University of Iowa Top Questions

I enjoy this school. Everyone is very nice and supportive. I have a lot of resources to help me in my academic success. The spirit here is great and everyone is open.

The University of Iowa offers some great academic programs for students who are willing to learn. On the other hand, it is also a great place for slacking students who just want to party and waste their money skipping class and drinking. Admissions are fairly easy, so you'll find a lot of people who don't care or are just plain stupid, but given it's medical programs, there's a lot of the opposite, too! If you want to succeed at Iowa, get involved, talk to your instructors and advisers, and really make an effort to get the most out of your education. If you do that, you'll find that the university offers a lot of great resources and there are a lot of people out there that want to help you succeed. People are generally very friendly. Iowa City is, in my opinion, the best place to live in Iowa. It's an extremely liberal town where almost everything is in walking distance. The bars are fun (especially if you're 21), the culture is great (as it gets for Iowa), there's a wide range of restaurants and places to hang out, and people are less likely to fit the "small town" stereotype that Iowans usually get. If you want a taste of the University of Iowa, visit during football season, when school pride peaks and everyone is anxious to have a great time!

I love Iowa! The school is definitely large, but has a small school feel. I always see people I know around campus, even though many are involved in different majors and activities. Even after moving off-campus I still see people I know pretty much everywhere I go. Football weekends are probably my favorite time of year. There is a huge sense of school pride especially seeing students and alumni all decked out in black and gold. There is nothing like the feeling as 'Back in Black' comes on in Kinnick at the beginning of a football game.

The University of Iowa is great! I find it very easy to make friends. With all the different organizations at the University its hard to not find others with the same and similar interests as you. As you start choosing majors and you get further into your educational path, you start to see similar faces and you can make a lot of great friends within your field of study.

It is a very unified community where everyone usually gets along and have tremendous school pride. Football games in the fall are very exciting, fans begin tailgating at dawn until the game begins. It is also very convenient how close all the classes are to each other and how close the campus is to downtown. The social and night life are second to none. The campus is a perfect size, considering how many undergraduate students there are, and has many historical aspects to it such as the Old Capitol. There are a ton different places to study such as the IMU which is open 24 hours or the various libraries on campus. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics are recognized nationally as one of the best college hospitals. The recreation center was just built in fall 2010 and is state of the art, however the weight room is crowded all the time so it is not the best place to lift weights. I spend the majority of my time in the Pentacrest or main library during the day. There is so much to say about how wonderful the University of Iowa is in multiple aspects. I believe I made the right decision choosing this school.

This school was the perfect fit for me. I grew up in a small town so a huge school in a city exceeding more than 100,000 people would have been out of the picture for me. Iowa City is a great college town fully integrated with its community. The school itself has well-known reputation especially its college of medicine and medicinal research facilities are top notch. The football team here is as close to a professional sport as an Iowan can get so loyalty and school pride for the school and athletic events are huge. If not a fan you will almost be "guilted" into or peer-pressured into becoming a lifelong fan. :) Go HAWKS! Some things I would change are the facilities and academic faculty. Some of the facilities have seen there better days but some are getting renovated for the better. As for the faculty, the math department can run into language barriers, the physics department can run into teaching abilities or lack there of, but chemistry department and engineering department have good reputations in my book.

My overall opinion of the U of Iowa is that the entire administration really loves what they do and therefore enjoy teaching you everything they know. Their main concern is making sure you learn their material, and offer so many extra opportunities to students who need or want extra time to go over the course materials. Everyone is here to learn and the faculty and staff make it enjoyable.

I love this school because of its affiliation with the graduate colleges and internship opportunities. If your interested in medicine or law for instance, we have one of best medical campuses in the country as well as a great law school. Its a large school, 30k+ students but it makes it more diverse which is good. Another great thing is the school pride, we love our hawkeyes and no one ever skips a home game, tailgating is a huge event every saturday. I'd say the downfall of Iowa is that its a very liberal place, and that tends to make some people uncomfortable.

I think the University of Iowa is an above average university. Most of the professors seem genuinely interested in teaching their subjects to the students. However, there are some faculty that are more interested in their other duties. If I could change anything about this school, it would be those professors that don't put forth their best effort. The school is large, but it also offers a great community feel. Football games are a great way to connect with other people on the campus. There are also a lot of fairs and events that keep the student body feeling smaller. Some of the best events, in my opinion, are the concerts and athletic events.

I like it at U of I for the same reasons that a lot of people do, and so overall, I'd have to recommend the school to most people. The amount of pride, energy, and activity in Iowa City is enormous at any given time. That said, for someone like me, it can be very easy to feel lost in such a large crowd. I applied for U of I before any other college and decided to attend mostly based on the volume of scholarships and financial aid I was offered. If I had the chance to go back, I would visit more small schools. I am happy at U of I but I wonder if I would have a better chance to make myself heard somewhere else, outside of my home state.

My overall opinion of this school is that it is perfect for me and the best choice I made. The school has over 30,000 students but it truly does not feel that way. It is built perfectly so that it seems like you are in a small, quaint college where everyone knows everyone else. This could be because there are only 3 main spots where mostly everyone hangs out. This would be the library, the IMU, and downtown which consists of a couple streets. On these streets are small bookstores, coffee shops, interesting restaurants, and shops. This is where I spend most of my time. There is always something going on downtown which is located right across the street from campus. From art shows, to live music, to dancing, to food festivals, there is always something to do! I give props to the school administration because they always support the events happening downtown. The biggest recent controversy on campus was the fact that the bars used to be 19+ and last year had turned 21+. Many people were upset about this and some said they would transfer or choose a different school. The most unusual thing about our school is how close we are to all the action downtown. It is literally steps away and can be so easily accessed! School pride is immense here and alumni are always at football games, basketball games, etc. Many families proudly represent the hawkeye symbol from their shirts, to their cars, and even to their homes. The one experience that I will always remember is the first day of class when they gathered my entire freshmen class on the grass outside of the old capitol building and gave us a motivational speech. The day was beautiful and it was so amazing to see so many new faces ready to begin college.

