Montana State University—Bozeman

Location:
Surrounded by Rocky Mountains, Bozeman, Montana is a small city of approximately 50,000 people. Constantly growing, sometimes Bozeman feels like it is bigger than its design can handle. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable place to live, if you can put up with the traffic. Luckily, this isn't much of a problem for getting to class if you live near campus.


History:
A detailed history of MSU can be found at www.montana.edu/msuhistory/

Founded in 1893 as Montana's land grant college, the university began as a college of agriculture and went through several name changes before it officially became “Montana State University” in 1965. (The Land Grant Act of 1862 allocated acres of federal lands to each state on which to build a college. Bozeman fought to become Montana's state capital, but instead was awarded the land-grant college.) Originally, the college curriculum covered studies in agriculture and mechanical arts. Today, MSU still has the College of Agriculture, but the University has earned top ranking in the Engineering, Architecture and Business fields.

Curriculum:
Montana State University is made up of the following colleges:

Agriculture
Arts & Architecture
College of Business
Letters & Science
Education, Health & Human Development
Engineering
Nursing
Graduate Studies

A list of available majors can be found at www.montana.edu/level2/colleges.html .


Student Activities:
As with most universities, MSU supports a wide range of student organizations to become involved in. You can be a member of Residence Hall Association (RHA), or you can rush to join one of several sororities or fraternities. There are a number of spiritual and political organizations available to join, and everything in between. If MSU doesn't have an organization for one of your interests, students are allowed and encouraged to start their own by going through the proper channels.

Social Scene:
The town of Bozeman has a lot of night life for students over the age of 21. I never really tried to get into the bars before I was old enough, so I can't speak to the quality of the bouncers there. For lovers of outdoor recreation, there are endless possibilities for hiking, skiing, rafting, and camping. Of course, the list goes on. “Ultimate Frisbee” is a popular game to play on campus.

During most parts of the academic year, there are Bobcat sporting events to attend. The Cats have an intense rivalry with the University of Montana (UM) Grizzlies, and for the past two years running, MSU has won the “Cat-Griz” football game. (I don't even want to talk about the winning streak the Griz had before that. Cat fans are thrilled to see MSU back on the board, though.) For more about MSU athletics, consult the MSU website.

Bozeman has a growing number of restaurants and shopping areas. Bozeman itself is growing, maybe more quickly than it can handle. There is a lot of money in the area, and housing is more expensive than most other parts of the state. For a calendar of upcoming entertainment events, visit www.bozone.com. This website is a good reference for the types of activities offered in Bozeman.


My experience:
I attended Montana State University from 1997 through 2002. When I started, I was majoring in Business, Accounting option. (They explained to me once why we were supposed to explain it that way, rather than “I majored in accounting,” but that was quite a long time ago and I don't remember the details. Nonetheless, it's still the case.) I was minoring in Music Theory & Composition.

After attending for a couple of years, taking all of the Business Degree core, enduring four levels of Music Theory and being left out of the first meeting of my Composition class because no one told me it wouldn't be at the time listed in the course schedule, I kept the major and dropped the minor. Montana State has a great Business college, but their music department is only sufficient. For some. I enjoyed balancing my technical and sometimes tedious accounting classes with some choir and guitar classes, and the music theory instruction helped me set my words to music as a lyricist and songwriter. It was just what I needed. This ability to take classes in a variety of curriculum based on my interests as a student, was very valuable to me.

One selling point of the Business/Accounting major was the Master's Degree I could earn by attending for a fifth year. The Master's in Professional Accountancy offered by the MSU College of Business is designed to prepare students for the CPA exam. Of everyone who takes this exam for the first time each year, approximately 20% pass the entire thing. This program has been ranked in the top 5 in the nation for first-time CPA exam pass rate. The year I took the CPA exam, over 90% of our class passed it on the first try. MSU's accounting program is excellent.


Living on Campus:
I lived on campus for the first 3 ½ years that I was a student there. For nearly two of those years, I was a Resident Advisor, in three different buildings. MSU takes its life on campus very seriously. Resident Advisors are thoroughly trained for their jobs, and expectations for their performance are high. If you live on campus at MSU, you can expect to meet a lot of people, to live in a secure, respectful environment, and to never be bored, if that's what you want. Of course, you're always welcome to leave your room door closed and be by yourself as well. There are 3 on-campus Foodservices that serve three meals a day and offer a variety of meal plans to accommodate different students' eating habits. Many people complain about the food, insisting that it's “dorm food,” which I suppose it technically is. I never had a problem with it, because they were always able to offer a wide selection of entrees to choose from at any given time. Fresh fruit and salads were always available, and eating a balanced diet was never difficult there. In more recent years, the Foodservices adopted extended hours of operation, which allowed students to come in mid-morning or afternoon to grab a snack or a sandwich from the grill. This was especially convenient during semesters when I had an irregular class schedule, so that I didn't have to cook something in my microwave to tide me over until I could get to another mealtime.

