University of Iowa Top Questions

I have a nice mixture of classes in terms of numbers-some are held in a huge lecture hall, and some are in classrooms with under twenty people. The nice thing is that all of the really big classes also have smaller discussion sections with about twenty to thirty people in them so you are able to get extra help and ask questions. The professors are almost always available outside of class during office hours or by appointment. I suppose it depends on the major, but I feel that for the most part the students are very competative. I was in biology, physiology, and chemistry classes with a lot of pre-med students and it was pretty tough.

Most huge lecture hall classes (anywhere from 100 to 600 students) have a small weekly discussion group that meets with a teaching assistant. This is where you are able to ask questions, turn in homework, take quizzes, etc, with only about 22 students in each discussion section. I am an English major here at Iowa and we are known for our English department and our highly recognized Writers workshop. Many famous writers have received degrees from the UI as well as certificates through the writers workshop. I also know that the UI hospitals and clinics are at the top of national ranking.

The professors will take time to get to know each and every student if the student is willing to get to know the professor. My favorite classes are marketing, with Advertising Theory being my favorite with Nancy Abram.

I think students are competitive but also can learn a lot from eachother studying in groups. The Pomerantz Center is wonderful. That is where anyone could go when wondering where they are going in life and how do they get there.

Iowa's academics range dramatically from your first semester. During your first semester, or first couple semesters, Iowa's classes are very large with lectures with around 300 people and total class size of around 1000 students. Once your specific major starts, classes get smaller and range from 25-70 people which offers more attention from professors.

Everyone in the philosophy department is amazing. James Duerlinger is retiring unfortunately and you guys are losing out huge, it will be very hard to find someone with his unique approach to philosophy. Fales, Fumerton, Landini, and Cunning are all always there to answer any questions, and they all know my name. Iows students have intellectual conversations out of class, we are just few and far between. As I said above, I do wish that the philosophy department required at least one of each of the following classes, metaphysics, and epistemology, in addition to what is already required. My department is more geared towards learning for its own sake, but it should be, and that should never change.

I have only a few professors who know my name. It is hard awith so many students but I will go to office hours and get to know them too. All of my teaching assistants for my smaller discussion classes know my name. I'm in the Honors Program so I definitely see and experience intellectual conversations outside of class. Most people go to class and participate to some extent. Once you get into your major classes and have people are really interested in the subject, participation will go up. This is also a very political campus so debates and quite common.

I would say that there is a wide variety of classes and difficulty levels for people to choose from here. A big concern of a lot of people when they go to college is that the classes will be too big. For the first couple of years when you are taking mainly gen eds there will be some really big classes. My psychology lecture last semester had over 500 people in it, but then I also had a philosophy class that only had 19. So it all depends. Also once you get into your more major specific courses the size drops down dramatically. Next semester I will be starting my actual Nursing classes and will never have a class larger than 75 people (unless I take a large gen ed again).

The professors here are awesome. Very accessible and always willing to help. The most unique class I ever took was Plants and Human Relations with Ken Jensen. It satisfied my sience without a lab pre req. It is a class I would never haven taken otherwise and Ken was such an amazing professor. He knew so much about all different kinds of plants and really cared about what he was teaching. Every week he would bring in things for us to look at, taste, and smell. We even made paper!

Academics at Iowa are as hard as you make them. If you want A's and B's you need to actually put some time in at the library. If you want C's then just go to class because if you don't you'll find out that your grades will be terrible.