Schedule college visits in Fargo-Moorhead

Plan your visit to MSUM while you’re in town

As a Dragon Ambassador, I give tours to potential students, and as a Dragon Mentor, I help new students orient to college life. So, I know a thing or two about scheduling a college visit and transitioning to college life. Picking a college can seem like a pretty daunting task. But, I want to help break it down, so here is my guide to finding the perfect school for you.

Best colleges: Fargo and Moorhead

Fargo-Moorhead is an amazing community that welcomes and embraces more than 23,000 students attending eight colleges and universities. Fargo-Moorhead offers opportunities galore while still having a hometown feel. Check out the Chamber’s “Why FMWF” for reasons to live and learn in this community.

The eight Fargo-Moorhead colleges and universities are diverse in terms of size and interests. Some students think they want a certain kind of college and limit themselves in their college search. But, it’s worthwhile to explore and consider a variety of options to find the college that is the best fit for you.

Some things to consider:

• Overall size
• Student-to-faculty ratio/class sizes
• Majors/programs available
• Campus culture

The importance of these attributes can vary greatly from student to student.

• For me, the Speech Language Hearing Science program was super strong and I loved the mid-size of MSUM.
• My sister was recruited to North Dakota State University for softball and loved her athletics experience.
• My brother wanted to go into the trades and decided to go to M State to be an electrician.

One size doesn’t fit all, which is why it’s important to plan college visits when you come to Fargo-Moorhead. We have distinctly different colleges in our community that fit the needs of most students.

Enrollment & Class Size

NDSU is the second-largest university (13,700+) in North Dakota and the largest in Fargo-Moorhead. You might find larger classes, especially at the undergraduate level. And since NDSU has doctoral programs, you may find graduate assistants teaching some of your classes.

Concordia College in Moorhead is quite the opposite, with an enrollment of under 2,000 students. The private Lutheran school has students from 40 countries representing 31 religions. Minnesota State Community and Technical College has four campuses, including one in Moorhead, representing about 58 percent of the school’s enrollment. Since they focus on the trades, classes tend to be small and personal.

How to pick your major

The most important thing to think about as you explore colleges is to find the school that offers what you want. If you are still deciding on a major (and believe me, that’s OK!), you also want a school that allows you to explore a variety of fields.

NDSU has eight colleges with more than 140 undergraduate majors specializing in agriculture, engineering, and health and life sciences. Concordia has more than 120 areas of study, including 13 preprofessional programs. Their most popular majors are business, management, marketing, and related support services.

M State Moorhead campus is a comprehensive community college offering technical and career options and a full transfer degree program. MSU Moorhead enjoys a robust partnership with M State by offering transfer agreements for many of our undergraduate majors.

MSU Moorhead offers 150 majors, emphases and options, 12 Pre-professional studies programs, and 15 graduate degrees. Our largest undergraduate majors are:

• Elementary inclusive education
• Business administration
• Psychology
• Social work
• Nursing (RN-BSN)
• Health medical sciences
• Criminal justice
• Exercise science
• Speech language hearing sciences

MSUM also offers unique programs not available locally or regionally, including animation, film production, entertainment industries & technology, medical physics and new majors in cybersecurity, graphic and interactive design, digital media management, and human health sciences.

You can check out MSUM’s Major to Match Your Personality webpage to help you see what majors best match your strengths, interests and goals.

Campus Culture

M State, with a diverse student population, does not have on-campus housing. However, M State students can live in the MSU Moorhead residence halls to experience vibrant student life.

The three universities offer their unique campus vibe. It’s hard to define a culture and know if it’s the right fit for you until you get on campus and see for yourself.

How to Pick a College

1. Decide on what colleges to tour and schedule it! I recommend no more than two colleges in one day so you can get the most out of each tour. I toured three schools in one day, and I was so burned out by the end of the day that I had to re-tour the last school later.
2. On your walking tour of campus, ask questions! Talk to the tour guide. Talk to others who may be on the tour with you. Are students greeting each other and smiling? This provides a good temperature of what the campus is like.
3. Schedule a visit with a professor. Take advantage of these opportunities, as they can answer questions you didn’t know you had. Once you have information from one place, you can compare it to all other schools that you tour. Always meet with everyone you can so that you can get the broadest picture of a campus.

Questions to ask on a college visit

A tour is a perfect time to gather as much information as possible. The best questions to ask are the ones you have at the moment. Students give most college tours, so they can often give you the best information from a student perspective. Your personal questions will provide you with a better feel for the campus.

As a tour guide, I have heard every question under the sun! Never be afraid to ask a “dumb” question. The only wrong question is one not asked! Here are some good questions to ask to get the most out of your tour:

• Why did you choose this school?
• What are this college’s greatest strengths?
• What majors are popular?
• How accessible are administrators?
• How accessible are professors? Do they have mandatory office hours?
• How are classes structured? (test-based vs. project-based, lecture vs. discussion)
• How often is collaborative/group work required?
• Are you satisfied with your academic advising?
• What kind of academic support does the college offer?
• What’s the average class size?
• What does your typical day look like?
• What’s the best way to get involved on campus?
• What do you do when you aren’t in class?
• How much hands-on experience do you have in each program?
• What’s it like to be a first-year student here?

Visit MSU Moorhead

MSUM prides itself on creating a dynamic and personalized campus visit experience that meets needs, interests and timeline. We receive tons of positive feedback saying how personalized, friendly, and helpful our visits are in the college search. Read Autumn Schaeffer’s story about why she chose MSUM. Then, make the most out of your college search in Fargo-Moorhead by visiting Minnesota State University Moorhead; you won’t be disappointed!