Iowa State University Top Questions

I wish I had asked the people I knew in college what to bring to college. There were so many times when I called my mom and had to have her mail something from home that I could have brought my first day. Especially when it as averaging around 100 degrees that first week!!!

Before I attended Iowa State University, I wish I would have known the campus better so I would not get lost going to class the first week.

I wish I had known more about the research opportunities. There are many available, but they are not particularly interesting to me. I would recommending looking into research at the school if its some thing you are interested in.

I wish I had known that I only get four years as an undergraduate student at Iowa State and that my time would fly by quickly. Now that I am a junior, I am realizing that my time is dwindling quickly and more and more of my friends are graduating. Even if someone tells you college will go by quickly, it doesn't always sink it. It often takes personal experience to truly understand something. I wish I had understood that better as a freshman.

I wish I had known how important it is to get involved! Club fest is a great way to find out about different organizations. Also, it is very important to get to know the people on your floor. You will be spending all year with these people, so make some friends and avoid drama. Finally, it is very important to utilize your meal bundles. Regularly check your meal plan to make sure you are on track, and take advantage of extra sides by taking them back to your room. By doing this, I rarely bought groceries and saved money!

I wish I would have known what scholarships applied specifically to me. There were a bunch of scholarships in a list and it was difficult to know which ones I was elligible for. Everything else was pretty straight forward and the school does a great job of advertising the resources.

I wish I had known the difficult level of the courses I signed up for my first semester. Had I known I was taking two weed-out courses in the first semester, I would have changed some classes around.

I wish I would have had a better idea of how much different an university is from a community college.

The number of scholarships Iowa State University claims to offer are not as available as they make it appear.

I wish I had known the small things such as managing my own finances, or how to properly ride the bus. When I first became a resident I had no idea of how to do anything. I did however have many of my peers show me the easy way to do things, and alot of my teachers help with the transition too.

I wish i would of known more about the Greek community here at Iowa State. It wasn't till after i got up here that i herd about how strong the Greek community and houses are. You from great bonds with new people and "rushing" was a way that freshman could get intertwined with the older student and prospective mentors.

I wish I would have known that it's okay to not know what you're doing all the time. I came as an Open Option major and stressed way too much about it, and it ended up being fine. I later chose a major I never would have thought I would have chosen, but I love it. I also wish I would have known how to study effectively--something high school did not teach me at all.

I wish I had been more informed about the transportation and activities around campus. I had to find the information myself and now I have am subscribed to emails for updates for different departments i'm interested in.

Before I came to this school, I wish I had known about the overwhelming financial cost.

I wish i had known to try to get more scholarships before attending Iowa State. I just wish i had realized how expensive going to college is.

I wish I would have known more about the scholarships offered through the university and where they are located on the school's webpage.

How quiet it can be in Ames. I am from a city and the silence took some getting use to.

I wish I would have realized how far away from home I was. I live down by St. Louis, Missouri and it is a 6.5-7 hour drive to Ames. But, meeting a lot of great people helped the college transformation move easily.

I wish I had known all of my options for majors, I should have gone in undecided and tested out a lot of different classes and experienced it all before I made a decision.

Everything is overpriced, and the students at Iowa State University have the highest student debt on average of any school in the country.