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>

 

[handwerk]

Both my sons went to MSU, one of them got a GIS degree that has served him well.
I'd say they both had good experiences and made many great friends there. My youngest still lives in Bozeman.

 

[Buckarooknives]

2020 CSU alum with Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology degree. Took a lot of GIS classes to supplement my major. Highly recommend CSU. The academics are amazing. The school atmosphere is like anywhere else, and mix of all sides. There are several student organizations related to hunting that are pretty active. Look up Overland Church if he needs a solid bible believing church.

I met lifelong hunting friends at CSU and have been well served professionally from my degree. Message me anymore questions you got

 

[cnelk]

I’ve been in the Ft Collins area for 37 years.

Can’t disagree with anything that’s been said about it in the previous posts - both pros and cons.

One thing about sending kids to college (I sent two) is the distance from your home.
They will always try to travel home when they can and if that distance is a long ways, it gets expensive and time consuming - maybe not possible due to road conditions during the winter.

If the distance is similar between the two schools, it’s a moot point.

FoCo is nice. Weather can’t be beat. Lots to do in the outdoors but you’re gonna have company doing it.

 

[elkhunter505]

Currently in school as a graduate student at UM in Missoula. Just for context, I find Bozeman to be less liberal and more “western” than what Missoula is at the current moment. I spend a bit of time over there with grad students from the wildlife ecology department but I haven’t specifically asked them about the campus. Shameless plug, my experience at UM has been nothing short of phenomenal and I know they’re currently hiring another GIS professor in the college if forestry here, so may be worth adding another option which is minorly cheaper than Bozeman on the housing side. But if that is not the case, I really like Bozeman as it reminds me of my home (south of Albuquerque) much more than Missoula does. Lots more sprawling agricultural which can be seen as good and bad. The access to the outdoors is incredible in both locations

Don’t have any experience in Ft. Collins though.

 

[Tod osier]

I’ve been in the Ft Collins area for 37 years.

Can’t disagree with anything that’s been said about it in the previous posts - both pros and cons.

One thing about sending kids to college (I sent two) is the distance from your home.
They will always try to travel home when they can and if that distance is a long ways, it gets expensive and time consuming - maybe not possible due to road conditions during the winter.

If the distance is similar between the two schools, it’s a moot point.

FoCo is nice. Weather can’t be beat. Lots to do in the outdoors but you’re gonna have company doing it.

I hear you on the travel distance, good thought. We have a house in and are moving to western Wyoming while he is in college, so MSU and CSU are basically within an hour of each other as far as drive time. We are currently 2000 miles from both, but for his Junior year and Senior year and summers we will be in WY. His Freshman fall (next fall) we will be in WY all fall through the holidays, and I feel like that is a pretty important time to be close, which is one of the reasons we encouraged him to apply in the mountain west.

 

[Tod osier]

Currently in school as a graduate student at UM in Missoula. Just for context, I find Bozeman to be less liberal and more “western” than what Missoula is at the current moment. I spend a bit of time over there with grad students from the wildlife ecology department but I haven’t specifically asked them about the campus. Shameless plug, my experience at UM has been nothing short of phenomenal and I know they’re currently hiring another GIS professor in the college if forestry here, so may be worth adding another option which is minorly cheaper than Bozeman on the housing side. But if that is not the case, I really like Bozeman as it reminds me of my home (south of Albuquerque) much more than Missoula does. Lots more sprawling agricultural which can be seen as good and bad. The access to the outdoors is incredible in both locations

Don’t have any experience in Ft. Collins though.

We visited UM, but he didn't apply. I'm confident that the academics would be great, he just didn't like what he saw as much and he knew he loved what he saw at MSU and CSU. Myself, if I was going to school again I would be looking hard at UM and University of Wyoming as well, but that ship has sailed and I'm on the other end of life. .

 

[bradmacmt]

I live in Bozeman - less than a mile from the MSU campus. I'm on it everyday since our grocery store is on campus lol. Both my kids went to school in Bozeman K-12, and both are MSU grads. For their fields MSU was as good as it gets. I can't speak to GIS however, but I think @handwerk spoke to that. As to campus life, I don't really know - both my kids were pretty busy, and both worked. Also, they're from here so a lot of their friend-base was formed outside MSU. But both made life-long friends at MSU.

IIRC, you currently live in Connecticut? Not sure where you'd fly from (BDL, BOS or LGA?) - but flights into Denver will be simpler and cheaper than into Bozeman. The cost of living/housing is higher in Bozeman than Fort Collins. I don't know where you will be living once you move to WY, but I'd study what the winter drive is like between both locations. Winter driving in this part of the world can be challenging in the winter (ie, unsafe) so it will pay to know what mountain passes, etc., he'll be dealing with driving home on Christmas break, or you'll be dealing with driving to see him.

