As of Early Signing Period - 2018 Class Grade

[The Alabaster Yak]

I know successful people who attended CSU and Metro State, but that doesn't mean those institutions are just as good, academically speaking, as CU. Mines is one of the top engineering schools in the country, with some of the highest job placement and entry level salary in various engineering fields. I’m sure CU E school produces great Engineers, but how is this conversation even a debate?

 

[dyemeduke]

I know successful people who attended CSU and Metro State, but that doesn't mean those institutions are just as good, academically speaking, as CU. Mines is one of the top engineering schools in the country, with some of the highest job placement and entry level salary in various engineering fields. I’m sure CU E school produces great Engineers, but how is this conversation even a debate?

I actually don't think CSU is really inferior to CU. I think CU has certain programs that are better, but no, I don't think a CU undergrad is going to be a superior student than a CU undergrad - all specifics aside.

Mines does do a very good job of job placement and networking with alumni to hire from Mines. I think their work in the oil and gas industry also helps their salary numbers greatly. However, no, there is absolutely no way that Mines is a superior school imo. You can throw whatever metric you have, but I've worked with too many engineers from Mines to have just a normal opinion of them. I know too many idiots that have graduated from there as well (CU as well). They're not as selective as top schools in admissions, and their students on average are not as capable as people I've known that have gone to MIT or what I consider to the top tier of engineering schools.

 

[PAHIBuff]

I actually don't think CSU is really inferior to CU. I think CU has certain programs that are better, but no, I don't think a CU undergrad is going to be a superior student than a CU undergrad - all specifics aside.

Mines does do a very good job of job placement and networking with alumni to hire from Mines. I think their work in the oil and gas industry also helps their salary numbers greatly. However, no, there is absolutely no way that Mines is a superior school imo. You can throw whatever metric you have, but I've worked with too many engineers from Mines to have just a normal opinion of them. I know too many idiots that have graduated from there as well (CU as well). They're not as selective as top schools in admissions, and their students on average are not as capable as people I've known that have gone to MIT or what I consider to the top tier of engineering schools.

I realize that it's only one specific type of engineering, but Mines is one of THE very best Petroleum Engineering schools in the country.
It has been for a long time, although I'll grant you there are great PEs from a few other places. On the larger issue I agree with you; I don't see any advantage to either institution in merging.

 

[CUFan]

Getting to the crux of the issue with something else that bothers me: CU-Boulder is the football program for the CU system. It's also the basketball program, etc., that compete at the highest level. CU-Denver, UCCS and CU-Anschultz are all close enough with enough local alums to be marketed to and connected to CU Buffs athletics -- at least football. Mines would also be in that mix. I find it horrible on the part of CU that this isn't done. It's not like the UT system where UTEP, UTSA, etc. play D1 sports.

I also hate that the medical school/campus now wants to call itself UC. They should all be CU, like it has always been. UC is California.

 

[Sykobuff]

I would grade this class....

 

[PAHIBuff]

I would grade this class....

Somewhere between B and B+ with a solid B+ if we sign the RB Boyd or another 3 star OL or DL.

Now back to basics: Who has the better Anthropology program: Western State, Adams State, or Fort Lewis ?

 

[PAHIBuff]

Eastern Washington?

 

[jkppkjjkp]

Getting to the crux of the issue with something else that bothers me: CU-Boulder is the football program for the CU system. It's also the basketball program, etc., that compete at the highest level. CU-Denver, UCCS and CU-Anschultz are all close enough with enough local alums to be marketed to and connected to CU Buffs athletics -- at least football. Mines would also be in that mix. I find it horrible on the part of CU that this isn't done. It's not like the UT system where UTEP, UTSA, etc. play D1 sports.

I'm actually a CU-Denver alum. There was nothing done to draw us towards Boulder. It wouldn't have made sense 5-10 years ago as 75%+ of us were non-traditional students who didn't want to, or couldn't prioritize getting to Boulder to watch a game. I was an aberration who grew up obsessed with Colorado football and basketball because my Grandma worked for the school for a few years and brought me to a game or two each year between the ages of 8-15.

