College Help | Montana State & University of Washington

The mountains are way better in Montana, but you're going to get a top notch education at UW, and with the number of in-state kids who don't get accepted, it's almost an insult not to go. I would have applied to UW, but I didn't have the money for out of state tuition. As it is, I'd still love to try and get in for Medical School.
The Engineering program at UW is very competitive, so even if you're accepted, you might not get in. So that's something to consider. I doubt the Montana State program is competitive.
Really though.. If skiing is all you care about, go to Montana state. The experience of leaving your home state and going somewhere new is also super fun. I had a lot of friends go to Montana for school, and they loved it. It's like a warmer version of Alaska, and with better powder.

You're going to College! You're going to be happy no matter where you go. You will make friends within the first week, and you will always find time to go up to the mountain if you are a dedicated skier. That being said, you might make more skier friends in Montana.

I'm probably not making this decision any easier for you, I'd be really torn between UW and MSU, but If I had to do it all again, I'd probably pick MSU. Everyone I know who went to college in Montana had an absolute blast and skied way too much.

College is really hard as it is, and as an undergrad, you should ski a lot and take light class loads. Spend more time that 4 years if you have too, but don't end up like me. It's 12 on a Friday night and I'm studying Organic Chemistry. I'd much rather be chilling with my friends at an easier state school, getting drunk and waking up tomorrow morning to ski.

i would say the mtns are better in WA.

UW civil program is not nearly as good as you are making it out to be.

and lastly-

Big Sky/Moonlight Basin/Whitefish/Bridger Bowl > PNW

crystal, stevens, alpental, summit, baker, and whistler for weekend trips. plus all the smaller areas.

not to mention, WA gets much more snow.



UW is also the biggest hipster clusterfuck anyone has seen this side of the east river.

Those places don't match the terrain and the snow quality is frequently poor, plus Montana State's backyard is Big Sky/Moonlight way shorter of a drive.

bahahaha i missed this part. i cant speak for Comp Science, but you have zero chance of making close to that starting if you go into any of the Civil disciplines...or Mech E.


I heard the same stories when i went into college. then when it came time for me and my classmates to graduate, that shit didnt happen. might have happened pre-recession, but it sure isnt happening now.

Truth. Friend near the top of his class in Mech E graduated, couldnt find shit so just went to grad school

Soooooo many people i graduated with ended up going to grad school or working construction.

why would somebody hire a new, clueless engineer when they can hire an engineer they laid off 3 years ago for the same price? took me 7 months of working 3 jobs and 1 unpaid internship(all at the same time) to find a "real" job.


Im fucking pissed right now because my company is only hiring people with experience which gives me virtually no shot at quickly rising the ranks no matter how much i ball out. as soon as i prove that i am a better candidate for management than one guy, some new guy with 5 years experience but technically the same level as me gets hired.



Back to the thread. UW actually has a slightly worse reputation for producing enginers than its frattier brother WSU. i would recomend UW though just because bigger schools have a lot more cool people and opportunites...its just numbers.

As far as skiing goes, I really love skiing, but it's not my entire life, just a big part. I just want to know that if I attend UW, I will still be able to ski at least once a weekend. I guess a question for current UW students is do you think the goal of skiing once or twice a week is attainable while still doing alright in school? And is the snow in Montana as good as the PNW?, ie Stevens Pass, Crystal? I love the trees and storms in the PNW. A silent greybird day is my favorite. I like the class size at Montana, and I am definitely an outdoorsy person, but I just don't want to get lost in boredom at UW, or regret not being able to get out of the city and just be around nature.

you could easily ski 3+ days a week at UW. but 1-2 days per week is more realistic.

seattle is 1 hour away from wilderness, but you also have a big city.

in montana you have the wilderness right there, but no big city for 500 miles.



and you would have to try hard to be bored at a big school like UW.

I'm a freshman at UW, I have over 30 days this season so far, mainly at Stevens, but also at mount hood, snoqualime, and whistler. Its pretty fucking legit. We're starting a freestyle team that just getting on its feet, but theres quite a few really good skiers here and some awesome people that you will meet right away.

I think UW has a great mix of everything- close drive to the mountains, the CIty of Seattle, great academics (which are kicking my ass btw), and tons of parties and awesome people. You'll love it

One thing to keep in mind about UW is that they receive the second most research funding of any research university in the nation. That will give you the opportunity to get a lot more experience that employers will take into consideration for hiring you. As well, UW is in a great location for finding work if you can get into their computer science program.

I know that their Computer Science program is pretty competitive, but it seems like a good field for finding work.

what colleges does that funding go to? you realize its not spread equally, right?

and that really is only a good thing for grad students. employers dont care even a little what research you did when coming out of undergrad. its all about real world knowledge and experience, and because UW's curriculum is much more theory based, employers arent nearly as stoked on their graduates as you would expect. (speaking for engineering only)

I have nothing to give to this thread except that if thats what floats your boat, UW may be the place for you.

Currently in the UW AA program.

