Iowa State University Top Questions

The cost

My dorm room doesn't have air conditioning

There are a lot of PhD students at the school and may of them have to be research professors. This means that there are a lot of foreign professors who don't always know English very well.

It gets really cold in the winter and you have to walk around outside.

The worst thing about Iowa State is that there are so many guys that attend ISU. Because ISU is such a strong engineering school (top 15 in the nation, I believe) the gender ratio is almost 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} men versus 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} women (from what I remember).

The city of Ames is not big enough for the University. Iowa State is a great sized university, Ames is just not big enough.

The worst thing about my school is that some of the intro classes are in huge halls with 200 kids per class.

Though our school is full of many good things, one of the worst things about ISU is the large lecture classes that we have. Many of the classes that I've taken have had around +300 students in them. With so many students, it's hard to get help from the professor and have a one-on-one with him/her. Thankfully, we have teaching assistants that help us if the professor is unavailable.

Located in the middle of Iowa. I am a fan of diverse landscapes and the middle of Iowa is flat farmland.

The worst part about Iowa State is that people do not just reach out and say hello to you for no reason. People are very curteous, but students are often too bus on their phones to look up and enjoy the campus! It is really a bit sad that most students are not talking to each other when walking to class.

I think the worst thing about Iowa State is the size. It is a very large school both in size and in number of students. Coming from a small town, this made me step out of my comfort zone, which seemed bad at first!

The worst thing about this school, is the campus design and how it is with personal transportation to and from campus. The parking on/near campus is pretty horrible.

No reciprocity between Minnesota and Iowa

The worst thing about Iowa State University has to be the weather. Winter in Iowa is so cold, walking around on campus can be a nightmare during January and Febuary.

The worst thing about Iowa State would be our football team and the overcrowding in residence halls due to increased enrollment. The football team obvious changes over the years and will hopefully play better with the additioinal new coaches and players. The university and city of Ames are working on adding more student apartment buildings to increase the housing availability.

The worse thing about Iowa State are the school's charges. They have outrageous charges then students like myself rarely get any financial aid to help pay for school. To add insult to injury, they convinced me that my two scholarships were full rides when they aren't, instead they gave me loans I had no idea that I had.

One of the things I would consider the worst about my school is the some of the activies require a fee charge to be part of it. coming from a low income family it is very hard for me to keep up with the schools tuition and personal bills. I would like become part of more schools programs and acitivites. I am happy although that the school does offer many programs that are at no charge.

The worst thing is the lack of diversity. The university it making a tremendous effort to bring in more multicultural students however, currently the diversity is lacking. Also, the lack on housing is becoming quite a problem.

The worst thing about my school, and the most frustrating thing, is the low amount of scholarships/financial aid available to those of us who are not considered "minorities". I have friends who are classified as a minority who have full ride scholarships as a result, while I am a white female working 3 jobs (at the momement, over 45 hours a week in addition to 21 credits) and searching for a 4th job just so I can stay in school.

There isn't much to complain about, but sometimes the distance from one class to another can be far for the time in between classes.

It is very competitive for jobs because of the high number of engineers. But it doesn't stop everybody from being friendly and polite about it.

There is not anything bad about iowa state except the cold winters they have, besides that its a great school.

The worst thing about my school is that it's so large! Both in size and the number of people who go to it. My high school had 250 people in it, and I knew almost every single person who went to it. At Iowa State, there will be 3000+ people there. When walking through a crowd, I'll be lucky if I see somebody I recognize, much less know personally. This whole aspect of impersonality will make things much harder at college. If I do something wrong, it will seem as if nobody cares.

The worst thing about my school is the amount of school scholarshiips offered to out of state students.

The roommate pairings. They never had us take a survey or answer any questions about ourselves so that when they paired us up with a roommate that we got someone compatible to us. Unfortunately, beacuse of this, I was stuck with someone very very unfit for me.

The worst thing is finding where you belong because there are so many options. The campus is huge and the community is even larger however as difficult as it is to select the right club to be in or the right community to be involved in, there are people are there willing to help you on your journey. Iowa State is as big or as small as you make it so don't be afraid to step out on a limb and take a step towards your success and happiness on campus.

Many of the professors do not have any background in education so they are learning how to teach their subject. I consider this the worst part because it means you have to spend more time on your own teaching yourself how to do the coursework.

The worst thing about my school would be the size. Iowa is home to many small towns, so it can be difficult in transitioning into a huge school like Iowa State. It makes you feel like you are only a number sometimes. I do understand that this really cannot be helped and the school does do a great job at making people feel like they count.

The worst thing about Iowa State University is the off campus VEISHEA activities. The on campus activities are an absolute blast, and also a tradition, but it encourages people outside of Ames to come to Ames to drink excessively and start riots. It has caused harm to multiple students and has also resulted in the damage of thousands of dollars worth of property in Ames.

