Posted: 4/5/2008 8:28:11 PM EDT
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Hello, I am college student pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering and I am looking at transferring schools and going to either the University of Idaho or Montana State. Ive visited Bozeman and thought the area was awesome (even though I was there a few weeks ago and it was end of winter-dreary) but was not really impressed by MSU. To me the UNiversity of Idaho seems like the better of the two, but I have no idea what the area is like. It seems to be a lot of farmland with some smaller mountains, but what is the area really like up there? How is the elk/muley hunting? What is the environment in/around Moscow? I haven't really looked at Boise State because Ive heard that it is not as highly ranked as the University of Idaho, but if someone has anything good to say about it Im all ears. So, anyone with experience with either of these schools/areas could you please give me some pros and cons of each, thank you |
I know a little about the UofI, my sister is there now working on her MRS degree, and both of my parents are UofI dropouts  The have a good engineering program. The area is small-town Idaho, mountains and farms all around. Elk and whitetail deer are all over, not a lot of mule deer though. I think Moscow is a great town, I'd be very happy to live the rest of my life there. Depends on the person though, it might be a little slow for some people. Boise is also nice but its a bigger city with a 'bigger city' attitude, but there is still a lot of accessible mountains and rivers. |
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The have a good engineering program. The area is small-town Idaho, mountains and farms all around. Elk and whitetail deer are all over, not a lot of mule deer though. I think Moscow is a great town, I'd be very happy to live the rest of my life there. Depends on the person though, it might be a little slow for some people. How do you know they have a good engineering program. I dont mean for that to sound snotty so sorry if it does, i just simply want to know if you can give me a little more information. I am actually really tryin hard to found a college town with a small town atmosphere, i grew up in a tiny town (300 ppl) and have been at a college of over 25 thousand all year and i hate it. I would definitly prefer to be in a city that is more "slow". |
| Come to the U of U, while I don't care for the residency classification (it has changed since I came here so it is not as bad as what I have dealt with), the engineering programs continue to improve. Not to mention the great company you would have with me (physics major) and other engineering major gun enthusiasts. |
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Well, I'm a little slow to come upon this thread, but i'll throw my hat in I graduated from the U of I this past December, and went to school here for 5 and 1/2 years, still live/work in Moscow right now The town is a pretty good place to live, not too big, not too small, close enough to lots of stuff Quite a few liberals like most college towns, but not enough to where its bad Hunting is the area is good for elk and whiteys, I'm 3 for 3 on elk, and this year I took a 170 class white tail buck within 10 miles of Moscow Fishing in the immediate area kinda sucks, so you've gotta drive, but you can be at a whole bunch of good stuff within 2 hours Campus life at the U of I is a lot of fun, having a mostly walking campus is very nice as you don't have to worry about getting hit by a car on the way to your next class, the winters aren't very bad, although they last a while, its still in the 40s and trying to snow now, but it should be starting to get nice this weekend Our sports teams suck, so if you're big into college sports and really care about how your school's sports teams do, the U of I is not for you, we just plain blow at everything Thats about all I can think to rant about right now, if you have any questions i'll check this thread or send me an IM |
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I have attended both schools. Currently attending U Of I working on both Metallurgical Engineering and a Materials Science Engineering degrees. If you are going for the education it is a toss up between the 2. I had good and bad experiences at both schools. My department at the U of I got everything from the school of mines when it closed so we have some nice toys to play with. The ME students I have taken classes run the gambit from very smart driven individuals to how did you make it this far? Moscow is truly a liberal town. I thought Bozeman was, but Moscow takes the cake. Lots of wining artsy types who will put Hillary in the white house in a heartbeat. We have one real gunshop in Moscow, Sure Shot Sporting Goods, and it is run by a good friend of mine, who I met when I lived in Bozeman. I get the fun of putting ARs together and tinkering with all kids of stuff at the shop. For all of you who saw the pink "Hello Kitty" AR there I built that. The other places to buy firearms are Wal-Mart, and small chain called Tri State and a hole in the wall pawn shop. You can make the 1/2 drive to Lewiston for a few more places to choose from. Orchard Pawn is one of the better places down there and say Hi to Kenny if you stop by. Bozeman had a few gunshops to choose from and Livingston had some nice ones too. There used to be a place called Safe-Trek that was an indoor range and rented machine guns, but I have heard they have since gone out of business. Moscow has no real ranges to shoot at. There is a private range about 8 miles out of town but it kinda sucks, but it is only 35 dollars a year. There is a 1000 yard range in Mica, Washington, but that is a 70 mile trip. Bozeman has a range in Logan, MT about 30 miles out of town. If I remember right you can shoot out to 500 yards. There is a 1K yard range in Butte 70 miles away and a 600 yard range between 3 Forks and Ennis about 40 miles away. Hunting is great in both places. Lots of Elk and Deer in both. I would have to give the edge to MT for more animals seen, but that is because it is so open. If you want to hunt Antelope MT is your choice, but I can't seem to choke that nasty meat down. Fishing is great in both, but they have different kinds of fishing. MT is MT, Gods gift to fly fishing. ID has the steel head and Salmon runs. Some nice lake fishing for everything from pike, kokanee, to lake trout. If you want to drive to the St. Joe or the Locksaw there is some great fly fishing also. For close fishing around Moscow there are some small lakes, Spring Valley, Moose Creek, and Elk River. For a quick trip Spring Valley is OK but you don't want to eat the nasty tasting fish. Weather in MT is much more severe than ID. Well between Bozeman and Moscow. I saw -40 F in MT with it staying under -10F for weeks at a time. I have seen -21 F one time here, but it stays in the teens and sometime to single digits for our winter lows. If you move to MT you will need to get a block heater and winterize your vehicle. I found synthetic oil and gear lube made a huge difference. If you like good food Moscow doesn't have much for places to eat. Mostly it is fast food with a few places with OK food. Bozeman has some great places to eat and lots to choose from. For some of the best steak on earth Sir Scotts Oasis in Manhattan is the place to go. Land of Magic in Logan is pretty good too. To tell you the truth both are pretty nice places considering the alternatives such as the PRK, NY, Mass, etc. I have a pretty good life here, but I miss MT a lot. MT is gorgeous, but harder to make a living and you can't eat scenery. When I retire someday I plan on moving back to MT. If you have any other questions PM me. IDHunt |
| Thank you all for your insightful posts, i really appreciate all of them. However I have a few more questions. When I visited Bozeman, unfortunatly school was out for the day due to Easter, so there were almost no kids on campus, but the majority of the ones I did see where ski/skater bums, thats not the real majority there is it? I was a little scared by that, i know its a resort town and all but Im not really interested in being surrounded by ski bums. |
