Iowa State University Top Questions

The most frustrating thing about college, is time, mostly. It all revolves around it, sometimes you get a lot of projects and exams for a specific day or week and your time is unaccountable. Some days you just have to have a jar of coffee and stay up all night finishing a project or memorizing things for a test. However, as I always say, It's all worth it when you put that much effort into classes and see great results after.

Adjusting to the class sizes, they were larger than what I had expected.

They promised more financial aid and now I am not getting any. I am from Wisconsin and Iowa State has both of my majors and minors I want, but they are very expensive for me which is taking a toll on my family.

The most frustrating thing about Iowa State centers around residence halls. Dorms are often overcrowded, and you'll be lucky if the common areas (like the floor den) hasn't been taken up by extra students the school couldn't find room for. In addition, in the dorm I lived in, there was no common kitchen, so any dishes that had to be washed were done in the bathroom sinks, and even quick meals were difficult to make.

As an out of state/out of the midwest student, it was exteremely intimidating in the beginning as a freshman. Most students are from in- state and at least knew people from high school, and many had their good friends from high school as well. I found it difficult to make friends when I first arrived at college.

getting to meet everyone

The most frustrating thing about this school is probably the fact that it is expensive to live on campus.

The most frustrating thing about Iowa State would be how far apart some of the classes can be your freshman year even if they are all engineering courses. There were some days I would have to walk across campus three times within five hours to get to all my classes.

The most frustrating thing about my school is that no every instructor uses the online database to post grades. I have had quite a few instructors that do not post grades anywhere online and it can be frustrating to not know where I stand in the class and I have to go out of my way to talk to them every time I want to find out.

The most frustrating things about Iowa State University is the low levels of personability from the non-academic staff. Professors and Teaching Assistants generally make an effort to connect to students on a personal level, if the student chooses to seize the opportunity. The rest of the staff seems to treat students as "another face". The exceptions are to students that the staff member already personally knows. Most non-academic employees (which include financial aid staff), are Iowa natives and tend to give preference to other Iowans

It is not very diverse.

The most frustrating for me, this year, would have to be my location. I reside in the dorms farthest away from campus, and even though buses run there frequently it is still a pain. Anytime I want to go somewhere late on the weekend, or for dinner on the weekend it can be a nuisance to get where i want to go.

The most frustrating thing about the University is how expensive tution is for people from Minnesota, they should be consisdered insate.

The most frustrating thing about school is balancing expenses. It is very difficult to maintain all of my bills while attending school full time and working 20-30 hour weeks. I have been fortunate enough to receive some scholarships, which allow me to continue following my dreams at ISU, but I am still left with a hefty bill to pay every month, including my car, insurance, phone, rent, and tuition.

The buses are good for getting around campus, going to Target, and going to Walmart. They aren't very good for getting around Ames, and that's where the fun stuff is like the movie theatre and mall.

To me, the most frusterating thing about my school is how far away all the buildings are. Here on the ISU campus, you must walk almost everywhere you go. Some days it is perfectly warm outside and I don't mind walking. Other days I freeze just walking to the bus. Sometimes between classes I only have about ten minutes to get across campus. However, I do always make it to class on time. For that, I am very thankful.

The most frustrating thing about my school are a few select professors. Some of them cancel class and fail to let you know beforehand. Other professors are hardly what I would consider professional and I can't believe they were hired.

Iowa State is located in a small town called Ames. Most of the activities that occur in the city are at the University itself. Sometimes its difficult to keep myself occupied other than just doing homework. It's a bit frustrating to not have many fun activities happening in the city to attend.

The most frusterating thing about my school is that there are definitely people that do not care about their education and just slack off. This is very frusterating espessically when I am trying to keep up with my studies and it seems like everyone in my classes are brushing it off.

The size of Iowa State University's campus can be kind of overwhelming and frustrating at times. The campus is large and so you can't just run back to your dorm in-between classes very well. However, CyRide greatly reduces this issue! The bus system is fabulous and really makes getting around on campus much easier, especially in the cold, Iowa winter!

One thing that frustrates me about ISU is that a lot of communication gets lost, since the school is so big. Sometimes professors forget to say stuff during lectures or not everyone recieves a class email... And to counter that, we have to waste a lot of class time to make sure that everyone is getting the information. While I understand that it's important, I feel like spending the first week of classes on things like that is a giant waste of time.

Iowa State's campus gets extremely cold in the winter. the city isn't small, but is very exposed to wind. So when it gets cold, it gets quite the wind chill as well. It's not the moost frustrating bit ever, as long as you're prepared for it.

One of the most frustrating things about Iowa State is its huge focus on science and engineering. I am a journalism major, and Iowa State and its Greenlee School of Journalism has high marks. Our clubs even have numerous awards. However, it seems that this successful school is not well known by the campus, because everyone is too focused on science and engineering.