I really like this school! Freshman year was a bit of an adjustment for me, but now I am a junior, and I love it! I am on Thanksgiving break now and can't wait to go back. Most people can't wait for the weekends- dancing downtown is really fun! There is a lot of football pride during the game season.

Academically, the school is mediocre but it depends on the program that you are enrolled in. The campus is nice and well kept, and most buildings are in reasonable walking distance from the dorms. I spend most of my time either at the library or in Schaeffer Hall. Homework is piling up so I am transforming into a grouchy curmudgeon. There have been a lot of complaints lately that the school administration spends too much of its budget enlarging unnecessary bureaucratic positions while cutting back on department spending. Hawkeye pride seems to be pretty important here. I don't really understand why, but, again, I think it's related to Football and beer. One really great thing about this school is the concerts we attract. Lots of cool bands stop by and play gigs for pretty cheap. Student organizations also usually host some big names for an affordable price.

It is a school full of opportunities.

Overall, I love the University of Iowa. Iowa City really is the campus, so you're surrounded by college students and you can fully appreciate college life, but you're not confined to an enclosed campus. Iowa City is a college town through and through. The city isn't very large either, which was really helpful for me, coming from a town of 3000 people and worrying I would be overwhelmed. The undergraduate student body is like five times the size of my town, but even with the large number of students, there are plenty of ways to find a niche here. Once you get involved in things you enjoy, you start to see the same people that also enjoy those things. As an English major, the constant literary opportunities create a community for me as well as offer me a lot of knowledge and experience. However, I really feel that the honors department is what has made the University of Iowa so perfect for me. With honors, you can be as involved as you want, so you'll find the students who don't do anything with honors, and you'll find students (like myself) that do way too much. There are just so many opportunities and the staff is so helpful that I find it difficult not to jump at everything I can! Most of my involvement is with the honors department--but I've found communities outside of honors that are just as inviting and helpful, so, by all means, you don't have to be an honors student to find your place at Iowa.

It's a big school, but it didn't feel that huge to me. It seems like everyone has a group of friends they usually hang out with, and but it's so nice to not run into the same people over and over again. Iowa City is definitely a college town - it's a beautiful place except in the dead of winter when the sidewalks are icy and you wish you'd moved somewhere much, much warmer. There are a lot of intellectuals walking around, and it's nice to be surrounded by such smart people. The atmosphere is definitely one that encourages learning, as long as you don't let the bar scene get in the way too much (save it for the weekends).

Iowa is an amazing college, in an amazing college town. My older brother started going here when I was a sophomore in high school, and I loved visiting so much that I came here, too. The campus is small, easily walkable, and always beautiful. The town is the perfect size, and you would never know that 20,000 students are going to school there at the same time as you. On campus, I spend most of my time between my house on Lynn Street, the Iowa Memorial Union (IMU), and classes. The administration is very helpful, but aren't afraid to tell you no...especially if you don't have the paperwork they needed(if there was any). The biggest recent controversy on campus is the fact that twelve of our buildings are flooded severely from the Iowa River. You probably heard about it in the news. Besides the flood, Iowa's Campus is going smoke-free starting some time in July of 2008. Good thing I don't smoke. One experience I'll always remember is playing a game of frisbee at 2 A.M. on a Thursday night, and some people who had just been in the bars came and played with us. They were relatively inebriated and severely entertaining. Oh, and the Marching Band gets to go wherever the Football team does during Bowl season...for free. I got to go on a Four day vacation to San Antonio with my brother and 244 others for free.

While some people see Iowa as being too large or impersonal, they couldn't be more wrong. Because of the way the campus is set up it is impossible not to run into fellow students from your own major and often your own classes. School pride at the University of Iowa is a priority for the majority of its students. There is nothing more fulfilling or exciting than seeing seas of yellow and black at football games, or any other day of the week. I am always proud to tell people that I am a hawkeye! The University of Iowa is unique because it is a Big 10 school with a smaller feel. The campus is so diverse, so everyone is welcome. It has definitely become my second home.

The University of Iowa is like living in a metropolis. You have the opportunity to meet a large number of students, but yet feel a part of the UI community. Iowa is a school that has a lot of school pride. We take our Hawkeyes seriously and that is why no matter what day it is you will see black and gold all over our campus. Iowa has activities for everyone to do. With more than 4,000 student orgainzations you should have no problem finding what you like. As for the campus it is beautiful. he state's Old Captiol is the campus's gemstone. It sits in the middle of a campus that is full of life. In the warm months people will be outside getting some sun and catching up on some studying. In the winter you may find yourself in a snowball fight and building a snow man. What makes the University of Iowa even better is the city it is in. Iowa City is often called the New York City of Iowa because all of it culture and unique features such as a pedestrian mall that consists of flowers, fountains, bars, restuarants, shops, and a library. No matter the season this region is full of life. The UI also sits right next to downtown Iowa City giving students a shopping mall, and an old fashion downtown full of busnesses and people.

Initially the campus draws many people in. It is a big ten school but feels like a small private one. You see friends on campus to and from classes every day which gives you a sense of comfort. Downtown is as definately as fun as everyone says it is. Great restaurants and bars..i have never heard one person who does not love it here.