University of Colorado Boulder Freshman Dorms Ranked

As an introvert who doesn't go out much, Farrand is a nightmare. Do not live here unless you're in Greek Life because those are the people you will be surrounded by. Awesome location but not an awesome building. Sometimes the hot water doesn't work in the shower which really sucks in January and February. Most of the other dorms have a large common area or study lounge but Farrand doesn't really have that except for a small one in the basement. If you value your academics or a structured daily routine, don't live here. It's hard to sleep, especially on weekends, because it's a "party dorm" so you're sleep schedule might be pushed back a few hours. RA's/staff are very nice and lots of social events are held here which is great. I would never recommend this dorm personally but to be fair there are some people I know who like it. - 3 months ago

Cockerell Hall is falling apart. I heard they replaced the carpet which is nice though. We didn't even have a smoke detector in our room. All that aside though, location was unbeatable. Less than a minute walk to the engineering center, close to 3 dining halls, and the quad was nice too. The culture in Cockerell was great too. Basically, ignoring the building, best dorm there is. Plus the communal showers made for good bonding opportunities. I guess if there were more than 2 washers/dryers for the whole building that would've been nice. Saturday morning laundry was cutthroat. - 5 years ago

This building was renovated in 2016 ish so it’s pretty new and well done. There are two towers connected by a skywalk, Kitt North and Kitt South. I lived in Kitt South where the global engineering rap was located. It was super cool bc the rap had several classrooms that could be used as study rooms as well as free printing and a small library. At the base of the North tower were more classrooms and a small market/coffee shop that stayed open pretty late. Rooms are decent sized but most have hardwood floors that could get kind of cold in the winter. I had a semi private bathroom (shared between two doubles) and it was pretty large and easy to keep clean. Overall, I really enjoyed living there! - 5 years ago

Buckingham is such a nice building. The rooms are really spacious, air-conditioned, and its a newer building with lots of study rooms and a movie room. Due to Covid this year I didn't get the full experience of what life in Buckingham hall would be, but because spent a lot of time in my dorm doing my classes it was definitely one of the more ideal dorms I would have liked to spend my time in. Its nice that the dumpsters are really close and access to the road and parking lot so if you have a car, need to take an uber, or pick up door dash, it's ideal to just walk out the back door and get a ride. There is a gorgeous view of the Kittridge pond but that also means its a longer walk to get to school buildings. I had my own bathroom so I didn't need to use the public ones but the public ones have about 4 toilets and 3 showers so there isn't a lot of privacy compared to other dorms which have individual bathrooms. Overall I think Buckingham is a good choice if you're CMCI - 4 years ago

There are no pros to living in Stearns West besides the amazing people I met, but here is a list of cons:
1. Black mold in the vents made my friends and me sick constantly. So we complained to CU Boulder, and they did nothing to solve the issue.
2. Distance: Prepare to pay hundreds of dollars to get anywhere on Main Campus or the Hill. You must also be prepared to leave 30 minutes before you need to get anywhere.
3. Buff Bus: You must take this to get anywhere on campus. Half the time, it is too full to get on, broken down, or 30 minutes late. They are also poorly marked, so I ended up on East Campus half the time.
4. Rooms are small besides the apartment styles, which are an okay size. But they are also disgusting and haven't been cleaned since the building was built in 1966. The furniture was run down and broken in many places.
5. Willvill dining hall: no options for food, so good luck if you have any dietary restrictions. Half the time, I ended up bussing to Main Campus to eat becuase WillVill dining hall was entirely out of food.
6. Noise: I woke up to the sound of the highway and the noise from the gas station.
7. Elevator: They are almost 100% of the time broken, and I have gotten stuck in there three times. They always break on move-in and move-out, so when I helped move my friend out, I had to carry a giant cart down the staircase. Also, they are constantly packed.
8. The bathrooms are disgusting, with mold and hair everywhere.
9. Laundry: never any washers and dryers are open, and always at least two broken ones. Good luck trying to do laundry on a busy day, and becuase of the lack of washers and dryers, people will bump ur clothes even if you are 30 seconds late. I have gotten so much stolen from this laundry room.
10. Getting back at night is super dangerous, and you must Uber. The walk to Main Campus requires you to walk under the highway.
11. UPS Store: They would always lose my packages, my packages would get stolen, or send all my packages to Main Campus.
12. The windows don't open, so good luck getting fresh air.
13. You have air, but the vents are always broken.

This dorm is a health violation and inconvenience, and the University should make it cheaper to live there or start giving out $100 Uber and Doordash gift cards. They need to knock this dorm down. I was sick the entire year from molding poisoning or puking from food poisoning. Good luck if you are have to live in Stearns West
- 1 month ago