Colorado College
- Academics

The Block Plan!

I chose Colorado College based on its unique academic plan (although culturally and socially it is unique and wonderful in many unexpected ways). With the Block Plan, students take one class at a time for three and a half weeks. The rest of the month then is dedicated to a break from all the studying, allowing students to discover the nearby natural wonders, like Garden of the Gods and the Incline on Pike's Peak. Taking one class at a time allows students and professors to be fully immersed in the topic, allows for more travel, and does not force students to prioritize certain classes over others.

The class sizes are small, all under twenty-five, and so the professor to student ratio is incredibly small. Thus far, I have called each of my professor by his or her first name, emailed them constantly with always speedy responses, and have conversed with each of them personally.

All classes involve so much interactive discussion; everyday I feel like I'm learning not only from my professor but from the other students too.

Not many schools operate on the Block Plan, but I wouldn't trade it for any other way to learn.

Good for Some Things

I think the most valuable thing I learned at CC is how to learn quickly. Diving into a block and taking in so much information really opens your mind to how much you can really accomplish. On the other side of this coin, however, I feel that some classes simply aren't suited to the block plan. There are some classes (primarily science classes) that try to cram in too much information into 3 1/2 weeks, and with other classes, such as language classes, it's hard to have retention of the information you learned because you spent such a short amount of time going over so much. Overall, I would say I've had a great quality of education at CC despite some of the shortcomings of the block plan.

Acacemics Are Great

The professors here are very approachable and incredibly smart. Most of them will go above and beyond to help you if you're struggling with something. The sciences at CC are very strong. I don't know much about the other departments, but I've heard similar things about those departments from friends.