Bellingham or Fort Collins?

I recently have gotten out of the US Navy, and am going back college to pursue a degree in Geology/Earth Sciences. I have recently been accepted to both Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and Western Washington University. In terms of year round skiing and access to glaciers, WWU would seem like the better choice. Weather is really not an issue. My questions are:

How would an older non-traditional transfer student fit in at WWU or Bellingham in general?
How is the social scene?
Culture?
Cost of living?
How hard is it to find part time work?
Networking for my chosen degree?

Fort Collins. No debate. Academically the school is far beyond WWU, especially in science fields. Although built up Nowadays Ft Fun has plenty of outdoors stuff to offer except saltwater stuff. The weather is better too. I will admit it can get dusty there. The brewery scene is pretty good. People are a lot more laid back than here in Pugetopolis. Finally, you won't find any rocky mountain oyster specials in Bham. Maybe something with sprouts.

Note, that I am biased having graduated from CSU before moving out here.

For a long ski season - Bellingham, for a long rock season - Ft Collins.

If you want a job after graduate school, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Bangor Sub Base (Bremerton) are always looking for engineers because the babyboomers are retiring in droves now. Your active duty time will count toward your GS retirement. You probably can get a scholarship AND a job if you pick and geo engineering instead of geo science liberal arts (ask your transition program advisor about that).

And - thank you for your service to our country!

I don't have any sage advice but good luck with school, Donnelly.

If you're looking for post-graduation work/networking in Geology then Ft. Collins is going to be far better. If you are doing other types of Earth Sciences than Bellingham may offer some opportunities, but not many. There is a lot of activity in the Denver Metro in geosciences due to petroleum production and thorny groundwater issues. If you wish to continue your studies, Denver area (Golden, Boulder) have the most advanced Earth Science research labs and administration facilities in the country.

But I do think Boundary Bay makes better beer than New Belgium

For very similar discussion (Boulder vs Bellingham) see this thread: www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...ex.php?topic=24741.0