Iowa State Engineering Rank?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Iowa State University
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<p>My son was accepted into the engineering schools at ASU, Bama, Auburn, Iowa State, and Colorado State. Still waiting to hear from 2 other schools.</p>

<p>We are from Denver and need outside input. How do people like Iowa State Engineering and the school as a whole? He's majoring in Aerospace. What about Iowa State do you like? How would you describe the engineering program? I'm posting this on all the individual school websites to try to get a rounded example of different opinions. We haven't visited Iowa State yet.</p>

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<p>Hi Raider25…I am in sort of a unique situation. My older D attends Iowa State and my youngest D will be a freshman in the Fall at Alabama. So I may be able to compare and contrast a bit for you. This board is not very active, so I am going to try to help.</p>

<p>First of all since this is the Iowa State Board, let me tell you very honestly, that My D loves Iowa State! She went there no knowing a soul, she is currently a soph, and she has her group and is very involved in the campus.</p>

<p>It is a beautiful campus actually designed by the same person who designed Central Park in NY. The quad is huge, green with lots of trees and a beautiful Campanielle that plays every quarter hour. No streets cut thru main campus at all, except for on the outside loop, where the bus runs. D loved this when she saw it. It is very hilly so you reallyd on’t have worry about the freshman 15…</p>

<p>The campus is very well maintained, clean and there is some new building going on, the newest building is the new Rec Center that is amazing! There are now two very large rec centers at each end of campus for the students. Food is VERY very good. All dining halls are newly remodeled or just new and have huge salad bars, lots of healthy choices and great meals. One of D’s favorite things are the 5 huge water containers that have lemon, apple, melon, lime and mixed fruit in them. The water is ice cold and the fruit lightly flavors it. She has never complained about being bored or the food being bad, and trust me she would. There is a full service Starbucks…lol I need my coffee when I visit. D says that over crowding and seating is never a problem. </p>

<p>School spirit is very big on campus…the football team went to a bowl game in NY this year. Every homegame is a sell out or near sell out in a 55,000 size stadium. We have gone to a few games and found them very entertaining and a lot of fun. Basketball both men’s and women’s are very strong and games are again sold out. I was surprised by how big sports are here on campus. From schools sports to IM’s, kids are involved, but there is not a jock mentality here. It is not a party school, there are a few percentage points more guys here than girls, due to the strong science, math and engineering programs here. The school official name is Iowa State University of Science and Technology. But the last bit has mostly been dropped off. Keep in mind that any school can be a party school and any student can bomb out due to too much social. D ran into the infamous vomit in the bathroom, etc that everyone has heard about at almost every college.</p>

<p>D is not in Engineering, but does have quite a few guy friends who are. They are very happy with their programs, if not the large amounts of work. lol The Engineering Program specifically I cannot address. I do know that we were told about this new 3-d virtual reality machine that thye had built about 2 years ago or so. I do know that the government even comes and does tests etc. I know it is a big deal, but I really don’t know why…I’m sure you could easily find out by calling department. We have toured the facilities and my son, who is very Engineering minded was impressed. I do know that they have one of the largest employment fairs on campus and graduates are very well regarded. </p>

<p>The thing that really impressed us when we went for orientation was the President of the college spoke and told every parent in the room “I am not here to educate your students…I am here to educate your students so that they are employable”! Gotta tell you with 3 kids in college next year, I loved that.</p>

<p>D has had occassion to ask for help at financial aid and has always been treated very well and gotten answers quickly. Same for me. I was very impressed when I was on campus by how nice everyone is and how helpful.</p>

<p>Her dorm last year was a standard 2 person dorm, and she was fine with it. This year she isliving in a Greek Sorority House. She loves her sorority and Greek is fairly strong on campus. They do a lot of community service…</p>

<p>Her classes freshman year were good. She had 2 large classes in a lecture hall style that had about 100 students, but then they had what they call ‘recitations’ that were run by grad students once or twice a week. These had only 15 students in them. So it was easy to get questions answered and ehlp if needed. Now that she is more into her major, she has smaller classes. She is not in the Honors college, so I cannot speak to that.</p>

<p>She always feels safe on campus and has never had any issues at all.</p>

<p>The town of Ames is delightful! They are very pro school and there is a nice synergy between the two working together to make things better for the school and students as a whole. Lots of good places to eat…some great BBQ. All the national chains.</p>

<p>It does get cold…it does get more snow here than we tend to in Chicago. But that being said she loves it here and is very happy with her choice. We found financial aid/merit to be very generous for her very good but not stellar stats. She is paying about 1/2 tuition/R&B from what is listed on the website.</p>

<p>All in all I am very happy with our experience at Iowa State. Please feel free to PM me if I can help in any way.</p>

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<p>I should preface this by saying my husband and I are both ISU grads - his degree is in industrial engineering and mine is in MIS although I studied EE for 3 years first. We just got back from a visit to Iowa State for my D. Iowa State has an excellent engineering department and they do a lot of research there. I wish my dh was here right now as he did the engineering tour while we were there and would be able to add a lot of information. Basically, it is a very good, well respected engineering college and the graduates don’t have problems finding a job. </p>

