Selling NMSU and Las Cruces (Silver City, Mesilla: apartments, credit, employment)

[eddie gein]

Hi Las Crucans,

I have a step son that I am trying to encourage to attend NMSU for grad school. There are a number of reasons that I think it would be a good fit for him, however, I would like to be able to point out to him some things that locals, students and former students might be able to add.

There are several topics I would need to get info.

1) In your mind what are the best intangible or not well known things about NMSU and LC?

2) What and where should he try to get a 1 bedroom apartment (that would be a good place for a grad student) and what would the commute be to campus? What do 1 bedroom apartments generally run?

3) How bad are parking issues on campus (His building would be Breland Hall which is off of Stewart and basically is the SE corner of the academic campus).

4) How bad are part time employment prospects this time of year due to the influx of students.

5) What big box stores are in Las Cruces? Larger places that might provide jobs. He has good computer repair skills and he has worked recently at a wildlife rehabiliation institute here in Norman, OK if anybody is aware of any animal welfare type of places.

6) Does anybody here know of any Russian speaking residents of Las Cruces that he could meet and practice his Russia speaking skills? This appears to be a major concern of his as he has an undergrad degree in Russian and Eastern European studies.

Thanks in Advance

[mike0421]

Well, Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, was once a professor at NMSU! I think Frank Borman still lives in Las Cruces, and has a car dealership there.

As someone who attended NMSU myself, I have to say that parking there was never a problem. I went to classes at Breland and was able to find ample parking right next to the building, but I attended classes in the evening.

Big box stores: 2 WM SuperCenters, 1 Target, 1 Sam's Club. 1 Best Buy.

Park Place apartments are east of I-25 on University Drive, minutes from the campus, and that is where I recommend he look. 1 bedroom will run your son about $600 in this location.

I cannot speak to the Russian culture or employment prospects though.

[funkymonkey]

There's quite a few apartments in walking distance to the university. When I moved down for grad school I came in advance to find a place by just driving around close to campus. Then you don't have to worry about parking at all. I paid $400 for a 1 bedroom 1 block from campus 5 years ago (Prince Apartments on Hagerty).

Many graduate programs offer work study opportunities (teaching assistant, research assistant, etc) for their students related to their field of study, so that would be the first thing I'd recommend jobwise.

I don't know that I've ever heard anyone speaking Russian in Las Cruces, and the university doesn't appear to have any Russian classes available.

[seejanebabble]

What does your son want to study? That's the number one factor for any serious student. Personally, I didn't find the calliber of programs offered for languages (generally speaking) to my liking. It sounds like the computer repair thing is a hobby for him but there is not really a tech industry that I've seen here.

Honestly, as much as I like LC, it might not be an academic fit for him. Try looking in states and cities where there is a larger population of eastern European immigrants. When I lived in Boise several years ago there was a growing population of refugees and other immigrants from Africa and eastern Europe. Good luck.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by seejanebabble

What does your son want to study? That's the number one factor for any serious student. Personally, I didn't find the calliber of programs offered for languages (generally speaking) to my liking. It sounds like the computer repair thing is a hobby for him but there is not really a tech industry that I've seen here.

Honestly, as much as I like LC, it might not be an academic fit for him. Try looking in states and cities where there is a larger population of eastern European immigrants. When I lived in Boise several years ago there was a growing population of refugees and other immigrants from Africa and eastern Europe. Good luck.

He is going to go into the history department for a masters. Strangley enough, NMSU has one of the best scholars for Russian history of science in the United States. Most of the other renowned faculty in this area in the US are at Ivy schools or at UCal schools. He doesn't have a prayer of getting in those places. Our four choices are NMSU, Iowa State, UofA and Texas A&M.

Out of those three NMSU is his best chance to get an assistantship and even if he doesn't, NMSU will allow you to take up to 6 credits and pay in state tuition. NMSU is the only one of the three that will allow him to start this spring instead of waiting until next fall, so even if he never got an assistantship at NMSU he would finish his masters at about the same time as the others.

The plan would be to do the Masters at NMSU and then realistically go for the PhD at Iowa State, UofA or A&M (or unrealistically the Ivy schools).

Finally, I went to the UofA in Tucson years ago and I always cut a trail between Tucson and OKC. I used to stop at Las Cruces and always enjoyed walking the campus and eating in Mesilla. I would like him to experience the desert southwest at a school that seems to be excellent at providing mentoring relationships between grad students and profs (mostly due to it's smaller size). If I were in a position to go back that way I would live in Las Cruces or Silver City. I loved Tucson but it's pretty much ruined now due to growth. I hear that Silver is about ruined as well.

Anyway, thanks for the replies and any further replies (esp on the housing) would be appreciated.