While it might make sense now as CU-Denver has added student housing and is targeting more traditional students, they are in the business (I think appropriately if they want to be a more traditional school) of promoting their nascent sports efforts which are mostly club sports with hints at trying to field intercollegiate lacrosse and hockey teams.

The big opportunity that CU-Denver dropped was in choosing the Lynx as their mascot. Brewers was overwhelmingly supported and made a ton of sense with the student union housed in the old Tivoli brewery which overlooks the athletic fields on the Auraria campus. The powers that be opted against Brewers out of a desire not to be affiliated with drinking; which amounts to some stupid abstinence only education sort of mindset. Focusing on responsible drinking and the crastmanship of brewing beers makes a lot more sense tahn burying your head in the sand when there are probably 100+ bars within a 15 minute walk of your campus. /end rant.

Maybe it would make sense to market football at the Denver campus, but in lean years I don't see the excitement being there, and in good years I think Folsom should be full up with alumni and students in Boulder.

 

[Sykobuff]

Smfh...

 

[Sykobuff]

Somewhere between B and B+ with a solid B+ if we sign the RB Boyd or another 3 star OL or DL.

Now back to basics: Who has the better Anthropology program: Western State, Adams State, or Fort Lewis ?

OL and other taylor, LB is weak.

 

[PAHIBuff]

I'm actually a CU-Denver alum. There was nothing done to draw us towards Boulder. It wouldn't have made sense 5-10 years ago as 75%+ of us were non-traditional students who didn't want to, or couldn't prioritize getting to Boulder to watch a game. I was an aberration who grew up obsessed with Colorado football and basketball because my Grandma worked for the school for a few years and brought me to a game or two each year between the ages of 8-15.

While it might make sense now as CU-Denver has added student housing and is targeting more traditional students, they are in the business (I think appropriately if they want to be a more traditional school) of promoting their nascent sports efforts which are mostly club sports with hints at trying to field intercollegiate lacrosse and hockey teams.

The big opportunity that CU-Denver dropped was in choosing the Lynx as their mascot. Brewers was overwhelmingly supported and made a ton of sense with the student union housed in the old Tivoli brewery which overlooks the athletic fields on the Auraria campus. The powers that be opted against Brewers out of a desire not to be affiliated with drinking; which amounts to some stupid abstinence only education sort of mindset. Focusing on responsible drinking and the crastmanship of brewing beers makes a lot more sense tahn burying your head in the sand when there are probably 100+ bars within a 15 minute walk of your campus. /end rant.

Maybe it would make sense to market football at the Denver campus, but in lean years I don't see the excitement being there, and in good years I think Folsom should be full up with alumni and students in Boulder.

I agree. I just don't think that most people at CU-B, CU-D, UCCS, or Anschutz consider themselves to be part of a unified institution. It's just never been that way here.

 

[MtnBuff]

Two points.

One is that I think it would be a huge mistake to combine Mines into the CU system. There are big advantages to the size of CU-Boulder and the CU system. For many students those advantages are a big positive. Part of that advantage is the campus life with thousands of other students in an array of different majors and the social opportunities provided. A school like Boulder can also leverage contacts with many different businesses and industries to the advantage of it's students.

For some students a school the size and scope of Boulder is not the right place. Mines is small enough that the students get an intimate level of interaction with each other and the faculty. Mines doesn't have the same level of distractions academically and socially as Boulder does. A smaller school means less bureaucracy. Can an average prof take a concern directly to the office of the Chancellor in Boulder much less the Presidents office? In Golden that happens much easier. While Mines doesn't have the range of industry contacts that Boulder has it can much more easily work with the leaders in it's specific industries.

Second is that CU has done a poor job of marketing not only athletics but the entire school to the state of Colorado as a whole. The lack of connection felt by students at the other campuses is only a symptom this. My impression is that even though they have pro sports teams and other distractions like Colorado does people in states like Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan, and others sense much more connection and loyalty to their flagship universities than we have here.

 

[jkppkjjkp]

I agree. I just don't think that most people at CU-B, CU-D, UCCS, or Anschutz consider themselves to be part of a unified institution. It's just never been that way here.