The worst part about college in general is coming here thinking that highschool prepared me well enough to adjust well here. The worst part was realizing that it was much harder than I expected and since it changes every semester it definitely hasn't gotten easier to adjust. My advice is to take it all in and ask your teachers specifically about college and don't just hope that what they are doing as a whole will help you in college.

I think that the worst thing about my school, and most colleges in general these days, is the focus on going to college to get a job rather than going to college to get an education. Our university is an institution of higher learning, it is not a trade school. I think that one should attend college because they are looking to maximize their education and become the best person that they can be, not just to find a job.

it is so cold here, and spring is not really spring, it is a second winter.

The worst thing about Iowa State are all the distractions. In my first year here, I always found it difficult to sit down and study because there was always something fun to do on campus. I wish there were less distractions, but at the same time, these distractions make Iowa State great, and it's up to yourself to find the time for your school work.

The worst thing about Iowa State is the outrageous number of people that are enrolled here. It is quite a shock to the system to be surrounded by 30,000 students in one small area. It becomes very overwhelming during the first few months and makes for a rough transition sometimes. There are also times that all of these people make you feel like just a number, rather than an individual. It can be tough to feel important when you are one in what feels like a million.

I would consider the amount of people on campus is the worst, but it is one of the 3 large universities in Iowa so I can't complain. Its hard sometimes to feel part of the univesity cause you are constantly surrounded by people you dont know. But because of that aspect of the university, it drives you to find you niche and make new friends.

Iowa State does not have very good wifi sometimes, especially at night. For being a engineering and technology school you would think it would be a lot better and more reliable but they are working on fixing the problem and should be better in the next few years.

I am not sure what the worst thing about my school is because for me, it is a great school to go to.

I cannot think of anything about this school that could be considered bad. I love every aspect of Iowa State Univeristy.

I would consider the obvious racial divide between the Asian foreign exchange students and other students at Iowa State to be the worst quality my school possesses. Overall, ISU is a very accepting and racially diverse school. However, the social and academic divide between the foreign exchange Asian students and other students is very obvious and has a lot of room for improvement.

The worst thing about my school is that they do not give out enough scholarships to out of state students. Tuition is expensive and college students are not incredibly wealthy at this point in their lives. Out-of-state tuition is almost double what in-state students pay. I wish my school would help out-of-state students more with their tuition-- especially those students who achieve a high academic standing and build up the reputation of the school.

In my opinion the worst thing about my school would be the dorm rooms, since I believe that it could have been better according to my own expectations, but that's is really all I can think of. This is not really a complaint, but the only expectation that wasn't met for me.

I consider the bus systems to be the worst thing about my school. It is a wonderful thing to have a large bus system that go all over campus and the surrounding area, but when you live in the Towers residence halls there is only one bus route that will get you there and that bus comes every twenty minutes, if you're lucky. There are some days where there is no bus at all or it is so full that you are late for class. If certain routes came more frequently, the bus system here would be great.

I believe the worst thing about my university the cost. It is difficult for the average American to afford their education when paying for it themselves. In addition to your studies, clubs, and activities related to your major, it is hard to find a job that will support you and fit into your schedule! Loans are offered, but when you first get out of college, you need an excellent job to be able to pay these loans in a reasonable amount of time!

Sometimes it is overcrowded at the dining centers during lunch hour.

Sometimes the lecture halls can be pretty overwelming with the amount of students in the course. I only had a few big lecture hall classes my freshman year, but as you are further in your program the classes become smaller and more "high-school" like. I advise sitting towards the front in those big courses.

The size of the classes not getting one on one attention from the teachers. Another item is having so many people it is difficult to hang out with the same people.

The worst part of Iowa State University is the student to teacher ratio and the number of courses provided. I believe that for students to truly enjoy their college experience and to get the most out for their money and time, they should be able to take the courses that best fit into their future goals and they should have a better relationship with their professors. If students had a better teacher to student ratio, they would most likely succeed more in their courses and would be more likely to ask questions outside of class.

The only real drag on campus would be my living arangements. Incredibly hot for the first month, fridged temperatures later on, then once the heat is turned on in burning heat again. I live in an incredibly small room with no temperature control!

When I first arrived at ISU, I was completely overwhelmed: the campus was huge, I did not make friends easily, and I found myself alone much of the time. My only consolation was that my career path was absolutely defined: I was going to be a tax accountant. In high school, I managed straight A's in the two-year accounting program, and I felt supremely confident that I would excell here as well. I changed my major twice within the first year. By year's end, I wasn't sure I was college material - but I stayed the course!

With all of the positive characteristics of Iowa State, the worst possible thing about Iowa State is the internet connection, which is a vey small negative trait if ask me. ISU is continuing to grow in both size and number of students. From a student's perspective, I understand thousands of students would like to use the same internet at similar times of the day. I would greatly appreciate better connection in each of the residence halls, because for the most part, the network works wonderfully in the library and classrooms.