The following reviews are the views of students or alumni at this school and are unrelated to the school data and other editorial content on usnews.com. These reviews neither reflect nor impact a school's position within the Best Colleges rankings.
I believe Iowa State is just the right size. There are enough students from many backgrounds that you can surround yourself with the kind of people you want to. There are also many opportunities at Iowa State University, from intramurals to clubs to Greek organizations to volunteer opportunities - the list could go on forever! For fun, I am taking Taekwondo and Hapkido this semester - how cool is that?! I know at a smaller school these choices for classes would not be available. I have also taken advantage of the study abroad and National Student Exhange opportunities offered at Iowa State. Lots of times, smaller schools do not have these options either. I am extremely please with my experience at Iowa State University, and I believe it is the perfect size for anyone who wants countless opportunities.
Sarah Senior
When I attended ISU, there were many ways to get involved, one of the best things about ISU was VEISHEA, what VEISHEA really stood for. It was the celebration of the first 5 colleges at ISU, each individual college would showcase their successes, the parade showed the great knowldge of the engineering college, with outstanding floats that moved, and had so much character! It is a shame it became a huge weekend for partying visitors, that ultimaltely led to the cose of the celebration! I have great memories of building VEISHEA floats, and the VEISHEA parade, the carnival, and the atmosphere of the campus that week! ISU is a great place to get a great education, i always found great advise with all my advisors and deans, and found people to help me through some tough times. My worst experience was with the student health, long story short, I went undiagnosed with pnumonia for a month, and ended up in the hospital!
Amy Alum
Everyone you meet is your friend. Seriously the only thing I would change are the winter walk to class, although I never have to walk that far. Iowa State is DEFINITELY NOT a small school, but we aren't huge either. We are slightly above just right! When I go home and talk to my neighbors, parents colleagues, other professional, I always hear amazing stories of when they or their friends attended. Not once have I heard a bad story about Iowa State University. To prove my point...the most recent controversy was over setting a limit for students to attend VEISHEA! First big flashing sign, Iowa State Students have so much fun during our annual tradition that no student wanted another to be left out. Another recent change was the adoption of a team of faculty members and two students to assist President Geoffrey in making our Campus more sustainable. This came after students voiced their concern for our planet. Just goes to show that Iowa State really is an adventure that the STUDENTS decide!
Hollykat Freshman
Iowa State is a large research school with a small-college feel. There are many things to be involved in that will provide you with your "niche." The school is rather large, and it's easy to be cynical about the school's bureaucracy, but they take care of business. I spend much of my time in campus and in the academic buildings. I live on campus, so I spend a lot of time in the residence halls. Many people study in the library. There is quite a bit of Iowa State pride in the athletic program, but if you aren't into athletics, there isn't a whole lot else to be excited about.
Swesley Junior
Iowa State has a beautiful campus. The layout of it is great because for my major most of my classes are in the same building. It doesn't exclude me from meeting people in other majors though as all of the building are near each other. Iowa State is just the right size for me. As you get older you become really close to those in your major. Iowa State has a lot of unique traditions, the most well known being VEISHEA, and comes with a lot of history behind it's name. I will always remember how well I was treated as a student. I was never treated as a number within this college and that is something that makes learning more enjoyable.
Kayla Junior
ISU has some great traditions. We have a bell tower on campus called the Campanille which chimes every 15 mins and plays a concert at noon. This provides a cool atmosphere. We are also known for our swans lancelot and elaine who patrol the local pond, and are not afraid of the students. While we do have a campus town of sorts it is mostly comprised of bars, a few fast food places, tatoo and piercing parlors and one small movie theater. It could be a bit bigger. Our big rival is the University of Iowa and we are in the big 12 conference. Our football team is not the best and I personally would like to see some of the money spent on other male athletics to bring back men's swimming and baseball. Women's athletics are pretty good. I also would like to see the music department be able to hold their concerts on campus at the lovely CY Stevens auditorium, but the university over charges its own music dept for the use and they can not afford it and have to play at the city auditorium accross town (bummer). It really is a great school though with tons of clubs and opportunities. We have a great outdoor recreation program and recreation services department. Our central campus is gorgeous and was designed by the same people as central park in NY. We have a great student festival called Veisha in the Spring.
Laura Senior
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