CU-Denver supposedly encompasses Anschutz and the Downtown Campus at Auraria. At any given time between '07-'09 when I was a student we were going through some sort of rebranding. At first it was UC-Denver and UC-Health Sciences as separate entities, then we were UCDHSC-Downtown Denver Campus and USDHSC-Anschutz then just a unified CU-Denver, with a downtown campus and the Anschutz campus.

Are there any institutions that really operate as a unified set of campuses (campi?)? The only other systems I have familiarity with are University of Maryland where U of MD-Baltimore City has no social or athletics cross talk with U of MD-College Park or U of MD-Baltimore County, and Johns Hopkins where there's no desire at the professional schools to engage with Hopkins athletics.

 

[PAHIBuff]

CU-Denver supposedly encompasses Anschutz and the Downtown Campus at Auraria. At any given time between '07-'09 when I was a student we were going through some sort of rebranding. At first it was UC-Denver and UC-Health Sciences as separate entities, then we were UCDHSC-Downtown Denver Campus and USDHSC-Anschutz then just a unified CU-Denver, with a downtown campus and the Anschutz campus.

Are there any institutions that really operate as a unified set of campuses (campi?)? The only other systems I have familiarity with are University of Maryland where U of MD-Baltimore City has no social or athletics cross talk with U of MD-College Park or U of MD-Baltimore County, and Johns Hopkins where there's no desire at the professional schools to engage with Hopkins athletics.

I'm not sure. As an example, the Univ of Wisconsin has a bunch of small branches all over the state but I'm not sure how it all works psychologically. The branches play D2 or D3 sports and are much easier to get into than Madison is. But to Nik's larger point, I can tell you that the entire state of Wisconsin is wrapped up in, and highly supportive of, UW-Madison's athletics. They are just a tiny bit behind the Packers. Not to speak for Nik, but I think that the state-wide college sports situations in Wisconsin and in Iowa are what he would like to see here in Colorado, and I agree that it would be a good thing. Just different demographics. In fact, when you look at the transient populations in CO, AZ, and CA, in contrast to a few B1G states you can see the differences in the loyalties to the local college sports teams. This has been discussed on these massage boards before and it's true.

 

[dyemeduke]

I realize that it's only one specific type of engineering, but Mines is one of THE very best Petroleum Engineering schools in the country.
It has been for a long time, although I'll grant you there are great PEs from a few other places. On the larger issue I agree with you; I don't see any advantage to either institution in merging.

Sure, and CU has one of the biochemical and aerospace depts in the country. Mines is great at many other things too. However, I've just worked with too many ... ...just very underwhelming engineers in terms of attitude, competence, or work ethic to consider Mines one of the best in the nation. They make great engineers, but on average, not superior to CU imo. Granted it's been a long time, but I remember when I was looking at colleges, Mines was easy to get into. MIT, CIT, Stanford, Duke, etc. - there admissions were so hard that I sincerely doubt that I'll meet someone I consider incompetent from those schools.

Smfh...

You're right - my bad...that's my last on the topic. Back to the recent class grades...

 

[Sykobuff]

Sure, and CU has one of the biochemical and aerospace depts in the country. Mines is great at many other things too. However, I've just worked with too many ... ...just very underwhelming engineers in terms of attitude, competence, or work ethic to consider Mines one of the best in the nation. They make great engineers, but on average, not superior to CU imo. Granted it's been a long time, but I remember when I was looking at colleges, Mines was easy to get into. MIT, CIT, Stanford, Duke, etc. - there admissions were so hard that I sincerely doubt that I'll meet someone I consider incompetent from those schools.



You're right - my bad...that's my last on the topic. Back to the recent class grades...

Carry on, I'm not in charge.

 

[DBT]

I'm actually a CU-Denver alum. There was nothing done to draw us towards Boulder. It wouldn't have made sense 5-10 years ago as 75%+ of us were non-traditional students who didn't want to, or couldn't prioritize getting to Boulder to watch a game. I was an aberration who grew up obsessed with Colorado football and basketball because my Grandma worked for the school for a few years and brought me to a game or two each year between the ages of 8-15.

