Iowa State University Top Questions

nothing really. i was well informed when making my choice

I think that I was well prepared to come here.

I wish I had known that rooming with one of my friends wasn't the best idea. It would've saved me a lot of time and less effort moving all of my things twice.

I wish I had known what my major was going to be before I came instead of coming in undecided. I felt like I was a little behind when I finally did choose.

I wish that I had known not to stress so much over college and being able to fit in. Everyone has a place at Iowa State and there are so many options for students to get involved that it’s really easy to meet new people and make friends. I wish that I had also known how to take advantage of financial aid and scholarships when trying to pay for tuition. It would have really helped me pay for my out of state bill in the long run.

I wish I'd known how involved I now want to be. I didn't set myself up to be very involved, and now I'm having a hard time getting into clubs/activities because I can't get to them.

I would have liked to know how the room I was living in was set up. My dorm room was very small and I had trouble finding places for the appliances I brought.

If you want to live off campus in a good apartment find it in January or February.

Honestly, my main mistake was not taking the advantages I had to apply for scholarships. The cost of the instituion rises per year and my family and I cannot pay for schooling for me without any financial help.

Nothing, an older sibling had attended so I was fairly well informed.

I wish that I would have had more help in deciding which major I wanted to be in, as well as advising help on which classes to sign up for. I also wish that I had received more help and had more knowledge about opportunities to receive help with financing for college. It would have been helpful to get an idea what was avaiable to students as far as resources on campus, as well as extracurricular activites.

What i wish i would had known before coming to Iowa State University is how fast four college years pass by, what a great experience it was going to be and how i should not take a single day for granted. Staying positive and trying my hardest at everything i do is very important now.

I can't think of anything that I wish I'd known, that I didn't. I made sure to ask a lot of questions from admissions, financial aid, student services, my individual colleges, etc.

I wish I had known that this school has a very intense Engineering program with little room for error. High school was such a breeze that I did not have to pay much attention or put much effort into any one piece of work to do well. However that is absolutely not the case at Iowa State University. I brought that slacker attidute with me to my freshman year here and I am still paying for it trying desperetly and working very hard to remedy my GPA.

I wish I would have developed better study skills. I have never been one to study because I always rely on my ability to retain information. I have learned that retaining information only works when I go to class, which I have had a hard time with this year, and that studying the night before doesn't necessarily work. I also wish I would have known how much self-discipline I'd really need. It is so much harder being on my own than I thought it would be.

All of the opportunity that is available.

It would have been nice to know what to expect for course load from various classes. Also knowing not to buy books before classes start because you don't always use them (or in my case, none of them. There goes $500...) and may be able to share or borrow from a friend.

I wish that I knew how much more studying I would need to do compared to highschool! Without putting in much effort I could get great grades in highschool but college requires a lot of studying. Unfortunately I learned this lesson after my first exam, but hopefully my advice can help someone else not make the same mistake!

I wish I had known more calculus and had some more college credit that transfered to Iowa State University. That would have given me more preperation for my classes and would have been less stressful. More college transfer credit would come in the form of general education courses.

I wish I had known how little sleep I would be getting being a design major. I had heard stories about the lack of sleep, but you don't understand until you get into the program. Also, I wish I had known how many amazing friends I would make in college. I came into college ready for a fresh start, but didn't expect to make as many great friends as I have made so far this year. If I had known, I think I would've been more confident talking to people at the beginning of the year.