University of Iowa Top Questions

What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?

jamie

A variety of students. There isn't a main stereotype

Emily

Stereotypes of students include big partiers. Which can be true, but students know when to grind and get their work done.

Yoon

Most of the people think U Iowa would be a bunch of buildings sitting on the middle of the cornfield but this is so not true. The downtown offers many entertaintments and sceneries and diverse cuisines. Jocks, Frats, Geeks are all here,(not gonna lie) but I think the circumstances are all same with other famous big schools.

Bradley

The stereotype of the University of Iowa is that it is a bevy of corn farmers who enjoy drinking beer. The truth is that although there are some farmers from Iowa most of the students are from the greater Midwest area, with large amount of students from the Chicago suburbs as well as Minnesota. The University of Iowa is probably best known for the bar scene as well as tailgating before home football games, leading to the stereotype of a party school. In some aspects this is true, based on the bar scene and tailgating. However, I think that the motto that sums up the University of Iowa is; work hard, play harder. The curriculum is tough but if students work hard during the week, they tend to blow off steam on the weekends.

Lauren

I would say the stereotype of the students here typically is that all we do is party and don't care about academics. I think this stereotype is completely inaccurate. There are definitely students who attend here and fit the stereotype perfectly, but there are just as many students who are focused on academics and completing their education. Students have the opportunity to get involved in a large amount of clubs and activities, as well as becoming a part of the Iowa City community. It is really up to the student to determine who they would like to associate with and involve themselves in.

Kiley

The U of I stereotype is that there's too much partying going on to get good grades. Even though it's possible to over-party and fall behind in classes, its common to party on the weekends; College students love to socialize and have fun. With this in consideration, there has to be a balance in order to be successful at anything. A normal weekend for me involves partying, drinking, and socializing but never has my GPA fallen below a 3.0. I have even made the deans list! So no, although there's a lot of partying going on it is still very possible to get good grades and stay on track.

Drayton

There appears to be a wide variety of groups but when most people think about the University of Iowa, they think about party animals but also students who take pride in their education. There is a good balance between partying and studying.

Austin

Well there are a couple stereotypes that I would like to mention. The first being the location of the school which is in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa inhabitants are typically subject to the "farmer stereotype" which is you come from a small town/country , are simple minded, and wear overalls all the time. As with most stereotypes they only describe a small portion of the population. I am an Iowan, so this stereotype view may be biased but I view an Iowan as hardworking, volunteering, polite, and respected individual that will strive to make there state and country a better place. These individuals are the ones that make it into college and grow to do great things with their degrees. The second most prevalent stereotype I find at Iowa is "kids from Chicago". Yes, a large portion of the student population hales from the Chicago area so here is the stereotype that has been spread about. If you are from Chicago suburbs, you usually are a "well off", have a snobby attitude, and care little about your degree. Again another stereotype that doesn't describe majority of Chicago based students but still exists. These stereotypes are very general and are unfortunately applied to and by the whole student body. Again I would like to emphasize that these generalizations are very inaccurate but once on campus there are more stereotypes associated with sororities, fraternities, and ethnic groups. Some of these hold more weight especially the ones describing members of particular fraternities and sororities. Since those stereotypes are more specific to each Greek house I will not elaborate any further on what they are.

Ariel

For the most part, people seem to think students at the U of Iowa love to party, in all weather conditions, and they would be right in thinking so, but when it comes down to business, I'd say the majority of these students also set aside a time for school work and usually only live it up on Fridays and Saturdays.

Lucas

Common stereotypes are that we are just a party school. Greek Life is popular but its definitely not the most prevalent stereotype on campus. Clearly Iowa excels in most athletics so jocks are on campus, but not really meaning you hardly see any of the big time football players walking around.

Theron

The stereotype that I hear the most about my school is that it is a party school. Most of the time this seems pretty accurate. However, there are plenty of student organizations that are also interested in academics. Our sporting events offer a great alternative to the downtown nightlife.

Colin

At the University of Iowa there are many different groups of people, thus it is hard to choose one general stereotype would be that of a corn farmer. Everyone outside of Iowa that talks to me about going to Iowa never fails to ask, "So, whats new with corn?" To this statement I reply with something along the lines of how although most students at Iowa are thought to be farm kids there is actually quiet a diverse student body. Other than students from Iowa there are many students from Illinois and other midwestern states, but there are also students from almost every state as well as many foreign countries. In my time at Iowa I have met international students from countries such as Brazil, Finland, China, Korea, Macedonia, and Sudan. To put it bluntly, the stereotypical 'Iowa Farm Boy' is not at all accurate in representing the entire student body at the University of Iowa.

Anthony

Due in part to our ranking high on the various list of "Party Schools" compiled in recent years, U of I has gained a reputation for heavy drinking. While the majority of the students at the school have no problem balancing their social lives with academia, it's difficult to ignore just how many people are out crawling from bar to bar on any given Friday (or Thursday) night. There are many students who defy this stereotype and live relatively soberly, but for every person who places academia above alcohol, there are others who squeak by in their classes while focusing their energies on the weekend.

Anthony

Due in part to our ranking high on the various list of "Party Schools" compiled in recent years, U of I has gained a reputation for heavy drinking. While the majority of the students at the school have no problem balancing their social lives with academia, it's difficult to ignore just how many people are out crawling from bar to bar on any given Friday (or Thursday) night. There are many students who defy this stereotype and live relatively soberly, but for every person who places academia above alcohol, there are others who squeak by in their classes while focusing their energies on the weekend.

Darya

The university of Iowa truly has a wide range of students. The greek life is not as strong here as in other schools so committing to it is not the only option you have. It is however, very fun and there are over 10 chapters to choose from. The diversity is great on campus. We have many students from all over the world and you have a chance to learn something about someone you would never normally interact with. There are jocks, frat kids, geeks but none of them stick to only their group. They all intermingle with one another which is what makes U of Iowa so unique!

Ashley

Iowa has many bars located downtown, and you can see people out on the weekends, but everyone is inside studying the books during the weekdays. Everyone earns pretty good grades, too.

Jon

I would say the main stereotype of Iowa students is that they are all big partiers. Yes, a lot of people here drink (as do many students all over the country) but I don't think that the rankings are accurate when they say the University of Iowa is such a huge party school.

Brandon

The University of Iowa is pretty well known for its bar scene and sports programs. We're typically ranked pretty high on the "best party schools" list. If there is a stereotype, it would probably have something to do with alcoholic jocks.

Juan

They drink too much.