While it might make sense now as CU-Denver has added student housing and is targeting more traditional students, they are in the business (I think appropriately if they want to be a more traditional school) of promoting their nascent sports efforts which are mostly club sports with hints at trying to field intercollegiate lacrosse and hockey teams.

The big opportunity that CU-Denver dropped was in choosing the Lynx as their mascot. Brewers was overwhelmingly supported and made a ton of sense with the student union housed in the old Tivoli brewery which overlooks the athletic fields on the Auraria campus. The powers that be opted against Brewers out of a desire not to be affiliated with drinking; which amounts to some stupid abstinence only education sort of mindset. Focusing on responsible drinking and the crastmanship of brewing beers makes a lot more sense tahn burying your head in the sand when there are probably 100+ bars within a 15 minute walk of your campus. /end rant.

Maybe it would make sense to market football at the Denver campus, but in lean years I don't see the excitement being there, and in good years I think Folsom should be full up with alumni and students in Boulder.

I’m a CU Denver grad as well. I guess I hadn’t thought about being a Fighting Lynx since I graduated in ‘89. Go Lynxes!

 

[jkppkjjkp]

I'm not sure. As an example, the Univ of Wisconsin has a bunch of small branches all over the state but I'm not sure how it all works psychologically. The branches play D2 or D3 sports and are much easier to get into than Madison is. But to Nik's larger point, I can tell you that the entire state of Wisconsin is wrapped up in, and highly supportive of, UW-Madison's athletics. They are just a tiny bit behind the Packers. Not to speak for Nik, but I think that the state-wide college sports situations in Wisconsin and in Iowa are what he would like to see here in Colorado, and I agree that it would be a good thing. Just different demographics. In fact, when you look at the transient populations in CO, AZ, and CA, in contrast to a few B1G states you can see the differences in the loyalties to the local college sports teams. This has been discussed on these massage boards before and it's true.

I have a hard time seeing the Buffs getting a Badger-style following without at least 15 years of sustained success.

Their first Rose Bowl with Alvarez was 25 years ago and they've been to 23 bowls in that quarter of a century with 12 seasons of 10+ wins, and are headed into their 8th NY6 bowl in that span. That's 2 lean years out of 25 with 10 wins about half the time and a big time bowl about 1/3rd of the tiem.

They've been uncommonly good for a really long time now, they're going to be admitting freshmen next year who weren't alive the last time they didn't go to a bowl game.

 

[PAHIBuff]

My knowledge of Mines guys outside of Petroleum Engineering is pretty narrow, and it's been a while since I've been around folks who are applying to Engineering schools, but I'll tell you that "back in my day" from any pool of 50 random guys that got accepted into CU, its possible that about 15 of them would have gotten into Mines. Just a fact. Don't know how it is now and it's likely it's an apples/oranges thing.

 

[PAHIBuff]

I have a hard time seeing the Buffs getting a Badger-style following without at least 15 years of sustained success.

Their first Rose Bowl with Alvarez was 25 years ago and they've been to 23 bowls in that quarter of a century with 12 seasons of 10+ wins, and are headed into their 8th NY6 bowl in that span. That's 2 lean years out of 25 with 10 wins about half the time and a big time bowl about 1/3rd of the tiem.

They've been uncommonly good for a really long time now, they're going to be admitting freshmen next year who weren't alive the last time they didn't go to a bowl game.

All good points.

 

[PAHIBuff]

My knowledge of Mines guys outside of Petroleum Engineering is pretty narrow, and it's been a while since I've been around folks who are applying to Engineering schools, but I'll tell you that "back in my day" from any pool of 50 random guys that got accepted into CU, its possible that about 15 of them would have gotten into Mines. Just a fact. Don't know how it is now and it's likely it's an apples/oranges thing.

This was meant for dyemedukes post #285.

 

[PAHIBuff]

I’m a CU Denver grad as well. I guess I hadn’t thought about being a Fighting Lynx since I graduated in ‘89. Go Lynxes!

The Lynxes Rule!! They can fight and eat many other small mammals!

