<p>I am currently trying to decide between Montana State University in Bozeman, MT and University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY. My intended degree is mechanical engineering, but I have narrowed down to these two primarily because of their mountain settings (yes, I know Laramie is flat, but 8,000 ft elevation counts as mountain to me). Any ideas?</p>
<p>Both are ABET accredited which is the important part. Can you afford both?</p>
<p>The Wyoming legislature has recently poured a great deal of money into UWyo’s science facilities, and I believe engineering ones. From what I know from a hs friend that goes there (I briefly considered the school as a transfer safety), getting classes is almost never a problem and most of the courses are taught at a relatively low level since the school is primarily comprised of students from rural high schools who had access to at most 2 APs. From what I understand, UW is more politically conservative than MSU although by how much I don’t know. Both have a strong outdoors tradition and both have strong school spirit although Wyoming arguably has more since it’s the only four year institution in the state meaning that almost all Wyoming residents rally around Cowboy Joe. I believe MSU offers more UG research opportunities for MechE although Wyoming offers plenty of research opportunities in the energy field which may or may not be relevant. </p>
<p>If you’re OOS, Wyoming is much easier to get to than MSU since the school runs a few cheap shuttles to and from the Denver airport during holidays. For students trying to capitalize on WUE or OOS merit aid, that can be important if they come from one of the major Western cities.</p>
<p>We visited both with son this past year, he ended up choosing neither.</p>
<p>Wyoming…Cold and windy. Laramie is really cold and windy. The wind never seems to let up. State is putting a lot of money into the university. Overall, we felt the facilities were better at Wyoming. Student services, etc were better at Wyo. Laramie is a decent college town. Most students are from Wyo or Colorado. </p>
<p>MSU…Cold and snowy but not windy. Adjacent to skiing. Bozeman is a really neat town. Some academic facilties were OK…mostly sciences and they are getting a new business building. Res halls, dining. and student services were not good at all. They attract lots of ‘ski bums’ from the midwest, east, and other western states. </p>
<p>While both are state flagship type universities, they just don’t have the facilities, services, money, etc that other state flagship type universities have. They are both inexpensive for OOS though.</p>
<p>I would probably go with MSU because it is a better location.</p>