I found that the most academically frustrating thing was that my professors' office hours fell only once or twice a week, mostly during times that I had other classes. This gave me very few opportunities to ask whatever questions I may have had.

The most frustrating thing about ISU is probably the most frustrating thing at every school, the homework. In some classes, such as Spanish, most of the work is just busy work to fine tune your skills, but some teachers will do random homework checks which forces you to complete every assignment. This is very frustrating when you know you have a larger project to complete for the upcoming week.

I find it frusterating to be cold all the time.

The most frustrating thing about my school is that the parking is expensive

The most frustrating thing about Iowa State University is probably how almost all of us students feel like we get the short end of the stick when it comes to paying for room and board and meal plans, it is so expensive!

it costs so much money

I started at Iowa State University halfway through the year, fully aware that it might be difficult to make friends. It was more than difficult; it made my experience a lot worse than I expected.

It's located in a small town, which means there's less to do on weekends than there would be in a large city.

Inconsistant Wi-Fi coverage and disabiliity resources.

The most frustrating part of this school is that it is growing at an alarming rate with more incoming freshman than they can house easily.

For my personal situation, the most frustrating part of my school is finding ways to support my financials. Money has been very tight with two older sisters graduating from their respective private schools. I have applied to numerous scholarships, grants, and loans to try to relieve the financial burden on my parents. Working throughout the school year, I have paid for books and meals. I hope to find another job to provide some financial security and earn scholarships so I can focus solely on my schoolwork.

I wish that Iowa State would bring more cultural musical groups, or artist to perform. We are a much larger school than University of Northern Iowa, but they seem to bring much more and better entertainment to the school.

The most frustrating thing I would say about my school would have to be the online resources. I understand that for most they are convenient, but almost every one that I have used this first year has crashed at some point in time. I like the fact that things could just be online, eliminating the use for paper waste, but if these programs aer likely to crash I would rather have something I can rely on.

For me the most frustrating part is the school unwilling to help me find ways to reduce the cost for an out of state student. This is a very expensive school in my opinion and I have a very hard time finding enough funding to help me get through each year.

The most frustrating thing about my school is hard to pinpoint. Since I have only completed one year, I have a limited perspective. For me personally, the most frustrating thing is how the statistics department is set up. Responsibilities in Stats 101 are delegated to many different people so if a student has a question about an assignment, they have to go through a lengthy process to ask about how something is graded. This is a very specific and small example of something that is frustrating at my school. That being said, I loved my first year at ISU!

I would have to say the most frustarting aspect about my school is that we are only allowed to have open dorm hours Friday through Sunday. We are allowedd to go in the guys dorm room on Friday, the guys can come in ours on Saturday and Sunday we get to choose. It is very annoying that we are not allowed to have open dorm hours everyday.

we need to take plenty of general classes that have nothing to do with major

There are one or two classes that are extreemly hard because with the vast ammount of material that is needed to be tought, the professor only has time to teach the equations (for example in a physics class) and not enough practice problems relevent to the exams are given for homework / quizzes

I am overall very happy with Iowa State University. I guess the most frustrating thing about my school would be that there is no parking near class, except very limited paid parking that is quite expensive. There is, however, a very good bus system. So, there is not a great need to drive to school.

There is such a separation between Greek and non-Greek life. I find that a lot of it is non-Greeks not fully understanding what we are about and they put us into stereotypes from media and other things when really we have the top Greek community in the Midwest.

Classes required that I will never use in my career.

The most frustrating part about Iowa State is that even with office hours it can be hard to get in contact with professors. Some them are good with email, but others are not. Other than that though I have no frustrations.

The most frustrating thing I have endured at this school has been the lack of communication with the employees and students. Specifically, when money is being taken out of my account for my university bill I do not always get a notification saying so.

The most frustrating thing about ISU is that the weather can change day to day. Iowa is extremely bi-polar, so one day in winter it could be 50 out and sunny, and the next day a freak blizzad happens, and the temperature is 10 below. You just have to come prepared for Iowa weather and dress accordingly. We can't change mother nature, but mother nature can change you.

The most frustrating thing about Iowa State University is the outrageous prices at the on-campus markets. College life costs a lot as it is, so why must the prices of snacks and drinks be incredibly high? As a full-time student without any form of income, this becomes a hassle early on into the semester by depleting my bank account at a pretty steep rate. I recommend to prospective students that they do not purchase goods from these markets and, instead, buy them from local convenience stores at lower prices.

The most frustrating thing for me is that my car is parked very far away. As a freshmen, you get last pick in parking permits, which means my car is parked about seven blocked away. It really is frustrating because since I have a three and a half hour drive home, I need my car at college. In the long run, it isn't too bad becasue I walk to all my classes anyway. The campus is nice and all located in one area that way.

It is very expensivie for me to attend.