You will not major in Structural Engineering, you can try and get a degree in MechE, AA or CivE, and focus on structural Engineering your senior year, but your degree would not just be in Structural engineering. Each of the above listed degree programs will deal with structures, and you will take at-least two classes on structures. How they think about structures will obviously be very different. In the AA program we deal with Airplane and Spacecraft structures, there is obviously a lot more emphasis on weight control than would be necessary to design a dam or bridge.

As far as the money game goes, also note that the UW is considering adding an additional fee to Engineering Students to the tune of ~$4000 a year. This fee, if it is enacted, will be exempt from GET funds (pissed off angry student here).

I don't know anyone making $90k starting out of any department other than chemE, and they work for oil companies in shitty parts of the world.

I know you live in WA right now, but do not underestimate the lack of sun, I grew up here, and it has a noticeable effect on me during winter quarter. The added days of sun at MSU are not to be over looked.

MSU gets fucking cold. UW does not, 20 degrees is a cold day here, it is a warm day in January at MSU.

Anyone who thinks the local seattle areas stack up against the connivence and quality of Bridger is a complete fucking idiot.

I would also imagine that it is significantly cheaper to live in Bozeman than Seattle.

I skied about 40 days a year when I was a pre-engineering student, taking care of pre-reqs. Now that I am in the AA program, I will go a month without skiing, and am lucky to ski one day a week, which is always on a weekend. I am at school 5-6 days a week, 8:30am to 7:00pm every day. Often (1-2x a week) we will be at school until 1 am. I rarely sleep longer than 4 hours a night.

One thing to consider is that getting in to UW is not the same as getting into the UW engineering program. You will have to apply to get into each program; they are very competitive. You will be competing for spots against the top students from this state, as well as around the world. If MSU (or UW) offers you direct admissions to the college of Engineering, I would not sneer at that.

pretty much.


SAD is fucking real. i never had it before living in the PNW, and i havent had it since.

What is your personal experience regarding the UW engineering program, and how employers view it?

Honestly sounds like you are talking out of your ass.

Theory based education? Are you fucking high? I suppose all those projects which revolve around designing, prototyping, and building a competitive design are all theory based. I guess the cumulative design project is theory, never mind that fucking UAV that just got taken out of the wind tunnel (which is operated and run by students and deals with clients ranging from Lance Armstrong to Boeing and Lockheed, I guess those students have no real experience having handled work orders from Boeing and Lockheed...)

Research not being valuable? Every one of my peers who as applied for research got it. Ya, they use that money. I am sure Lamborghini does not value the research that students do in the lab they paid for... And I guess all those students who want to go to Grad School should just sneer at the opportunity to do undergraduate research.

Please share your experience as requested.

Hahaha, I guess you went here in the civil department?


For the record, I am not recommending one or the other, just trying to provide information.

1 semester at UW, the rest at WSU. From my experience, as well as my relationships with faculty from both school, i am making these observations. I was in the Civil Program, hence why i only spoke about that...and said so.

as for research, i said i was strictly speaking in regards to people looking for jobs straight out of undergrad. your reading comprehension sucks.


Why are you so angry all the time?


BTW, you only named projects from aerospace...which he didnt ask about.

Hey man, I'm in a really similar situation as you. I've grown up 20 minutes from UW. I was gonna apply to UW but got accepted to MSU with a good scholarship. It made MSU a lot cheaper than UW so that pretty much made up my mind for me. Tuition at UW has been steadily rising over the past few years too.
I wouldn't be worried about skiing, there's awesome skiing at either place. One way to look at it is that there are bigger parks at UW (stevens, snoqualmie) than in Montana. Then again, the snow in Washington is wet alot of the time while it is colder in Montana and the snow is drier.
 I wouldn't be too worried about the academics. Somebody in here bragged about how UW gets the second most research money? As much as that is good, I would kind of expect it since UW is such a big school. Obviously a school of 40,000 is gonna get more money than a school of 15,000. MSU gets a lot of research money too.
Both schools have good engineering programs. My dad works for Boeing and more of his coworkers actually went to montana state than UW. Don't expect to make more money out of college just because you chose UW. From what I've heard school prestige is a lot less important for engineers than other majors... Stuff like GPA, GRE, internships, work experience, etc. should matter a lot more.
In terms of atmosphere, both schools are pretty different. Bozeman is a small college town, Seattle is huge. I kind of like the smaller atmosphere better, which is part of the reason for choosing MSU. Something to consider is parking and off-campus housing. Parking and traffic are horrible in Seattle... Most people I know who are going there aren't bringing their cars. Also, off-campus housing around UW is a lot more expensive. Weather at UW is rainy, grey, and pretty mild. Seattle and Washington are absolutely beautiful on that rare sunny day. Bozeman gets a little more sun (still alot less than other places though), some snow in town, and gets pretty cold in the winter.
Oh yea, if you hate asian people dont go to UW because its infested hahahaha

Summary: I chose Montana State because its cheaper for me... You'd probably have a blast at either place

Oh yeah, I totally forgot to mention this but Stevens and Snoqualmie both have some night skiing. There is no night skiing around Bozeman.

I did receive direct admission to Mechanical from Montana State, but not from UW, seeing as there are probably more qualified people than myself. I understand that there are admissions to the colleges, and just because I made it into UW, doesn't mean I made it in Engineering.