<p>I hear that UI is the place for people who want to study English/Writing. Can someone please tell me a few words about Iowa City as a college town? Also, comments on the English major would be appreciated</p>
<p>Hi BlueHen – We are from the West Coast (although I have Midwest/Big Ten roots)…our D (who is now a sophomore at Iowa) considered a bunch of Midwest and east coast schools (including Delaware where it looks like you may have spent some time based on your login name). </p>
<p>After considering schools like Delaware, UConn, Indiana, and DePaul, she settled on Iowa. She really connected with Iowa City and The Univ. of Iowa when we visited - people are very friendly, nice college town, the administration is very organized and helpful, strong school spirit, strong academics, broad set of majors, etc. The campus is laid out in such a way that it feels significantly smaller and more manageable than your prototypical sprawling Big 10 mega campus. </p>
<p>Iowa City and neighboring Coralville have all the eating/shopping conveniences a student could need, and between Iowa City and the school there is are active social and cultural scenes. Although this is definitely not a large metropolis, so it does not have the variety that an urban campus offers. For us distant OOS’ers, it is easy to get to Iowa City - she flys through Denver to Cedar Rapids (Moline is an option) and then takes a 30 minute shuttle.</p>
<p>As for English/Creative Writing, I am not an authority on this, so I’d talk to the department directly. That said, I believe some Creative Writing is offered to undergrads, but I believe CW is mainly a graduate program. I am pretty sure that because of the pull of the Creative Writers Workshop, this makes English a stronger program, and makes writing a priority at Iowa…</p>
<p>Please bounce back if you have any other questions about Iowa City and The University of Iowa. Other very helpful Hawkeye parents on this site will happily chime in if you have specific questions.</p>
<p>U of Iowa/Iowa City is many seemingly contrary things all at once. It is quaint yet bustling and vibrant, it is intellectual and studious yet you can easily find stupid drunks throughout the downtown every weekend, it is granola and hippyish but at the same time preppy and greek too, it’s a sports dominated culture and then there are those who could care less. In other words, it’s everything a large university should be. It offers something for everyone. The academics are incredible and the opportunities are there for the taking.</p>
<p>I was a Journalism school grad in Iowa City many years ago, but also took some creative writing courses that were taught by Iowa Writers’ Workshop members that were grad students at the time. There was PLENTY of overlap, a really nice yin & yang. And it was similar to what cbug mentioned, the preppy, business-minded J-School student, and then the hippie-ish, liberal fiction writing student. I loved it.</p>
<p>The new J-School building is no more than 10 years old, a great facility. Not sure about the current status of the Writers’ Workshop (yes, I believe it still is for grad students), but I believe it is still one of the top 5 programs in the country.</p>