Jerry
Academics, There are some great teachers and some bad ones. Talk to peers who have taken those classes to get the scoop. Take at least one out of the norm classes like scuba diving! thats right you can learn to scuba with out an ocean. I was shocked my self. There are all kinds of resources to help you in school and I highly recommend using them.
Kara
Colorado State is a large school, so for the first two years you will experience the huge lecture halls filled to the brim with students that you may have never seen before. However, when all the gen eds have been filled, it becomes a place where your teachers are your mentors whom you will run into at restaurants around town. For the most part students are there to learn. Like all state schools, there is no attendance taken so the students who make an effort will do very well and those who don't will not be allowed back in. However, most make it and want to be there so it is nice to be in classes with people who want to learn. The school as a whole is geared towards learning and mastering a major so that you can be the best in your field upon graduation.
Melissa
Many of the professors in the Business School know my name. My favorite class is probably Entrepreneurship in the Contemporary World and Psychology of Human Sexuality. My least favorite was probably Geosystems just because that type of material doesn't interest me at all. Personally I don't study as much as I should, but when I occasionally go to the library its amazing how many students actually do take advantage of it. Some students have intellectual conversations but a lot are so burned out from school they would rather relax and have a beer. Students are very competitive, especially when it comes to CU. My department is the college of business. I love it. We have amazing resources and professors, but I do know there is a lot of criticism that we get a lot of amenities that other colleges don't. I have never spent time with a professor out of class. I think that the education at CSU is geared toward getting a job and learning. There is a lot of focus on learning, but it is very encouraged to be proactive and also every semester a huge career fair is available for all students as well as a lot of preparation courses for that.
Katrina
All of my professors know my name, but I am in upper division classes now so it's much easier then when it was all lower division classes. Though if you make an effort to even go office hours once, your professor will know who you are.
-I spend time with my professors outside of class, they know me, and when they see me in the student center for lunch they'll stop and chat for a minute.
The academic requirements are rigorous but not so daunting that you spend every second in the library. If you work hard you'll do well, but CSU's philosophy is that going to class is only part of it. College is about many things. I think CSU has a great balance between studying and living.