<p>I went to Iowa a few years back, so I <em>might</em> be a bit biased, but it was fantastic. It draws incredibly gifted and talented students. Just as a sampling, from my session we have alum at Stanford, Harvard, Brown, Williams, Colorado College… You get the picture. Everyone was just obscenely talented at everything. It was both incredible and humbling.
That said, everyone was there because they were very passionate about writing, with less of a focus on just prestige. Then again, if you’re just a fantastic writer who feels like previous institutions haven’t offered enough like-minded, high caliber students, then I can totally support you! This is the place for you.
I believe I remember the director telling us that about 1,000 students applied our year for about 120 spots (60 for session 1, 60 for session 2, give or take). That would imply a 12% acceptance rate or so, so if that’s an accurate statistic (and if I’m remembering correctly), it’s pretty dang competitive!
Best experience of my life. I highly recommend it. Feel free to PM me if you want to know more :)</p>