When I was 18 my dad sat me down and wanted me to go to the UM in Missoula. I didn't lol. In 1979 when I graduated HS Missoula would have been the place to be. But now, were I 18yo again and had to chose, I'd be in Bozeman and go to MSU. Great access to the outdoors, it's smaller, and even with so much change is still one of the finest Western towns there is - really.

But at the end of the day, the choice should be "from the gut" - you can weigh pros/cons until the sun sets, but making a gut decision rather than a strictly cerbral decision will always work out better in the long run IME - there are just too many unknowns you brain can't asess. Your heart knows things your head can't.

That's all I've got

 

[TaperPin]

One thing I hadn’t anticipated about FC is it’s a lot more driving than any place else I’ve lived - living in Denver would be closer to much of country that was interesting to me. Driving a 3/4 ton pickup was definitely expensive. Skiing at Breckinridge is 2-1/2 hours each way. There are ski clubs that take university vans so it’s not expensive, but 5 hours is quite a haul. Rocky Mountain national park is a 3 hr round trip. Poudre Canyon is close and we hiked every week year round.

Big mountains are what Colorado is great for - if he loves big high elevations there is no state that comes close. Bagging 14ers is a summer and early fall sport, but pretty epic. Western Montana has some pretty country, but the peaks are often the same elevation as trailheads in Colorado.

Snowshoeing RMNP year round is pretty epic. Mountain biking culture in Colorado is epic - the cutest gal in class is likely to show up bruised and scraped up from a bike crash, and even her backup bike is better than yours.

To backpack without running into a constant stream of people on the trail, a group of us would go to the Snowy Range in Wyoming. Having the Front Range full of people that love the outdoors means whatever you do and wherever you go there are people.

6 of us grad students rented a house near old town in walking distance to downtown bars. Great location to have fun and get in trouble, or to buckle down have fun and not get in trouble. Like any university, party kids wash out early.

Oh, and Fort Collins is warm enough I made it a point to wear shorts every day - sometimes with a coat walking in light snow, but coming from Wyoming and Alaska it was so warm I took advantage of it. Lol

 

[bradmacmt]

Mountain biking culture in Colorado is epic

One of several reasons I dislike Colorado.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I would bet the drive to Breck from Foco is about 3-5 hours each way now… not sure when you were making it Taperpin, but traffic has become infinitely worse. I used to make it from my house in Arvada to campus in 50 min, that same drive is now close to 1.5 hours if I’m lucky

 

[TaperPin]

I would bet the drive to Breck from Foco is about 3-5 hours each way now… not sure when you were making it Taperpin, but traffic has become infinitely worse. I used to make it from my house in Arvada to campus in 50 min, that same drive is now close to 1.5 hours if I’m lucky

That doesn’t surprise me. It’s anything but a rural relaxing setting.

 

[cnelk]

I avoid I70 at all costs.
Yesterday I drove to Kremmling via Walden to visit my son and his lady.
I’ll go back the same way. Maybe even return through Laramie to avoid all the Subarus in the Poudre canyon area

 

[gburk]

IIRC, you currently live in Connecticut?

Wait, if youre in CT you’re probably flying over a dozen as good if not better schools all within driving distance of your house. If he’s not into hunting or fishing, what’s the point of going out west and introducing so many additional costs?

Just playing devils advocate here, feel free to ignore. Especially feel free to ignore if you don’t in fact live in CT

 

[jtevanMT]

I am Faculty at UM and have two kids that recently graduated from MSU (one still lives in Bozeman). Bozeman is a great town for kids that enjoy outdoor activities and a western town feel. Hiking, fly fishing, backpacking, skiing, biking, hunting are easily accessible. Campus life if fun and no traffic (compared to a large city). Airport is close and easy. Downside is the cost of housing. If your son likes the outdoors and getting away from people, Bozeman is a great choice. If he likes the city and everything a large city has to offer (professional sports, shopping, restaurant choices, theatre, etc) then CSU could be a better option. Both of my kids enjoyed their time at MSU and both MSU and UM offer an excellent education for students.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I avoid I70 at all costs.
Yesterday I drove to Kremmling via Walden to visit my son and his lady.
I’ll go back the same way. Maybe even return through Laramie to avoid all the Subarus in the Poudre canyon area

All the fly boys out there harassing the 15 trout left in the poudre… lol they need to give that poor river a break for a few years, Cameron peak fire decimated it

 

[jimh406]

I'd ignore anyone saying "school x" is better period. It depends on what you want. There isn't enough difference in those two to be concerned.

CSU or MSU are not in the league of any Ivy League schools in terms of connections. Relatively speaking, neither are that much different in terms of the education you will get. I'd consider what intern opportunities exist in the area.

Do think about whether it's a Bachelor and done or just a Bachelor's degree on the way toward a MS or PHD. If the student is locked into only one field, consider which school has the best reputation for that field. Keep in mind that both are probably unheard of except for the local areas.

MSU has a great football program with a lot of student body interest and although I didn't go to either school, my guess is that's a lot of fun.