Residence Halls for the most part are aging, although there are limited spaces available in “the New Buildings” which were built in more of an apartment style in the mid-90s. (These buildings may have names now.) Rooms in these buildings also come with meal plans.

The Residence Life staff at MSU is dedicated to providing a safe place to live conducive to meeting lifelong friends and to accomplishing personal academic goals. Being a Resident Advisor was also a highly positive experience for me, because I tend to be kind of an introvert. The job drew me out and allowed me to make a lot of friends with people I wouldn't have met otherwise, including my husband!

There are newer living quarters available for married students. Graduate student housing is also available. These residences are actual apartments with kitchens and do not offer meal plans. However, they are the best deal in Bozeman because they are offered at a below-market rental rate and most of them are really quite nice. I lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Peter Koch Tower as a graduate student, and of the three apartments I lived in while going to school, this was by far my favorite. Still in walking distance to my classes, and roomy enough for me and my stuff, I loved living there. I was on the 9th floor and had a great view. :-)

Bureaucracy level:
There are certain things you can try to do at MSU that are always, without fail, a pain in the NECK. (Or other parts, that hurt worse—like your wallet.) One of them is parking. MSU has enough parking for their students, don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. The problem is that people want to park 30 feet from the building they're trying to get to, and that's just not possible. In order to have a nice campus with grassy areas and vegetation, there's this requirement that the whole thing not be paved. Don't get me wrong, I hated having to park the equivalent of 3 or 4 blocks from my residence hall when I would come home late after a night of country dancing at LJ's. I think parking is a problem at a lot of colleges—I would just about guarantee you won't see MSU build a parking garage, for two reasons: 1) they're expensive, 2) they're big and ugly. MSU's kind of vain about what it looks like. I think most colleges are.

Other inconveniences you can expect to deal with during your tenure: Financial Aid. I don't know why so many students struggle with this office, but I was one of them. They made me crazy the whole time. I always got my money from them, but it was always a very high-maintenance process. People riding their bikes where they should be walking them: i.e., the sidewalks. Some days I thought about wearing a helmet to walk to class. Icy sidewalks in the winter. Really, not MSU's fault. They clear the snow once it stops snowing. Many times, by then a good thick layer of banana peel on a sheet has already developed, ready for the entertainment of all others around you if you find yourself less than steady for whatever reason (*cough* bottle flu. . .) Have good snowboots. I also have a tip: Never try to drive through or past campus at the top of the hour. Pedestrians everywhere. You're better off taking a complete detour.

Little Bonus Things That Made Me Happy:
The Student Health Center – you could go see the doctor for super-cheap. I thought their Health Insurance was expensive at the time, then I graduated and started paying for a real policy. I'd kill for that deal again.
The Procrastinator Theater – For $1-2, you can go see slightly older new releases in a theater, put on by Media & Theater Arts.
The Bobcat Grill – Great burgers, for cheap.
Free concerts – Put on by the music department. Something just about every week.

Overall impression:
Most people are fond of their alma mater. I will agree that I am one of those people. I feel that the education I received from MSU was valuable, but I got out of it what I put in, which was a lot. The cost was substantially less than going to larger, more famous schools, and for me, I was within 200 miles of my hometown. I will admit that Montana State University is not the best school in every degree program that they offer, but not being a part of those programs, I cannot go into accurate detail about them. I enjoyed my time at MSU, and I got a lot of great memories. I think most universities can offer that to its students. What I enjoyed most was that it's a big enough place that you can always get to know someone new, and a small enough place that you can run into people you know every day. Many MSU students are originally from Montana, but a lot are out-of-staters too.

It is really impossible for me to touch on everything you need to know about a University before choosing to enroll there. An extensive source of information on MSU can be found at their website, www.montana.edu. (Of course, bear in mind that they wrote it themselves!) If there's anything in particular you'd like to know that I haven't spoken of, please leave a comment and I will come back and address it.



Recommended: Yes