My daughter will be going to college next year and wants to go "somewhere where it snows". She plans on majoring in nursing and two schools on her list are 'Lewis & Clark' in Lewiston and Idaho State in Pocatello.

Any input/advice/opinions (good or bad) about either area would be appreciated. If she gets real serious, we'll take a trip up there and take a look around. She won't be taking her bike but she an avid outdoor oriented person...loves to snowboard, hike, river raft, etc...:thumbsup:

Thanks in advance!! :worthy:

It rarely snows in Lewiston, 700 foot elevation in the bottom of the Snake, Clearwater, Columbia river canyons and well protected. Snow is around but you have to travel a ways to get there. Lots of premium rafting around but you have to travel a little to do that also. Really not a bad place you are within 200 miles of any terrain imaginable, just nothing at the "edge of town".

Got to WSU Spokane at the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education. Wife went there. Lots of skiing nearby in Kellogg and Sandpoint Idaho. Good airport to go in/out of too. Cheap housing. Poctatello is nice too just a little removed. Tuition of course is way higher in Wash. state though.

Lewiston is not a bad place but like said earlier you hafta travel a ways to get to the snow.

I dont know anything about which schools have nursing degrees, but BSU in Boise, NNU in Nampa might be possibilities, or maybe CSI in Twin Falls, that way dad can come up and ski, and then ride the desert :thumbsup:

Thanks for the input so far. Long story short, Idaho State and Lewis-Clark are both part of the "Western Undergraduate Exchange" program where residents from 14 western states pay a reduced tuition (150% of in state costs). Boise State and Wash State have the program but you can't use it for the nursing major.

Keep the advice coming!!!

Check out Montana Tech in Butte...a small but highly regarded
school NAIA...My nephew is going there this year and likes it so far.
He is in the W.U.E. program. Lots of outdoor activities nearby....

agree on the Montana schools, we took my son to Montana state this year for a visit in Bozeman, no shortage of snow I hear.

CSI in Twin honors WUE, or at least they used to. Takes a while to get to good snow from there though.

too bad about WSU...im pre-pharmacy there right now.

I really liked U of M when I visited. They where my second choice. Lot of ski resorts within a short radius of Missoula.

ISU Pocatello does have a great nursing program, plus there is a nice smaller ski area a few miles outside town, Pebble Creek. An hour and a half away is a world class resort, Grand Targhee, and a little over 2 hours away is Sun Valley.

In comparison, Lewiston is quite a ways from good skiing, and is not an easy place to get to/from.

Both good schools for what your original post was looking for. As far as nursing.....can she live in Boise and attend the ISU satellite campus? The recreational opportunity in the capital city absolutely rocks, and I'm not just saying compared to Lewiston or Poke-a-fellow (both cities have great things about the areas, respectively).

One MAJOR thing to also consider is that while in school there will be little time (or money for that matter) for an active ski life. That was my issue and saw the same thing when wife did it in Spokane.

If her choices are ISU or LCSC, I'd just look for other programs that honor WUE. Lewiston is sort of the "banana belt" of Idaho because of its elevation, and tends to stay warmer than anywhere else in the state. However, Lewiston is a dive. Seriously. It's very remote, and while it offers great access to outdoor recreation, the town itself is rather boring and it stinks there (really...it does). For any sort of recreation most kids head to Moscow, but that's no metropolitan either.

ISU is in Pocatello, and frankly, it's a dismal place to be in the winter. Eastern Idaho is gorgoeous in the fall, but it gets really windy, grey, and dirty in the winter. If you can escape south or north into the mountains it's a blast, but like someone said, once you get crunching in school it's hard to escape. Good recreation there, though. I'm just not the biggest fan of Pocatello. Much better college town than Lewiston.

Boise is by far the best choice: skiing (night skiing even) is but 20 minutes from town, the weather is generally nice all year, exciting, dynamic town, great college scene, great outdoor recreation.

If you can do WUE with Montana State (Bozeman) or University of Montana (Missoula), I'd definitely look at going there.

jwherb said:

Not just kind of, it IS the banana belt! When we lived in Troy we could have a few feet of snow on the ground, drive 1 hour south to Lewiston and be comfy in a T-shirt! And you are right, that town does stink.