Best place for a prospective college student? (Minneapolis, Mankato: apartment, buying a house)

[Kipple Snacks]

I'm moving to Minnesota in January, at first I am staying with my grandma a bit outside of Minneapolis(I forget the name of the town, about 15-20 mins SW of Minneapolis). After I get there however, I will need to look for a place to stay and a job. I would not be opposed to roommates. I'm 19, have some experience as a Psychiatric Technician Assistent, and am looking to jump back in to college once I become a resident. I'm specificaly looking for an idea of a good town to start looking for a place/job, top of my list would be one with some mental health jobs nearby.

Thanks,
Kipple

[golfgal]

It really depends on where you are planning on going to school. There are many schools in the Twin Cities Metro area that are all over the place. St. Peter, MN has a jail facility that may have some jobs in your field as well as having a great college, Gustavus Adolphus College. That is also close to Mankato, MN with one of the State Universities. Anywhere in and around St. Thomas University, Hamline University, Maclaster University, the University of MN you will find housing/roommates, etc. For most of the private schools in MN you don't need resident status--they have one tuition rate. They also have much better financial aid available then the state schools.

[Slig]

If you're looking for a place to stay in Minneapolis I might be buying a house there soon. I'm looking for one close to the Hiawatha light rail line.

Otherwise here are my suggestions for job/place searching:

jobs:
www.monster.com
www.careerbuilder.com
www.hotjobs.com
www.craigslist.org

(I found my current job off of monster.com)

places:
www.craigslist.org
(thats where I found the apartment I lived in earlier this year)

You can check the Star Tribune classified ads too but I never had any luck with those.