Career in civil engineering a pipe dream?

[CHOCTICK]

I've read many post from reputable sources saying the civil engineering profession has a bright future. On these same sites I've read reader comments vehemently rebuking the bright outlook claims. An aspiring civil engineer myself, I am quick to dismiss the gripes as whining from lazy job seekers or those unwilling to relocate to where the jobs are. I fear I may be deluding myself.

Enough of that. What do you all think of the University of Colorado, Boulder. I was at the University of California, Davis but my grades got low because of the quarter system and I had to leave. I will be entering another state program this spring (2012) as a civil conditional grad student. I hope to kick tell there and apply for fall 2012 admission to UC Boulder. I'm a veteran and they let veterans pay in-state tuition--I want to get out of California as soon as possible.

My gpa for undergrad was 3.2 with 2.85 in last 60 units. I was a conditional grad student at Davis taking courses to build an adequate foundation in engineering; I have my undergrad in mathematics. My performance at Davis was not that great but I attribute that to the quarter system.

In short, is UC Boulder a hard grad program to get into and tell me how to get in. Thanks.

[CHOCTICK]

^{As far as the US News rankings go, what is the cutoff for good schools; are schools ranked 30 and up good schools? Or is it schools 1-23? What do you all think of University of Virginia, University of Florida, Colorado State University, Arizona State, and Ohio State University. If you are going to graduate school, you should go to the best one you can get into. I know personal fit matters but lets ignore that for now.}

[Sigaba]

I fear I may be deluding myself.

I was at the University of California, Davis but my grades got low because of the quarter system and I had to leave. I will be entering another state program this spring (2012) as a civil conditional grad student. My performance at Davis was not that great but I attribute that to the quarter system.

"Maybe"?

Having worked at a consultancy that specializes in civil and structural engineering, I worked with engineers who often had to do a lot of work in a short period of time. IME, not one ever pointed to time constraints as a reason--and certainly not as an excuse--for the quality of their work.