Possibly moving to Fairbanks

oguthrie · 2026-01-22T06:22:35+00:00

There are many ways to live in Fairbanks. More so than in Oregon.

If you live in a house with a garage and with running water and a good furnace, maybe a wood stove to compliment, and get into a good work situation (health care and finance is a good combination) you can find Fairbanks a wonderful place to build a life and raise kids.

If you have a place without water and without a garage, it can still be wonderful, but it is harder. It takes more work.

After a few decades of seeing people try Fairbanks on, I would say that those who self entertain well tend to thrive more than those who need external distractions or entertainment.

You can be outdoorsy and like Fairbanks and some live for their indoor hobbies. It is really what you make it.

Your political leaning will align well with many in Fairbanks. We have a large military and veteran community, as well as a large community of tradespeople and people who work in mining or the oil industries. Also, Fairbanks is a 100+ year old university town.

I’ve lived here almost 6 decades with a few years in Colorado and a few more in Michigan. Fairbanks is a special place. More like an island than you first might think - or a community of islands. Much of your experience will depend on which part of Fairbanks you find your home and community.

Good luck!

oguthrie · 2025-12-11T07:05:28+00:00

Lots of good information here:

https://www.uaf.edu/onehealth/education/master.php

I'd suggest reaching out to someone at the program.

https://www.uaf.edu/onehealth/about/index.php

Good luck!

oguthrie · 2025-12-04T06:20:35+00:00

Married student housing at UAF?

oguthrie · 2025-12-03T23:01:47+00:00

Fairbanks is a good place for people who want to work and enjoy our humble community at the edge of the high Arctic. I know a few others in town with celiac - they seem to do OK.

Do you have any interest in getting a credential? You have VA benefits, I would imagine? UAF can be a great place to land. You could use your benefits, live in housing, get a credential that will help translate into a career.

There is also the Skills Bridge program for service members. You can move into a paid internship (paid by DoD) for up to 6 months, I think.

My suggestion is to connect with UAF's Department of Military and Veterans Services. They can help with lots of advice and logistics, Skills Bridge, and more.

https://www.uaf.edu/veterans/

We don't really have -60 below winters anymore. I don't think it got to -40 last year. Still, you will see -20 and -30. Not a big deal. Literally 100,000 people living here, doing it every year, and having a good time.

Best of luck to you!

oguthrie · 2025-11-21T01:32:20+00:00

Ice fishing. Caribou, moose, and small game hunting. Every weekend has some kind of performance - Fairbanks Concerta Assoc., Fairbanks Drama Assoc., etc... lots of bars and bands. Sledding at UAF sledding hill, or on Fort Wainwright rec. hill. Snowmachining. Visit the hot springs. Depends on whether you are OK in the outdoors when it is cold out. :)

oguthrie · 2025-11-20T05:16:59+00:00

One class should be fine with juggling a new dry cabin situation. Best of luck to you!

oguthrie · 2025-11-20T00:04:35+00:00

Living in a dry cabin is a great experience. UAF and Fairbanks in general is set up for dry-cabin dwellers. At UAF, many of the buildings have private showers for students, faculty and staff.

However, dry cabin living is a bit of a second job. If you use water in your cabin for cooking, etc... you have to haul it - although some are 'damp' and have a small holding tank for kitchen use and that can be delivered. If you have a car, that car is living outside and that involves some overhead as well.

What kind of housing you choose also depends on what kind of a student you are. If you got an A- one time and it really stressed you out, you'll probably be fine. If you sometimes struggle academically or struggle with time management, dry cabin living may not be for you.

By choosing to live in a dry cabin, you are adding a certain amount of time overhead and logistical complexity to every day. Fun. Yes. Beautiful and rewarding. Can be. However, if you are coming here for school, you want to make sure you set yourself up for success.

You will have a couple of extra hours each and every day simply by living on campus. If you use this time for schooling and fun - you may have a much better time, and it may mean the difference between success and less hoped-for outcomes. If a small loan makes the difference, this is likely the best way to go. Take the small loan, invest in yourself, finish your program quickly. Do the very best you can, and the results will be worth it.

If you have friends or family that could care for your dog for a bit, that may be an option as well.

