Iowa state gives people a chance. I was not a high-achieving, studious student in high school and did not do well upon taking beginning, liberal arts' classes at a community college; I struggled. The high school I attended in Silverton, Oregon was and is state-rated as being "satisfactory" and did not prepare me for college. Upon graduation from high school, I probably had an equivalent of an eighth-grade education. Overall, I bombed my S.A.T.'s, even though I have a high I.Q., and the S.A.T. predictors determined I would not be a college candidate.
Iowa State accepted me, for a semester, on terms that I had to perform well. I decided to transfer there because my husband was an engineering major and was impressed with the programs, quality and preparation of courses. In fact, he decided to attend I.S.U. over all other universities because the engineering program was rated in the top 5, nation-wide, based on graduation rates and around a 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} success-rate of graduates passing E.I.T. exams. I heard great things about the education in Iowa, too. The state is usually ranked in the top ten, and that was important to me considering I was entering the education field.
My first semester, I entered as a sophomore and took twelve, liberal classes required for my major. I was amazed at the quality of professors and courses. The school and staff are open-minded, considerate, respectful, helpful and supportive. Staff is full of people with outstanding credentials and diversity. The professors are reasonable, educated and concise. I ended up earning over a 3.5 G.P.A. that semester and was embraced by the university. Every following semester, I made it on the Dean's List primarily based on perseverance and the quality of the professors.
There are other education programs in the Mid-west that get high ratings, but continously we had professors from some of those higher-rated programs, and they would say that they were most impressed working for I.S.U., working with the students and the superb quality of work produced by education majors vs. other universities they had worked. Their overall statements were that I.S.U. offered among the best preparation for future teachers, and we had recruiters from all over the country wanting I.S.U. educators.
After graduating with honors, we moved to California. I worked as an elementary teacher and quickly was advanced to leadership roles and responsibilities. I felt so prepared to be a teacher and was highly respected by my colleagues. My colleagues could not believe, with a four-year educational degree, at how well-prepared and knowledgeable I was considering I was I newer teacher, and my background knowledge and pedagogy clearly stood out.
Since I.S.U., I have attended three other universities to obtain other credentials (e.g., Chico State, Simpson University and University of Oregon). Needless-to-say, I have comparisons. Iowa state was the best university I attended out of all four and is stellar! I appreciated the humbled nature of staff and students with the combination of determination, intelligence and research. I am very thankful and grateful I.S.U. gave me a chance, and the affordable, well-rounded education has paid itself off. My husband is now a top-rated, professional engineer in Oregon, and I have been successful as a teacher and leader with my students achieving higher-state-test scores than other teachers in the same schools, districts and states I worked in.