 

[PAHIBuff]

Sure, and CU has one of the biochemical and aerospace depts in the country. Mines is great at many other things too. However, I've just worked with too many ... ...just very underwhelming engineers in terms of attitude, competence, or work ethic to consider Mines one of the best in the nation. They make great engineers, but on average, not superior to CU imo. Granted it's been a long time, but I remember when I was looking at colleges, Mines was easy to get into. MIT, CIT, Stanford, Duke, etc. - there admissions were so hard that I sincerely doubt that I'll meet someone I consider incompetent from those schools.



You're right - my bad...that's my last on the topic. Back to the recent class grades...

Well yeah, if you're talking about MIT, CIT, Stanford, you're in another ball game outside of CU and Mines to an extent.

 

[MtnBuff]

When we got married my wife was working for the leading oil and mining law firm in Peru, accounts like Exxon, BP, Occidental, Conoco, Shell, etc.

I can tell you that when any of the lawyers, engineers, or other significant people found out I was from Colorado it was usually a very short wait until Mines was mentioned.

 

[SINKRATZ]

I have a hard time seeing the Buffs getting a Badger-style following without at least 15 years of sustained success.

Their first Rose Bowl with Alvarez was 25 years ago and they've been to 23 bowls in that quarter of a century with 12 seasons of 10+ wins, and are headed into their 8th NY6 bowl in that span. That's 2 lean years out of 25 with 10 wins about half the time and a big time bowl about 1/3rd of the tiem.

They've been uncommonly good for a really long time now, they're going to be admitting freshmen next year who weren't alive the last time they didn't go to a bowl game.

We are uncommon!!

Also this thread had gotten real shi**ty.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

I'm not sure. As an example, the Univ of Wisconsin has a bunch of small branches all over the state but I'm not sure how it all works psychologically. The branches play D2 or D3 sports and are much easier to get into than Madison is. But to Nik's larger point, I can tell you that the entire state of Wisconsin is wrapped up in, and highly supportive of, UW-Madison's athletics. They are just a tiny bit behind the Packers. Not to speak for Nik, but I think that the state-wide college sports situations in Wisconsin and in Iowa are what he would like to see here in Colorado, and I agree that it would be a good thing. Just different demographics. In fact, when you look at the transient populations in CO, AZ, and CA, in contrast to a few B1G states you can see the differences in the loyalties to the local college sports teams. This has been discussed on these massage boards before and it's true.

The state of Colorado will never be behind CU as much as Wisconsin is behind UW.

 

[cu62nu36]

The state of Colorado will never be behind CU as much as Wisconsin is behind UW.

Yes, and while it would be nice to emulate the Michigan State model I don't think CU can due to the lack of proximity to fertile recruiting grounds.

Michigan State over the last dozen years has pulled 83 of their 253 recruits, 32.8%, from within the state of Michigan.
Colorado over the same time period got 41 out of 271, 15.1%, from within Colorado. Also, the 83 Mich St. players were more highly ranked and better football players than the majority of the 41 Colorado players.

It is just a built-in advantage that Michigan State enjoys by being located in the football playing state of Michigan.

I glanced at the data for Iowa and they are closer to our numbers than those of Mich.St. I did not check the numbers for Wisconsin but as someone else pointed out they've been so good for so long AND the fact that they enjoy a lucky conference alignment that they are now an anomaly.

If Colorado had been able to sustain even a semblance of the success of the early 90's, say like Barnett's teams instead of the "lost decade", then we might be the equivalent of Wisconsin today.

Now, Nik might be on the right path by looking toward Washington but IMO our best case reality looks much more like Iowa. Given all this I think that MM has pulled in a really good recruiting class.

 

[SINKRATZ]

This may be better in a new thread, but how can a state like Colorado that is so passionate about pro football have such a weak collection of programs at the HS level?

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

This may be better in a new thread, but how can a state like Colorado that is so passionate about pro football have such a weak collection of programs at the HS level?

And this may be a politically incorrect answer but it’s because there aren’t very many black people living in CO.

 

[FLounder]

And this may be a politically incorrect answer but it’s because there aren’t very many black people living in CO.

Straight up.