I am having some difficulty choosing between the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) and the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). I am currently majoring in Electrical Engineering.
I have read up on both schools and both appeal to me. I like the weather in Reno. on the other hand, I have not had a big city experience, so Las Vegas does peak my interest.
Some background on myself: I am 29 year old Man and unfortunately do not drive at the moment. I currently reside about an hour outside of Las Vegas.
I was hoping that I can get some help in making this decision!
I would imagine that Vegas has the proximity and internships to more jobs in Southern California. Have you thought about those future prospects? Reno to San Francisco and Bay area will require that someone drive.
Hoping you will have a license by the time graduation rolls around. You will need an ID/license to present to future employers.
Academically, UNR and UNLV are peers, although each school may have better or worse individual departments. Although UNLV traditionally has more of a commuter school reputation, I think it’s big enough to have a large residential community.
UNLV
Las Vegas has better food, music, and clubs, although 90% of the time you’ll have to visit a casino to take advantage of these things.
Generally, Las Vegas as a cheaper cost of living. This was particularly the case during the foreclosure crisis 15-ish years ago, when Las Vegas was one of the hardest hit regions in America.
The primary industries in Las Vegas are gaming and development.
Culturally, Las Vegas is aligned with Southern California.
If you’re outdoorsy, your options will be very desert oriented (hiking, biking, and climbing). There will be an annual 5-ish month period where it’s very difficult to do anything outside. You already know this, but Las Vegas is hot as hell.
The nearest metropolitan area is Los Angeles, which is a 4-hour drive.
Las Vegas is more diverse than Reno.
Personally, Las Vegas doesn’t seem like a big city to me. It’s more like a collection of centralized casinos surrounded by a lot of suburban sprawl. In a sense, Las Vegas is just a bigger version of Reno with nicer casinos and more limited outdoor opportunities. I guess it now has three major league sports teams too, which is very new and recent.
Speaking of which, Las Vegas is known for looting the cultural assets of Oakland, including my beloved A’s. (YMMV on how important this is to you.)
UNR
IMO, UNR has a nicer, more coherent college campus and feel.
Reno does get snow, although usually not a lot of it.
If you’re outdoorsy, Reno is hard to beat for skiing, hiking, biking, backpacking, climbing, hunting, fishing, etc. Tahoe is a 45-minute drive away and there are several other fun areas nearby.
UNR recently purchased Sierra Nevada University in Incline Village, and now offers students the opportunity to study for a semester or more on Lake Tahoe, which is pretty cool.
The cost of living has gone up a bit in the last decade, which is bad; but the reason it’s gone up is that many Silicon Valley companies have set up set up offices or plants in the Reno area (e.g., Tesla’s Gigafactory).
Culturally, Reno is more akin to Northern California.
Reno is much older city with some really nice older houses and neighborhoods; everything in Las Vegas seems to have been built in the last few decades.
Elvis sang about Las Vegas; Johnny Cash sang about Reno (kind of).
The primary industries are development and mining but there is a burgeoning tech scene. Gaming is still a thing, but Reno is gradually moving away from it.
Sacramento is a 2-hour drive and the Bay Area is a 4-hour drive away.
The only professional sport in Reno is a AAA baseball team. That said, the Reno Aces might beat the current A’s team in a seven-game series.
Full disclosure: I work at UNR and live in Tahoe, and so I’m biased in its favor. But I love mountains and hate casinos. And while I like cities, I generally dislike suburbs.