Montana State University vs Colorado State University campus atmosphere.

[TaperPin]

Given the aid offers he has, CSU is a few thousand a year more. It seems like the cost of living in Bozeman may close to offset the difference when he moves off campus, tho. I don't want to say a few thousand is trivial, but they are close enough that is isn't a major part of the decision.

There will be a difference in the financial aid left over after tuition and school expenses are paid. I was somewhat shocked CSU didn’t leave enough to live on. They expect the student will work off campus. Other universities in towns with limited opportunities to work off campus are more generous. I had one degree from UW and showed up at CSU expecting to focus on classes and was somewhat shocked when loans weren’t enough to live on and I had to work for food, gas and beer money. Honestly, had I known that, probably would have gone somewhere else.

As was said above, professors have a lot of contacts for internships and jobs and if working in Colorado is the plan definitely go there.

 

[bayoublaster7527]

Seems like FoCo and CSU has gone pretty far left these days, especially with some of the protests lately. Run across lots of folks in the forestry, ag, wildlife sciences fields from there. Was a bit surprised when Rebecca Niemiec set up the Anti-Hunting Policy Center at CSU.

 

[Sandbrew]

I love both towns and schools so here is my 2 cents-

I have a son living in Bozeman he did 2 years at MSU and 2 years working there now. He liked the campus life and some of the classes. He decided to take a break from school and is only working now. It's very expense to live as renter and he's sorting that out right now. He's not into fishing and hunting but certainly enjoyed the outdoor activities in the warmer months. The weather is way better in FTC than Bozeman pretty much year round. The college seems to be a draw for many out of staters looking to ski a lot. Campus seems crowded as the school tries to add students as fast as they can admit them. The town seems to have some growing pains and old timers don't like the transplants. The town is awesome and reminds me of Ft Collins 30-40 years ago. Bozeman will never be as big as Ft Collins in my lifetime but its trying to get there.

I have a daughter at CSU in year 2 and she is loving it. She now lives off campus but close to it. The school is excellent and for the price offers a ton of options for students. The campus and spread out and really improved since I was there. FT Collins as a city as more than tripled in size since I went undergrad there 1986-1990 and worked there 1990-1995. There is still plenty of charm in the Old Town area. I get up there 3-4x per year and really enjoy the town. As an alumni I am still involved with the university and sit on the Fermentation Science and Technology Advisory Board. Overall the town and school in my opinion are not as far left as many colleges and college towns right now and there does seem to be a good balance at CSU

 

[Coveyleader]

I can't speak for MT, not one single word, but what I can tell you about Colorado is there are a ton of companies here looking for kids with those types of degrees. A nice internship is not out of the question if he needs a summer job and or expierence. Heck DU, just south of there offers the next level degree in GIS>