Moving to Montana soon

From everything you described UM and Missoula really sound like the better fit for you. MSU is big in agriculture, engineering, and tech where UM is big in the humanities, social work, etc.

Though Bozeman is considered liberal by Montana standards, Missoula is much more liberal and more LGBT friendly.

Bozeman is more expensive, but Missoula is not cheap either.

Your car will be fine for getting around town, just watch the weather reports and road conditions and don’t travel out of the city when they are bad.

If I were to compare each city to another city I would say that Bozeman is a mini Fort Collins, CO and Missoula is a mini Portland, OR.

I like both cities and both schools, but from what you described Missoula just sounded like the better fit. Just my 2 cents.

/r/Montana Thread