Opinions on University of Montana (Missoula, Helena: lawyers, transfer to, theater) - (MT) - City-Data Forum

Movinin08 · 08-02-2007, 11:38 AM

My daughter is looking at colleges in the north west and has been concidering the University of Montana. She has checked the school out on the web and has reviewed all the material mailed to her by the college. We are planning a visit to the campus and the surrounding city of Missoulla in the fall. Can anyone give us some feedback about the school, good or bad. I'm sure there are individuals with opinions on both sides, but I would still be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks in advance of your posts.

jcbmontana · 08-02-2007, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Movinin08

My daughter is looking at colleges in the north west and has been concidering the University of Montana. She has checked the school out on the web and has reviewed all the material mailed to her by the college. We are planning a visit to the campus and the surrounding city of Missoulla in the fall. Can anyone give us some feedback about the school, good or bad. I'm sure there are individuals with opinions on both sides, but I would still be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks in advance of your posts.

It all depends on what she plans on studying. It has some excellent programs, as well as some that are lacking.

You will hear alot of different opinions about Missoula on this board, but one thing that everyone can agree on is that it's a classic college town. Fall will be a good time to visit and get a feel for it. Try and plan it so you can go to a Griz game.

Also, what other schools is she considering?

Movinin08 · 08-02-2007, 04:24 PM

Well, she has a beautiful voice and loves theater but she is not sure if that is the right direction for her. She is also interested in criminal justice/psycology but first she has to finish her senior year in HS. She has been looking at quit a few schools in the north west. She also has been looking at University of Idaho, Central Washington U and Carrol College to name a few.

Carolina_Belle92 · 08-02-2007, 08:01 PM

For theater, I'd recommend UM... they have a great theater department. Their strongest departments are law, journalism, and pharmacy. Carroll is an all-around better school, but Helena is not as friendly or vibrant as Missoula.

UM is a nice, friendly place with fairly good academic programs. Their honors college is good (Davidson).

You say your daughter has a wonderful voice: the voice teachers at UM are very good. Esther England and Anne Basinski are the ones that I know of, and both are incredible singers. A friend of mine takes lessons from Ms. Basinski and says she's great.

The good thing about UM is that they have a rather broad range of programs, so if she decides that theater isn't for her, there are definitely other options.

Only thing I dislike about UM is the fanaticism regarding the Griz... football season especially. That is all that the university seems to talk about is sports, sports, sports. There are other things to do, but athletics will take precedence over everything else.

Anchorless · 08-02-2007, 10:23 PM

Though it's a few years away, this isn't as pertinent, but UM is rated quite low for its law program. Though it probably places well in Montana, it is a Tier 4 school - lowest of the low. People attend UM if they want cheap instate tuition, and/or want to stay and practice in Montana, in which case, it places fine.

But that's for after undergraduate.

UM has several graduate and undergraduate programs rated among the best in the nation - as Carolina suggested, it does really well in some areas, and not so well in others. I think that it is an absolutely solid university.

Since you're interested in the NW, have you also looked at Washington State?

(Sorry if it seems that I'm following you around with this - I'm not. I peek at the Montana forum from time to time, and thought I could corroborate some things posted.)

Movinin08 · 08-03-2007, 07:59 AM

Anchorless - Not at all. I appreciate all the feedback I can get. Very usefull information. We are also looking in Washington, however we are trying to keep to schools with a student population between 5k to 12k max. She does better with smaller class sizes.

Anchorless · 08-03-2007, 08:50 AM

Smaller class sizes are more a function of the department than the total size of the school. It would be misleading to assume that because a school has a large total population that it would have large classes.

In my UG school we had a total population of 17-20 thousand, but I never had a class with more than 40 people, and the norm was probably 20-25. At almost any public school introductory courses will be larger - perhaps 100-200 people (Bio 101, Psych 101, Chem 101, etc.). You'll have to look and each university to see if that's the case.

But generally private schools with lower population will tend to have smaller courses, even introductory. I wouldn't think there would be a great difference in class sizes respective the the certain course among U of I, U of M, or WSU. Might be, though.

Carolina_Belle92 · 08-09-2007, 11:08 AM

UM has about 15k students... all factors included. It has fairly personal classes (I sit in on a few from time to time).

As a whole, Anchorless, I agree: it is a cheap in-state school. But as a whole, it's a fairly good university, especially when you factor in the honors college.

About 14% of the student body is out-of-state, at last check.

Anchorless, for the law program, I was referring mostly to undergrad courses. I am well acquainted with some of the law professors there and they are outstanding.

Anchorless · 08-09-2007, 11:36 AM

No no. I meant "cheap instate school" only in that it's a cheap school for Montana residents. Cheap has nothing to do with the quality of education, because I think it's one of the finer state institutions in the country. It's even stronger in many of its graduate programs.

As for the law program - it's a fine regional school with fine professors, but it is by no means a national program, and it doesn't pretend to be. It serves its purpose - to train lawyers to practice in Montana, and for a decent price.

Pebbles 2 · 08-20-2007, 04:31 PM

I attended the U and have to say there are plusses & minuses just like anywhere. The big plus is that it tends to be easy for anyone to find their niche. It is also much safer than many big cities - and there is much to do. Football games top those of any school in the country - including the big schools. It's definately not a school many transfer from, but alot transfer to the school!