Living on Campus

I have been traveling coast to coast. I spent three weeks in California and I am now traveling in Virginia and Maryland (DC area). There has been great interest in Montana State and I have talked to many fantastic prospective students, who would fit well at MSU! This is the time when students are filling out admission and scholarship applications, but do not forget about housing applications!



Living on campus is one of the best parts of freshman year! Montana State University has a wide variety of housing options. There is definitely something for everyone! MSU Residence Life offers 3 high rise co-ed options, 2 all female halls, 1 all male hall, honors housing and a wellness hall. There are some suite options available to upper class men. There are convenience stores, ski wax rooms, gaming areas and unlimited access to any of 3 dining halls all available to students! Living on campus is a great way to meet a ton of new friends and make a connection to the university! Check it out!

Alaska

I am currently visiting the beautiful state of Alaska for a couple of weeks. I have already visited Juneau and spent a couple days in Anchorage and now I am off to Fairbanks where I will spend a couple days for high school visits, a college fair and a pizza party. After that I will be back in Anchorage for the next week. All of the MSU Admissions Reps are currently on the road so be sure to check out our travel schedules to see if we are visiting an area near you!

I have really enjoyed my trip to Alaska so far, at the moment I am sitting in the Anchorage airport looking out at the beautiful mountains surrounding the city. This trip involves lots of flying since Alaska is such a big state and some towns can only be reached by plane or boat. I am often asked questions about the flights in and out of Bozeman and transportation options within the city. Bozeman's airport actually has quite a few flights and it is currently expanding. Just a couple of weeks ago it was announced a direct flight is going to be added from Bozeman to San Francisco from December to March. There are also direct flights to Salt Lake City, Seattle, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, LA, Chicago and Atlanta. Currently Delta, Northwest, Horizon, United, Allegiance and Frontier offer flights to and from Bozeman. Once your in Bozeman there are lots of ways to get around as well. One option is the Streamline Bus system which is free and has hourly stops around Bozeman and the Skyline Bus that offers daily rides to Big Sky and Moonlight Basin. These buses are easy to spot as they are bright yellow and are modeled after the Yellowstone tour buses of the 1930's. Another popular option is biking, Bozeman has been putting in some new bike lanes and there are lots of great trails that you can take around town as well and with downtown only a mile from campus biking can be a quick way to get around town. Any student is also welcome to bring their car to campus as well.

Tomorrow is the 22nd MSU Fall Career Fair. Many businesses will be at the fair speaking with MSU students about career possibilities or internships. The Career, Internship, and Student Employment Services office hosts several career fairs each year including a "Almost Spring" fair, a Montana Educators Fair, and an Agricultural Industries Fair. Leading up to the fall career fair this year they also hosted many workshops for students to prepare them to enter the workforce including workshops on writing a resume, how to search for a job or internship, mock interviews and workplace etiquette among other special programs. After the fair students will have the opportunity to interview with some of the companies at the career fair right on campus.

Career, Internship and Student Employment Services offers many great resources for students throughout the year that will help them find great careers after graduation. Besides the career fairs and workshops they also offer career counseling and information about jobs on campus or internship opportunities.

MSU's Admission Requirements

Many of the students that I am meeting with in New England are surprised and relieved to find out about MSU's admission requirements. Students considering Montana State University should know about our unique and student friendly application process. One of my favorite things to tell prospective students is that they don't have to write an essay or ask teachers for letters of recommendation. MSU's application is actually very straight forward and students probably complete the application in less than an hour. Different from any other colleges you are looking at? I thought so!


Now, you are probably wondering if there is no essay or letters of recommendation needed, how are we deciding who to admit? Well, if a student meets ONE of our four admission requirements, they will be admitted.

Score of 22 or higher on the ACT OR
Score of 1540 (M, CR, W) or higher on the SAT OR
2.5 cumulative high school GPA OR
Rank in the top half of your graduating class


Considering all of the news lately about colleges and universities tightening admission criteria and making it harder for qualified students to get into schools, it is no wonder why students feel relieved to hear how transparent MSU's admission process is. No surprises!

We are on rolling admissions, which means that students can apply year around and our technical deadline is July 1 (after your senior year is completed). When students apply, they also receive an admissions decision very quickly, usually within two weeks.

Students can apply online and each year about 75% of students use our online application. So, what are you waiting for? Apply soon and get the ball rolling!

Think Montana State University!

I have been keeping busy this week on the Central Montana Fair Tour. This is my first time working Montana Fairs and it is fantastic! There has been a ton of interest in Montana State and still many more fairs to come. Check out the Montana Fair schedule to see when the fair will be in your area!

MSU offers fantastic scholarship opportunities to Montana students. The Montana Freshman Premier Scholarship, the Presidential Scholarship and various departmental awards. This is the time to start looking into various scholarships to be sure deadlines are met and funds are still available. I have been encouraging students to apply for admission and submit scholarship applications by Thanksgiving, if not earlier. The deadline for the Presidential Scholarship is January 5, 2010.

