I'm a CU MS4, happy to answer any questions (on the forum or through messaging)! Ask me anything at all, no judgment.
I probably would have asked about getting up to the mountains to ski and hike, etc. The answer is yes, it is most definitely doable! I've averaged 20 ski days per year each year, and I've hiked just as much. If you care enough about it to go once per week you could definitely make that happen, except for when you're on a few classically time-consuming rotations in third and fourth year (which every school has).
My classmates are great, a very friendly and active group. People are always skiing, hiking, climbing, going out, playing basketball, etc., and anyone is welcome to come, really.
Residents and attendings are great to work with, very approachable and eager to teach. If you tell them what you want to get out of working with them they will oblige in the vast majority of cases, you just have to let them know your expectations (this is probably true everywhere).
The administration cares very deeply about med student abuse and constantly admonishes us to report it if anything happens. (I don't actually know of any cases of abuse over the years).
We live in Denver and Aurora - the campus is in Aurora, but living in Denver is very doable. Aurora and Denver, while recognized as different cities, are really the same city in feel - when you drive from one to the other there is no point at which you feel you are crossing over to the other. Denver has downtown, some very nice parks, shopping centers, and cool neighborhoods, but I've stayed in Aurora all four years because a) it's cheaper, and b) it has been a great place to live. Aurora gets a bad wrap, and people have the impression that it is a center of crime or a slum, but honestly I've never seen one instance of anything untoward happening over here. I've lived in two separate places over my four years and both were in quiet, safe neighborhoods, despite being right off of Colfax (supposedly a dangerous place).
DIA is a major airport and it's just 15 minutes from campus. This point probably won't register with you but it's been extremely helpful, especially during residency interview season.
The food around here is great (Denver and Aurora). The population is very diverse, so whatever cuisine you are into, you're likely to have multiple solid affordable options within 10-15 minutes of wherever you are (Thai, Ethiopian, Cuban, Jamaican, sushi, soul food, Mediterranean...).
The mountains are 1.5 hours away, Boulder is 40 minutes away (great hiking, and everything a college campus has to offer).
The campus is one of the newest and nicest in the country (speaking from the experience of visiting places for med school and residency interviews).
Students match into competitive specialties and programs, I do believe we have the resources to get you where you want to go if you seek them out.
I really can't think of any negatives, but if I knew as much about any other med school I would probably have some ideas of things to change at CU I imagine. Anyway, you just have to figure out what is most important to you. For me the X factor is the mountains, really...the people are great too, but my impression from the med school interview process was that med students all over are awesome people. You'll probably have a great time wherever you go, and most importantly, your school will make you a doctor! Good luck to all who see this, I hope you find a perfect fit, wherever that is.
