| Jan - Mar | Apr - Jun | Jul - Sep | Oct - Dec |
-0.2℃ |
18.3℃ |
3.1℃ |
14.9℃ |
Colorado School of Mines (CMS), popularly called “Mines” is a public research university of engineering and applied sciences that was founded in 1874. Primarily, a residential campus, the medium sized institute has a beautiful 499-acre campus at the base of the majestic Rocky Mountains, fifteen miles from the city of Denver. CMS ranked 75 in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities. The college also grabbed the top spot in the list of 281 engineering schools of US last year, edging out noted establishments like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Mines, quite a popular choice among Asian students offers Bachelor, Master and doctoral degrees.
The campus of CMS is located in the suburban setting of Golden Colorado, a great historic downtown of approximately 15,000 people. The town is small but there's plenty to do from kayaking to rock climbing to hanging out at the mall. Golden is within walking distance of the campus and pretty easy to get around. The town is nice, safe and friendly with plethora of good restaurants and shops. Golden with picturesque scenic beauty and awesome mountains is a great place for family visits. If the town gets too dull, students can hit the hot spots in Denver that is just a couple of miles away.
The scholastic session of Colorado School of Mines is semester-based. CMS boasts of 14 academic departments, including Mechanical Engineering and Geophysics. In addition, the school offers courses in the Liberal Arts & International Studies and Economics & Business departments. The laboratory infrastructure at Mines is vast. Undergrads and graduate students partake in more than $60 million of sponsored research. The institute is associated with government labs like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Bureau of Reclamation as well as the United States Geological Survey which provide students numerous prospects to engage in top-notch research. The campus has a geology museum which holds a moon rock from the Apollo 17 mission and fossilized dinosaur tracks. Mines also runs a science-based student newspaper “The Oredigger”.
Living on the campus is great with many options for housing like traditional halls with a family environment and dorms. The latter have spacious rooms especially the new ones like Elm hall, Maple Hall and Weaver Towers. The suites, four on each floor are generally shared by around 8 students. The dorms have amenities such as study room, music room, washing machines, dryers, common rooms, kitchen etc. Since the campus is fairly small, the location of the dorms is very convenient with everything from the cafeteria to other important buildings close by. Off-campus housing is a trifle steep if you want to reside close by. The options increase if you have a car and are open to living further from campus.
Colorado experiences truly beautiful weather with clear blue skies for a major part of the year. Days in summers are bright and sunny while the evenings are cool and comfortable. August is the warmest month with the temperature touching around 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The region is fairly dry and gets only 8 to 15 inches of annual precipitation. Colorado experiences snowfall but not severe enough for outdoor cafes to remain closed. Sudden blizzards and chilly winds are common.
The school endeavours to train its students to become engineers of high calibre. Hence, it is not surprising that the curriculum is hard and extremely challenging with rigorous assignments. The class sizes are favourable and the professors are the best in their respective fields. The faculty members are accommodating and always willing to help students in difficulties. The college lays a lot of emphasis on collaboration, encouraging students to thrash out problems collectively and work together on projects.
Financial aid is a big part of Mines. Nearly 70% of the freshman receive grants to the tune of about $7,500. Mines offers merit scholarships to students with good grades. Students with financial constraints can also dabble in work study programs.
Colorado School of Mines does a great job in helping students find internships and jobs. It has a career fair annually on the campus in which nearly 200 companies participate. Mines works closely with the private industry to provide the students with an enriching experience. The status of the school is such that reputed companies like Boeing, Ball Aerospace, Lockheed-Martin and Shell are eager to recruit graduates for internships and offer them job opportunities.
Being one of the top-10 engineer schools, CMS is an academic-oriented community. The inclination towards sports is not ardent, but the campus has a football field and multiple courts to play on. Also, Mines has facilities for students keen on athletic activity like of an actual gym, swimming pool, as well as an indoor running track. Apart from this, there are fun activities like high gliding, water rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking and so much more. There are varieties of clubs including seven fraternities and three sororities that arrange events to make the college stint an enjoyable experience. The campus also organizes the annual Winter Carnival at a local resort for skiing and snowboarding. Security is exceptional at CMS with a safety net that is very well laid out. Crime is negligible. The campus police force is trained and accessible. The sidewalks are well lit, there is 24/7 patrolling along with night transport and escort services. Other facilities include dormitory access via key, security card, permission of cars on campus and alcohol consumption clearance for students of legal age.
Andrew Swiger: senior vice president and principal financial officer of ExxonMobil. Harold M. Korell: executive chairman of the board of Southwestern Energy. Wendell Fertig: World War II hero. Bruce Grewcock: President/CEO of Kiewit Corporation.
School of Mines is the perfect place if you only take academics into perspective. It is the ideal set-up for hardworking, focused individuals who are keen to learn and get a good education. The course is challenging but stimulating. CMS may be a tough school with a difficult curriculum but it has a great placement rate and an impressive average starting salary for graduates.