MSU Fridays are another great way to explore all MSU has to offer! There are three MSU Fridays offered each academic year. The dates for this academic year are October 16, 2009, January 29, 2010 and March 12, 2010. Basically, prospective students take a Friday off of school and spend the entire day in Bozeman on the MSU campus. Prospective students, family members and friends will have the opportunity to take campus tours, residence hall tours, sit in on sample classes, meet with various academic departments and much more. The program is totally free! Do not hesitate register today!

Study Abroad!

Interested in studying in another country for a semester, year or summer? MSU offers tons of study abroad options. There are over 250 locations to choose from in over 50 different countries! You can choose from countries like South Africa, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Morroco and many more. Our Office of International Programs can help you find the program that fits you.

Studying abroad is great way to experience another culture and see the world from another perspective. When I was a student I went on a study abroad program in Bergen, Norway. I spent a semester there taking classes at the University of Bergen and living in a residence hall with Norwegian students as well as other exchange students from all over the world. I had a great time, I now have friends from all over the world and got the chance to do lots of traveling around Europe while I was there.

There are many ways to fit studying abroad in to your studies. MSU offers semester, year long or summer programs. Some departments build study abroad programs right into their curriculum such as the School of Art which has a program for students to go to Italy for a semester. The Office of International Programs offers information sessions and a study abroad fair each semester for students to learn all about the many study abroad options opportunities available to MSU students. If you are interested in studying abroad be sure to check out all of your options!

Testing, Testing, Testing!

After having just wrapped up a week in Eastern Montana meeting with students at college fairs, I was impressed with the number of students who have already taken an ACT or an SAT test. Every year, colleges and universities across the United States base many of their admissions requirements and scholarships off an ACT or SAT score. Students who take their test early can apply earlier to schools, but also have the opportunity to retake the test if they want to improve their score! At MSU, we base many of our admissions requirements as well as many of our scholarships off the ACT or SAT. MSU will always take a student's highest test score no matter when the test was taken, or how many times it was taken. By having several opportunities to retake an ACT or SAT, students are enhancing the chances to be admitted and to be potentially receive a scholarship! There are test dates for ACT and SAT listed on their sites so make sure to check them out online or talk with your counseling office to find out about future testing dates!

Colorado

I am currently in Colorado visiting high schools, attending college fairs and hosting pizza parties. I am driving all over the state on this trip from Steamboat to Durango to Crested Butte and everywhere in between visiting students. It has been a great trip so far with some great college fairs, visits and two fun pizza parties in Lakewood and Avon.

I am often asked while on the road about the scholarship opportunities available to students at MSU. This a great question! MSU offers students millions of dollars in scholarships each year! We have posted details on the scholarships and information on how to apply or qualify on our scholarship website. Be sure to check them out!

Vermont

Greetings from Vermont! What a great trip to have in the fall, just at the beginning of foliage season. I have been in Vermont this week and I have already met several students who are strongly considering attending MSU this fall. Each year around 20 - 30 students enroll from Vermont, and it is probably because Montana and Vermont really have a lot in common. Both have tons of outdoor opportunities and abundant ski areas, and similar weather (these students aren't afraid of a little snow). It is exciting to see so much interest from students in an area that is so far away.
I started in southern Vermont and worked my way north to Burlington, the largest city in VT. There is a college fair here on Thursday and Friday and it is usually one of the best fairs in New England!


One of my favorite events to host while on the road is pizza parties, an informal gathering that students can attend attend at night to find out more about MSU. I have already had two pizza parties in Vermont (Bennington and Burlington) and both have been a great success. The first one was at Bennington Pizza House (on the left) and three students attended all from different high schools, one was actually from NY. Pizza parties are so much fun and if you have a chance to attend a pizza party near your hometown, I would really encourage you to go! You can have any of your questions answered and bring your friends and family for free pizza! YUM. You can also meet other students from your area who are interested in Montana State. I will have a total of 5 pizza parties in New England and Kelsy will be out here in October hosting a few more. Make sure to check the Admissions Travel Schedule to see what pizza parties are in your area. If you are in New England, I hope to see you while I'm out here!

Meg is on the road!

It was a beautiful weekend in Bozeman, MT with perfect fall weather. I had a great time trail running in Hylite Canyon and biking around downtown but I couldn’t help but be a little nervous...my first travel season kicked off yesterday! Of the five traveling Admissions Representatives, all five of us are on the road. Currently in Glasgow, I am on an Eastern Montana College Fair tour.
Talking to high school seniors today brought me back to my senior year in high school. I could not decide on a school! I even had campus housing deposits at two of them. Choosing Montana State University was something I thought long and hard about. But I could not resist the wide variety of academic programs, amazing faculty, tight knit community, active student body and endless outdoor opportunities. A place where I could choose from tons of majors, get personal attention from my professors and be a 25 minute ordeal away from Bridger Bowl (our local ski resort) was worth a shot. Who would have thought it would have been one of the best decisions of my life?!?
Making a college choice is extremely difficult and my best advice is to visit the schools you are interested in. We have our first MSU Friday event coming up on October 16th which is a huge event with over 500 prospective students from around the country participating! There are sample classes, tours and information sessions all day long. And if you can’t make an MSU Friday event, we welcome visitors every Monday-Friday (except on holidays). I recommend you check us out if you are thinking MSU!