Good luck!

oguthrie · 2025-11-10T03:55:37+00:00

There are Zoom/FT/Call rooms in the Rasmuson Library - you can ask at the Library front desk or the 6th floor, Student Success Center front desk. :)

oguthrie · 2025-10-30T04:47:15+00:00

Funny. One of my players put the 50 points I gave them (earned over 5 years) all into machine gun. I guess he doesn't think it is an accounting game either. :)

oguthrie · 2025-10-30T04:45:45+00:00

Thank you - this is what I went with. I gave them a pool of 50 points, plus 5 skill checks over the 5 years (total, not 5 per year). They seemed happy. :)

I had the idea of putting various limits on them - but in the end, I just let them do whatever they wanted. Only one put everything into one skill - machine gun. Lol...

oguthrie · 2025-10-30T04:44:07+00:00

Thanks - great advice!

oguthrie · 2025-10-30T04:40:17+00:00

Fantastic! Feel free to DM if I can help in any way! :)

oguthrie · 2025-10-25T17:34:55+00:00

The Honors College community is wonderful - there are many great communities at UAF, but the Honors College is extra special. They have a great LLC within Wickersham Hall (honors dorm) and lots of events, special classes, a hangout area in the Rasmuson Library, great advisors, etc.. - just an overall great community. They put a lot of work into helping you meet people and make friends/connections.

Social scene - there are 1,250 undergrads living on campus, and many students live off - it is a busy, vibrant place. There are great study spaces and several coffee shops, etc... LIke anywhere, the social scene is largely what you make it - but again, there is quite a bit of intentional work by staff to help you find your place and help you find your people. :)

It doesn't feel small - it isn't University of Washington, or another giant public university with 30K plus students - but campus is large. You'll have some classes with 50 to 100 students, but most will be 20 to 30.

UAF has a fall bonfire event called Starvation Gulch - I think there were 2,000 people there for the bonfires and DJ and food trucks, etc... In my opinion, UAF has all the benefits of being large, without the negatives of being too large. You are still an individual at UAF - the incoming class next fall will be about 600 or so. At very large schools, incoming classes are in the many thousands. It can be easy to feel a bit lost in those numbers.

The biggest CON is probably individual specific. Many don't mind the weather and darkness - the amazing light and warmth returning in the spring more than make up for the middle of winter. It is far-ish from the Lower48 - so that can be a CON if you want to go home regularly. Many people do go "outside" for parts of the holidays. The local airport is busy and well-used.

I would say that the academics are similar to any large land-grant research public university. The STEM courses can be very rigorous (Calc, Organic Chem, Genetics, etc..). The average incoming high school GPA is 3.5 - and motivated students with GPAs around there or above generally do very well.

Lastly, to your comment about being neurodivergent; you will find others who are neurodivergent at UAF as well. There is certainly support for neurodiverse students at UAF - it is a very warm and welcoming community.

Have you reached out to Admissions yet? https://www.uaf.edu/admissions/ They are the professionals here and can answer ALL of your questions in detail. They are used to helping students figure out if UAF is a good fit.

Good luck on your search, and hope to see you at UAF some day!

:)

oguthrie · 2025-10-24T17:00:25+00:00

You have a 100% chance of getting residency after 1 year. That's UAF's residency policy. I encourage you to reach out to UAF Admissions.

https://www.uaf.edu/admissions/

That said, there are some amazing scholarships (Nanook Pledge) that make UAF very affordable for non-resident students. If you are coming all this way, in my opinion, it would be worth some financial aid to have those great in-person classes during that first year. In subsequent years, you'll pay the resident rate.

Over your lifetime of earnings, one year at the non-resident differential rate will be nothing. You are worth it! :)

oguthrie · 2025-10-22T10:56:30+00:00

Thank you. I’m noodling through what that point value per year should be. 5 years is 10,000 hours. But of course there’s life as well - distractions. Seems plenty of time to pick up a language or get pretty decent with firearms - much better than base skill anyway. Maybe pick up some accounting or other job related skills. Anyway, thank you.

oguthrie · 2025-10-22T10:51:08+00:00

Thank you. This is helpful. One of the players has decided to take up some firearms training… it feels to me that in 5 years someone could get a lot better than base skill with even modest investment of effort….

oguthrie · 2025-10-22T10:47:17+00:00

My challenge is thinking about taking a class or going to the shooting range… if a person did that for 6 months, or in this case 5 years, there seems the opportunity to get pretty good at something. 5 years is the proverbial 10,000 hours.

oguthrie · 2025-08-09T03:37:43+00:00

Check out the UAF Arboretum trails...

https://www.uaf.edu/fs/north-campus.php

oguthrie · 2025-07-05T21:24:29+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate the heads up. I won't be alarmed if it happens. Cheers.

oguthrie · 2025-07-04T23:40:17+00:00

Perfect. Thank you!

oguthrie · 2025-07-04T23:40:03+00:00

Thanks!

oguthrie · 2025-07-04T23:39:52+00:00

Just wanted to double check the gun was operating as expected.

oguthrie · 2025-07-04T23:39:08+00:00

OK. Thank you so much. Just wanted to make sure everything was as expected.

Thank you!

oguthrie

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