Coming to college and possibly even moving states is a huge time of transition, often filled with feelings of uncertainty. Here are some things that HCCU wishes they knew before coming to CU Boulder. We pass along our wisdom to you with hopes that you can avoid some of the surprises we had.
The East coast is actually colder than here.
This shocked me, as a Pennsylvania girl. People made so many jokes about how cold Colorado is and I got so many gloves, hats, and scarves for graduation presents. Funny enough many of them are at home now and get much more use there. It’s true that degrees-wise it often is colder here than on the East Coast, but it is such a dry cold that you don’t feel it much. I like to say that you feel East Coast cold to your bones on a bad day and you only ever feel it on your skin here.
Phone service is so, so bad here.
Like, truly. If you don’t have wifi in most parts of Boulder, images won’t send and maps may not even load. In my experience, Verizon tends to be worse than AT&T out here, but once you know where you’re going, it’s pretty manageable.
No one honks their horn and if you do people will stare at you.
People get personally upset if you honk at them here! Using your horn sparingly will grant you ease on these Colorado roads. That being said, sometimes you just have to use that thing. There is a time and a place and Colorado drivers can be too forgiving sometimes.
People really don’t care what you wear.
You have people that dress for the runway, people who look like they just rolled out of bed and everything in between. I worried so much about what to wear to class as a freshman, and no matter what you wear, there will be someone else on campus at whatever your level of casual to formal is.
People will be stunned if you don’t know what a yerba mate is.
It says it all. Specifically, the Guayaki brand canned mint and orange (my personal favorites) flavors.
Rent is very expensive.
This is likely a conveniently hidden fact about Boulder if you aren’t from Colorado, but I had no idea how expensive rent is. For perspective, the national average rent for a one-bedroom is $960 and in Boulder, it is $2210. Oof. While it is more than possible to find places below that, especially if you don’t live alone, the range I’ve heard from friends is $900-$1600 monthly, without utilities.
Actually, that everything is balls-to-the-walls expensive.
And, it’s not just rent. Most everything is more expensive here except for gas, in my experience. Groceries are more, restaurants are more expensive (even if they aren’t always as good…), drinks are expensive. The list goes on.
You’ll NEED a good pair of shoes to walk in because you will be doing it a lot.
Boulder is an extremely walkable city, especially if you live on the Hill or downtown. From downtown, you can walk to campus in 25 minutes and can be on Pearl street in under five. From the Hill, you can be on campus in about 10 minutes and be downtown in 15-20 depending on where you are.
People here actually use the left lane to pass others on the highway.
The left lane is not just a fast driver’s free-for-all, unlike many other parts of the US. People truly use the left lane to get ahead of someone, and then return to the right lane, as you are supposed to do. Wild behavior.
It gets HOT outside in the summer.
Just because we have snow many months out of the year, doesn’t mean the sun doesn’t know how to party when the time is right. Summers here are hot and dry, and most rentals don’t have built-in air conditioning.
Campus is huge, like having classes in different buildings across campus & a bus system to get people from building to building.
CU is a big campus, and that means that sometimes even if you’re on campus, it may make more sense to take a bus to get to a different part of campus. This is especially true if one of the stops is to WillVill.
People live in apartments in undergrad.
Many colleges have students live on campus for all four years, or at least for the first two. CU is very unique in this aspect, and you are almost expected to move off campus after freshman year. There are a few options for on-campus housing after freshman year, but it tends to fill up quickly.
The city doesn’t plow every street when it snows.
The only streets that are consistently plowed are the highway, Baseline and Broadway. All other streets are an afterthought. This means your neighborhood may be icy for a few weeks while the plows get more of the main roads.
The sun will eventually melt the snow and ice on the pavement and sidewalks.
In the same vein, if there is no ice, oftentimes nothing is plowed at all. The iconic Boulder sun that visits 300 days of the year melts anything that didn’t freeze usually within the day.
You’ll need a moisturizer for when you’re here and for when you’re home if you aren’t from here.
The Colorado air is so dry that your skin will be much drier than normal, and will need a little extra TLC. At home, I can get away with not moisturizing my face for a day or two if I run out or am feeling a bit lazy. Here, even one day will take a few days to recover from and leave me feeling scaly.
See also haircare, frizz/volume.
And it’s not just your skin. Your hair will want some extra moisture in the form of deep conditioning, less shampoo or extra oils. For curly hair, it may be more voluminous or frizzy in the dry and cold air.
People on dating apps will ask you if you have an Ikon pass and they will ask where you prefer to ski or snowboard.
Not even just dating apps. It’s an expected conversation starter in almost any context. I’ve heard it in classes, dates, job interviews, you name it! If you aren’t a winter sports enthusiast, be prepared to explain why you are even here in the first place.
And with our knowledge of Boulder and of Colorado in general, we hope you become all the wiser during your time at CU and avoid some social blunders we have unfortunately made throughout the years.