<p>As an alumnus, I can tell you what I loved about Iowa State. Despite the size of it, I never felt like I was just another student. It is so easy to find your place there. They have like 800 different clubs, intramural sports are huge, the Greek system is popular but not necessary if it’s not your thing, and there are so many ways to get involved on campus. I actually went to Penn State before transferring to Iowa State, and I found the atmosphere so much more welcoming and friendly at ISU. My D loved how it’s a pedestrian campus. There is a bus available that will take students within a couple blocks of anywhere in Ames for free, but it’s not necessary to get around campus. Because Ames is a college town, much revolves around the university and I really like that. We also got to eat in the dining halls while we were there last week and found that fortunately they are much improved over what I experienced there 20 years ago - they are food courts now and offer all you can eat. I especially liked the fruited water that the other poster mentioned. I would say the dorms are probably pretty average - some are old, some new, some in between, with singles, doubles, triples, and suites available. The only bad thing that my D could say about it was that it was too cold but then again, it was 85 at home in Louisiana the day we left and it was snowing in Ames when we got there. She’ll get over it if she decides to go there. I just love ISU as does my husband. Everybody I know who went there loves it.</p>

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<p>Iowa State offers a week-long summer engineering camp. DO THIS! My son did last year and it is well worth the money (and effort - i.e., driving from OOS) to do this. It will either cement your decision to go into engineering, or will turn you off completely. Also, you will get a snapshot of all engineering disciplines. (Several universities offer these camps, so check around.)
The camp is also a GREAT way to live on the campus for a week, eat the food, walk around, meet people, and see if ISU would be a good fit.</p>

<p>Also, go to ASEE website for loads of information comparing different universities. Here is a link for their online profiles: [ASEE.org</a> - ASEE - Publications - College Profiles - Search the Profiles](<a href=“http://profiles.asee.org/]ASEE.org”>http://profiles.asee.org/) . Also, somewhere on their website they used to have a publication called ‘Engineering By The Numbers’ - this is VERY useful to look at and compare where people are graduating from, how many students are graduating (by eng’g’ discipline) and so forth. I don’t see it in the usual spot, but check back, as I think they are updating the data?
Good luck. :)</p>

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<p>I am a current Undergrad at ISU, and pursuing my 2nd Bachelor’s degree. I wouldn’t concern yourself about the “official rankings”. Iowa State is heavily recruited by employers from all over the country, and especially the midwest. If he does well at any engineering school he applied to, your son won’t have a hard time finding a job. As for Aero E specifically, a friend of mine got his BS and MS here in that department, and is now pursuing a PhD at Princeton, and he never thought of himself as a standout student. </p>

<p>My personal experience has been great. The classes are large at first, but the teachers are very personable (even in the big lectures) and always willing to take time to help in person and respond to individual emails. I would encourage any new student to go out of his way to make an impression with his professors early on. The engineering faculty has a low turnover rate, and connections made here will pay off when looking for a job later. Speaking of jobs, paid undergrad research assistant positions are abundant here, and students interested in grad school later are especially encouraged to apply. Even if not, I have heard from many job recruiters at the annual career fairs that Iowa State’s undergrad program is one of the best schools at training turn-key engineers. Most higher ranked engineering programs tend to be focused on preparing their students for grad school, while ISU is better at making students work-ready (as the President said). No matter what, Iowa State is a challenging experience, and the engineering curriculum will require focus and dedication. </p>

<p>As for living here, the campustown area has its share of clubs, but it’s mostly a weekend thing. Crime rates are low and there aren’t the distractions to get in the way of a quality education for a responsible student that you’ll find at party schools. On-campus activities are plentiful, and usually run by students going through the same curriculum as the other members, so scheduling around classes is pretty easy. I can’t speak for the other schools, but I’ve never heard anyone regret an engineering degree from ISU.</p>

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<p>I am a current undergrad at ISU. I am in the Electrical Engineering program. I was origianlly going to attend for Aerospace but changed at the last minute. I felt the Aerospace would have been a lot of fun though. One of the classes involves building a model airplane from scratch by cutting and shaping your own wings and body. Then the team enters it in a competition against other schools. They also do stress tests to show how airplane structures fail and how they react to forces. Overall I have been very pleased with the school. Everyone is friendly and there is plenty to do in the off hours. I was also able to get an internship from the career fair that is lasting for 7-8 months so I have had to take a semester off but it has been worth it and the pay is pretty nice. So there is definately a strong hiring pressence on campus. As for getting around town the bus system is great there is a bus stop not to far from my apartment that has a bus there every ten minutes. I have enjoyed my time there and look forward to going back this Fall. If your son is planning to attend this fall I would be happy to help him adjust to Ames. Hope this helps. If you have any questions let me know.</p>

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<p>We toured the ISU engineering program with a scheduled visit simply because it was convenient on the way home from vacation (we live about 7 hours away). We were impressed and this is the 4th child we’ve done college visits with, so we’ve been to a “few” college campuses/tours to put it mildly. Very nice presentation. They took a lot of time with us and the food was very, very good!</p>