Iowa State University Top Questions

I think the Greek system is a GREAT part of Iowa State University. It's a great way to get involved with a diverse group of people. I think ISU is a "just right" size school. I'm from a small town and wanted a big school feel but not too big where I feel overwhelmed with people. I spend most of my time at the Gerdin Business building. It's a great building and I love that I can grab a quick lunch at the cafe in it before or after class. I believe it is a college town. Especially around the Welch St. area. I think the ISU administration is very knowledgable and helpful. I'm very grateful for my advisor and all the help she has give me. As you can tell I am very PRO-ISU! :)

I think Iowa State is the perfect size. It has a large number of students but not an overwhelming amount. The campus is BEAUTIFUL. It's something the students take pride in and love to show off. I believe the Greek Community plays a huge part in at Iowa State. They are involved and care about the university. I spend most of my time at the College of Design, but absolutely love it. As weird as the building is, I'm in it more than my actual campus home. I think the biggest complaint of students is the parking. The thing is it sucks really bad.

If I were to describe Iowa State to someone who has never been there I would first tell them about the beauty of the campus. Each building, old and new, has character and is unique. The Memorial Union fountain, the campanille and the lake were something I looked forward to seeing every day. The trees are established and magnificent. I especially like the budding trees in the spring. If someone were to ask me about the size of the campus, I would say it is perfect. I graduated high school with a class of 40 and was involved in everything. Many of my Hinton classmates asumed I would be lost in the vastness of ISU. I was not. The reason I did not feel lost was because I joined a sorority. This gave me an immediate base of support, friendship, and confidence. I stayed involved in sorority activities. AOII also encouraged their members to "expand their horizons" and to be involved in as many on campus organization as well. The more I became involved in the more I realized there was to do. If my memory serves me correctly, there were over 250 student organiztions or clubs to be involved in. If the Greek system would not have been for me, there were plenty of other opportunities to explore. In addition to the beauty of the campus, and the unlimited organizations to be involved in, Iowa State has something else going for it... the city of Ames. The city itself is full of unique and traditional shopping experiences, restaraunts, and friendly people. Ames is also centrally located and is only a 30 -40 minute drive from DesMoines.

I think that Iowa State is just right the size it is. If it were any bigger, life here would be a lot less personal. If it were any smaller it would be just like high school all over again. I absolutely love our campus and how it is designed. There is a lot of school pride at Iowa state even though our athletics are not always on top.

I think Iowa State is large enough that you don't know everyone, but small enough that you aren't just a face in the crowd.

The best thing about ISU is all the large on campus events (Homecoming, VEISHEA, Greek Week), ISU is the perfect size (only as big as you make it), there are people I see everyday and some that I'll probably never meet, it all depends who involved you get and what you make of your experience. People typically have a positive reaction when I tell them I go to ISU. We have a great reputation w/in the college of ag and life sciences...I get a uh response from Hawkeye fans but whatever. I spend a lot of my time on the east side of campus along ag row with typical econ and ansci classes. It is definately a college town on Welch Ave; however, it also has a small town feel as you get closer to down town. ISU's administation wants us to succed and is there to help with all academic aspects along with situations outside of the classroom. ISU seems to have a unusually large amount of traditions and superstitions.

The best thing about Iowa State is the school spirit! Even when the football team sucked, thousands of students still attended the games religiously, and there many ways to get involved in school spirit on campus. I also really like that Ames is a college time. The summers in Ames were the best! There was not a lot of traffic, and not many pedestrians. No lines at the bar is the thing I remember liking the best during the summer :) It was kind of like a break from the hubbub of the school year. Living in Washington now, people react strangely when I say that I attended Iowa State. They say things like, "Isn't it in the middle of a cornfield?" or "Aren't all the students there hicks?"

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!

The best thing about Iowa State is the culture and the history. We have such a rich background and history filled with many traditions that allow the students and alumni to really feel like part of the campus. I think that ISU is just the right size, big enough for you to get the experience and culture yet small enough for you to get one on one attention if needed. I spent most of my time on campus in the MU or around the Lago area. It's so pretty anywhere you go on campus why not enjoy it?!

The biggest controversey on campus when I went to school was the dedication of a building on campus to Carrie Chapman Catt. I will always remember VEISHA before it became over regulated. It was a great celebration with so many fun activites. I'm not sure there is as much attention on it nowadays.