarship offer, but at $50K a year we still would have had to pay $35K a year for four years. My kid made the decision not to go there and chose a school that's high on the "best buy" lists.

Actually, however, this discussion is beyond apples and oranges. It's orchard cherries to kinnikinnick.

Colorado College is a very good academic institution with a decent DIII running program. Adams and Western are probably bottom quartile academically but they have had outstanding running programs. These are schools that you consider if you are a decent to excellent runner and you want to maximize your potential, maybe even aspire to be a pro, but you might not have super-high academic interests or credentials. But going Adams or Western doesn't mean that you will not have a decent life once you graduate. Put in the work, get good grades, pick a major that's marketable, and maybe plan on grad school. You'll be fine. Likewise however, slack through 4 years at CC off of mom and dad's dime, get mediocre grades and have a poor outlook and work ethic. You'll not get too far.

reality check ..... wrote:

Adams State is listed as "Rank Not Published" among Regional Universities (West). They accepted 52.6%, and an average SAT a whopping 985.

I'm not sure if the percentage that you've given (52.6%) reflects the percentage of applicants who ended up enrolling there or a percentage of some group of applicants who were offered admission. If it's the latter, it grossly overstates the selectivity of the school, which guarantees admission to any graduate of a San Luis Valley high school who satisfies its basic (rather minimal) qualification requirements.

In fact, allmost all Colorado state schools are close to "open admissions" -- including, perhaps surprisingly, the University of Colorado at Boulder, which has an acceptance rate of close to 85%. If you're looking for an undergraduate school in Colorado with even rather modest admissions standards, your choices are extremely limited.

Avocado's Number wrote:

allmost all Colorado state schools are close to "open admissions"

"almost," not "allmost"

I think the spelling mistake was a result of my decision to add a slight, and perhaps unnecessary, qualifier to the word "all."

CC is probably the most difficult to get into followed by mines at ~37%, then there is a big drop off. CSU pueblo and fort collins are very easy to get into, boulder is a joke (just a more expensive one than csu), and adams/western have open admish Adams has 64% admish but everyone know that is fake selectivity they just have a lot of 1.5gpa people that they must turn away.

GOTCHAAA wrote:

CC is probably the most difficult to get into followed by mines at ~37%, then there is a big drop off.

Of course, there is always the Air Force Academy . . . .

Are you kidding me saying Gunnison is a better city than Colorado Springs. The people may be a little strange in CS but gunnison is in the middle of freaking no where and not really close to the mountains.

Also why are we not discussing Colorado School of Mines. They won XC last fall and had a guy run 13:44 this year. If you are looking to get the most of college from academics and running that seems to be a good bet.

One of my son's and I looked at Colorado College somewhat seriously. For my part, I'd take Western State. CC does some weird thing with the way you take their classes, can't recall exactly what. I think you do something like take one course and no others everyday for three(?) weeks. I'd hate that. And I'm not at all into "prestige" schools so that would be a non-factor for me.

PS,

I also like Gunnison better than I do Colorado Springs.

Going just off running of the 3 you have to choose Adams. CC is really a joke compared to the other 2 teams. And western has been going downhill ever since the change of their coach 5 years ago. They have done nothing special at the national level except for the foreigners they throw money at or the 28 year old that decided to run for them.

HRE wrote:

PS,

I also like Gunnison better than I do Colorado Springs.

Different strokes.

Gunnison is a small town that is a long way from any major urban areas and very cold in the winter compared to CS. Some people prefer that. The mountains are not far away, despite what another poster said, and there's good skiing nearby in Crested Butte.

Colorado Runner wrote:

Are you kidding me saying Gunnison is a better city than Colorado Springs. The people may be a little strange in CS but gunnison is in the middle of freaking no where and not really close to the mountains.

Also why are we not discussing Colorado School of Mines. They won XC last fall and had a guy run 13:44 this year. If you are looking to get the most of college from academics and running that seems to be a good bet.

I (and many others) would pick Gunnison over Colorado Springs any day of the week. But I like small, mountain towns. And, yes, Gunnison is a mountain town. It's got everything I enjoy... great running, mountain biking, fly fishing, skiing, and easy access to other beautiful areas of Colorado.

We weren't discussing Mines since the OP didn't bring it up.

I agree with ^this guy. Gunnison is a wwwwaaayyy better place to live. And Gunnison not being close to mountains?!?!.... that's a ridiculous statement.

Colorado Springs? Alamosa? Both are okay but not great. I'd pick CS over Alamosa to live. But if you're issue is being closer to urban areas then you're better off at CU or CSU. If academics is your primary focus, then yes, CC if money isn't an issue.

One of my sons, not "son's."

First off get your history correct. Jen Michel started coaching in 2007 won the national title in 2011 and was runner up from 2008-2010. Second, the altitude training is the best in the country and you have the most amazing trails in the world to run on.

Third, the professors at Western are amazing. It may not be a ranked school but people teach their because they love the area and what they do. Make great grades and choose a major that you can get a job with and you will be fine. Only from experience.

probably Adams. I know little about any of these schools but I've heard more about adams developing distance runners.

this is how they rank wrote:

Academics:

Colorado College > Adams State > Western State

Athletics:

Adams State > Western State > Colorado College

Town/City:

Western State > Colorado College > Adams State

Finally, the idea that you won't have a solid, well-paying career with a degree from Adams or Western is a LRC fallacy.

This is the most unbiased and true post.

I know some of the men and women at both Adams and Western. They are intelligent people who love to be passionate about running. Is there something wrong with that?

I believe this notion that Adams and Western have a bunch of athletes who can barely function through daily life is a false reality created by those who want to find some way to reason why they aren't as good as these teams.

Colorado College was one of the schools I looked at when I was deciding on where to go to college in large part because my dad went there. This was back in like 2006 and I think they had a pretty good team. If I remember correctly they had several sub-15 5k guys including a couple around 14:20-14:30, obviously not Adams State level, but still pretty solid for a D3 team. In addition, the coach seemed knowledgeable and personable when I talked to him on the phone. Not sure if things have changed in the meantime, but I'd pick Colorado College 10 times out of 10 if my other choices were Adams State and Western State.

WesternRunner, i know it's a little bit of hyperbole but c'mon, the most amazing trails in THE WORLD to run on are around Gunnison? I get it, there are amazing views. That's the case for basically all of Colorado, and the Rockies, and all mountain ranges of the world. Gunnison is beautiful, but not special.

Colorado College.

I went there in the 70s, ran on the cross country team. Our team wasn't very good then. But I loved it, great experience, great college.