<p>LOVED IT.</p>
<p>This post really serves no other purpose than to reassure people that UI is beautiful, the honors program is brilliantly designed, Iowa City is perfect, and every single person I spoke to was friendly, talkative, and enthusiastic about the school (1 out of every 2 people is wearing some kind of Iowa gear). I applied three days ago.</p>
<p><3 Go Hawkeyes!</p>
<p>Smiley - thanks for a great post. My son is in his junior year there, and has loved it. Iowa City is a great place to spend four years. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>I also went for one of their Hawkeye Days, which crammed sooo much information into my head. Here's a couple of noteworthy things:</p>
<p>-like Smiley said, the campus is beautiful in terms of landscape and architecture. Has an New England feel for a mid-western city. However, some of the dorms are spread far for campus (the better dorms, from the sounds of it) and students told me it's a pain to walk to class in the winter time. </p>
<p>-Honors program is excellent. They have a residential hall for honors kids, Daum, and the rooms are really spacious. They were made for three people but got renovated and now only house two. As a girl, I really apprecriated the ENORMOUS amount of closet space that gave the students. And the Blank Honors Center is great. There was just a lot of space and computers/printers.</p>
<p>-The food was not horrible, but not amazing. I was decently surprised at the number of options but the taste was eh. Just know, there are healthy selections among the various fried foods.</p>
<p>-There are SO many opportunities for research/independent projects and its absolutely encouraged, as is studying abroad. </p>
<p>-School spirit is everywhere, especially in clothes. Again, like Smiley said, almost everyone was wearing some form of Iowa gear. But football isn't everything, at the same time. It seemed like a nice balance.</p>
<p>-BUT the largest problem I had with the university was the absence of a recreational center! Apparently they are building one right now, but it won't be done until 2010, and meanwhile, tuition has raisen because of that. To me, that is a serious problem. There are only three small gyms to chose from, and the one that offers only a few classes (like yoga and cycling) cost additional money. Having visited quite a few Big Ten schools, the amenities of UI were sorely unimpressive. </p>
<p>-The shopping is exceptional and there are a lot of great restaurants and small boutiques that were (of course) reasonably priced. </p>
<p>-There are so many scholarships, especially merit, which reduces the cost of attending by a lot. UI really wants its students there.</p>
<p>-Easy to get to, right off the highway (this is especially nice since one of the schools I visited, U of Rhode Island, was located through a maze of roads). </p>
<p>I visited UI because I've already been accepted and wished to see the campus and decide if I should even consider it. Overall, it exceeded my expectations and I will be happy to go there if my first choice doesn't pan out. If anyone has any questions, please mail me.</p>
<p>Actually, the campus is very small so the dorms are comparably not that far at all (west side dorms) and I wouldn't necessarily say they are better. I have lived on both sides, with a 15 minute walk to campus compared to a 10 minute walk for the east side dorms. It's not that bad. The west side also has a better bus route instead of walking, which the east side doesn't really.
Despite what people say, Burge is not dirty. I would try to get into Currier, which is nice and quiet. The east side's dining hall in Burge is MUCH better than the one in Hillcrest. I have many friends who go to other schools who say the food is really, really good here compared to other schools. Mayflower and Parklawn are too far. Nobody should try to get into those.</p>
<p>There are free workout places if you live in the dorm. No free weights, but cardio machines and weight machines,</p>
<p>You guys should post a visit report. Right now there is only one for UI.</p>
<p>i actually have heard that hillcrest is a lot better than burge but i guess that is a matter of opinion....but thats great that you love the campus...i felt the same way when i visited last year and i still love it :)</p>
<p>From what I've heard Burge has been cleaned up quite a bit. I have a few friends that currently go to Iowa and most of them said Burge has the best dorms and that even though Parklawn and Mayflower have kitchens they are too far away. I visited a few weeks ago and loved it. Iowa City is really nice. I'll probably go back for a return visit.</p>
<p>I live in Des Moines and am very familiar with Iowa (as it's called in Iowa, U of I is Iowa, ISU, Iowa State). And Hawkeye gear is sold just about everywhere. People love to show their pride in Iowa and though football is not the only thing, best believe, it is HUGE! Also, girls, watch out, sexual attack rates rise to incredible levels around football season. They have also had some recent scandals with two, TWO, professors who were accused of sexual harrassment of their students and the professors went on to kill themselves. They did not know each other or anything, just weird. But all in all, Iowa is a great school and if I don't get into/ can't pay for Goucher, I plan on going.</p>
<p>One of those TAs accusing the professor of sexual assault was actually found to be lying, or exaggerating. Also, the assaults around campus have really dropped a lot. Most of those occurred last year.</p>
<p>Hillcrest is nicer than Burge, but the food is better in Burge and it is closer to campus. Currier is actually probably the most desirable, but their rooms tend to be a bit smaller than average.</p>
<p>Good thread. I didn't realize that Iowa has a strong honors program, or is that generous with merit aid, and this is good to know.</p>
<p>Actually my daughter spent a couple of weeks at U. Iowa last July for the Iowa Young Writers' Program. While she was there, she really loved Iowa City. There were lots of fun shops, including a nice variety of used bookstores, as well as Prairie Lights, which is a wonderful independent bookstore. And I agree with the other posters who mentioned the great selection of restaurants in IC, many of them relatively inexpensive with varied cuisines.</p>
<p>The only thing that D might take issue with the opinion of Burge Dining hall. According to D, the food served there was really bad. One full time UI student that she spoke with mentioned that Burge is better during the year, but it was enough of a concern that it, so far, has made her think twice before applying to UI as an undergrad, assuming that she would be required to go on a meal plan and eat at Burge. That having been said, I appreciate all of the useful opinions and information in this thread.</p>
<p>I don't know where else your daughter has visited and eaten, but Iowa's food-especially Burge- is ranked high. It's actually all very good. Of course that is her opinion, but there odd days where there is a lack of good options. Plus the fact that she went in July, I'm sure they didn't have their usual stations open. Students who do not live in the dorms even have meal plans because they enjoy it as well as general public.</p>
<p>Surprised by the reviews given, I was on a recent website known as, students review, and there was nothing but negative things stated.</p>
<p>I looked at that website when my son was making up his mind too. I don’t really think students review is an especially good sampling of the students (ie I think it attracts the negative) because there are only 46 comments over the last 7 years for such a big school. Not many students actually use the site, or contribute to it anyway. Too bad - would have liked more opinions. I think visiting (more than once even) gives you a better feel. Also, the guidebooks - we looked at Fiske - are good. </p>
<p>Whole family ate at Burge a couple of times recently and didn’t have any problems. I had asked the students there what they thought and no negative comments.</p>