The Most Interesting College of the Day! – Colorado School of Mines – June 3

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The Colorado School of Mines is a public research university with over 6,600 students located in Golden, Colorado. It is one of the few remaining predominantly male colleges – ~70% male.

In 1906, Mines became the first school of its kind in the world to own and operate its own experimental mine, designed for practical teaching of the students.

Freshmen are expected, but not required, to participate in the M Climb during orientation.

GOLDEN, CO-August, 2013: Freshmen at Colorado School of Mines, class of 2017, haul 10-pound rocks up to the university’s iconic mountainside M on Mt. Zion, August 19, 2013. The incoming students climb to the university’s M to give the landmark,and their classmates, a fresh coat of whitewash. (Photo By RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

During this climb, students carry a ten-pound rock brought from their hometown up Mt. Zion. Before ascending up the mountain, students are given colored hard-hats which are spray-painted. Along the climb, non-freshmen encourage and heckle the new students with water balloons, silly string, and more, as well as leading the group in learning the Mines’ fight song. At the top of the mountain, students place their rock on the “M,” a large sign made of rock in the shape of Mines’ M logo, and paint the M white using whitewash. On graduation, seniors are invited to take a rock from the M as a keepsake of their time at Mines.

Each spring semester, the Colorado School of Mines students and faculty celebrate E-days (or Engineering Days). This festival is kicked off with the “Ore Cart Pull”. This event consists of students collectively pulling an ore cart 7.5 miles down to the Colorado State Capitol. Other attractions of this event include a cardboard boat race.

Colorado School of Mines was ranked No. 3 Best NCAA D2 school in the U.S. for student-athletes, according to Next College Student Athlete‘s 2018 NCSA Power Rankings.

In every QS World University Ranking from 2016 to 2020, the university was ranked as the top institution in the world for mineral and mining engineering.

It was tied for 34th in U.S. News & World Report‘s 2021 “Top Public Schools” in the U.S. It was 42nd in U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 “Best Engineering Graduate Schools” in the U.S., with the Petroleum Engineering program ranked 4th in the U.S.

Interesting, as a public university, their motto is “Nothing without God’s will”

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