U of Iowa is a very pretty campus. It has a well known writer’s program (both for the school and in the summer). The children’s hospital is built next to the football stadium and the student section turns and waves to the kids in their rooms during games. Pretty cool.
4 Likes
I don’t know much about it but my children’s second cousin is a freshman there and very happy. She is from the East coast, was a NMF, and had lots of good options. She choose Iowa because of the writing program, I understand.
4 Likes
For what program? We visited last year after our S22 was admitted for engineering. Nice campus, friendly people, and the Iowa river bisects the campus.
Utah scenery is spectacular, though.
1 Like
Creative writing and communications - double major (at this point). We have heard the UG writing program is mostly taught by grad students, even at the upper level. We plan to learn more when we visit.
2 Likes
Yes, the undergrad writing program is not the same as the grad MFA which is very, very prestigious. But there are still benefits - I know pre-Covid great authors would visit. So you are part of a quality literary community. And the grad students teaching should be pretty dang talented! Doing undergrad at Iowa is not any kind of “in” to the MFA program, but it’s a nice indication that you are serious about writing. I was a creative writing major at an LAC and for me the best thing about the major was that it gave me the time & freedom to write. You do a lot of workshopping and learning from your audience if your story is clear & satisfying. I graduated and went to work in book publishing and have been happily, gainfully employed for the last 25 years!
4 Likes
bc the iowa writers workshop is so prestigious, if your kid will be taught by grad students in it, they will be learning from extremely talented writers 
Although I’ll edit this to add, the best people to learn writing from are editors not writers. Writers are great at putting words on a page, editors are great at knowing how to fix them.
1 Like
I know someone who was a college advisor at one of the most prestigious boarding schools on the East Coast and they say that Iowa is one of their favorite colleges but that they can’t ever convince hoity toity Ivy-bound WASP families to attend there. But they told me for the programs and tuition, it’s impressive. Neither of my kids wants to go there either (because it doesn’t have their major) but it’s definitely been talked about in this family because of my friend’s info!
3 Likes
Maybe it doesn’t have the major for the hoity toity Ivy bound WASP family either?
By the way, not all boarding school students are hoity toity WASPS.
Update for my D23.
We’ve made some progress recently in finally narrowing her loooong list down. It feels good. She cast a very wide net because she has some serious health issues and it affected her transcript and we didn’t know how colleges would respond. She is also chasing merit - esp because she very possibly won’t get accepted to our very good state flagship.
Accepted and still on her list:
UMass Amherst
Udel - waiting on Merit and Honors
URI (Honors)
Binghamton
Waiting to hear and still on her list:
UW Seattle
University of Puget Sound
UConn (will only consider if amazing merit)
UNH (will only consider if amazing merit)
Accepted but crossed off her list:
University of Denver - fit issue for several big reasons and too pricey even with merit, high elevation
U Minn TC - too cold - also classes too big
Western Mich - too cold, not prestigious enough in her view
Michigan State - too cold, classes too big
U Maine (Honors) - too cold, Medical resources too far away
Not yet accepted but off list:
Colorado state: too much like home (fit), a bit too expensive and elevation too high.
Note originally she preferred LOTS of snow and cold. But she has since discovered that extreme cold and high elevation can aggravate her health issues. But she still def does not want super warm or hot weather either! Also, she’s decided she prefers a medium sized school for the hopeful smaller class sizes and vigorous class discussion.
I am pretty sure we hadn’t even heard of a few of the schools on the list before coming here to CC. We will always be grateful for the thoughtful advice here!
10 Likes
As someone who thought they wanted snow as well, who went to college in the mountains of NY… I can now say that much snow is not good for me either!
Sounds like she has some good options, but I’m confused. Aren’t almost all of those in states that get decent snow and cold weather?
Looks like UDel is the best choice for slightly milder weather.
Best of luck finding the right fit for her health issues!
3 Likes
Yes. Well she applied wanting snow. So now she is choosing from that original application pool and is focusing on the ones that have less snow and cold. She adores snow and we have it at home. And her club sport is mainly available in the snowy states. So she’s at least steering away from the coldest areas on her list: Michigan and Minnesota and Maine. It’s relative . . .
And yes Delaware is suddenly much higher on her list than it used to be. Also being near the ocean is a factor for example in Rhode Island - making it likely a bit more temperate?
2 Likes
I used to live in Binghamton, I went to school in Boston and now live in central Massachusetts. The one thing I will say about the winter weather is that it goes on for SO MUCH longer in Binghamton than either Amherst or RI. It isn’t particularly bad winter (usually not excessively cold, only a few big snowstorms), but (at least 15 years ago when I lived in Binghamton for 5 years) we would typically get our first light snow at the end of October, and it was very possible to have snow through at least the end of April, or even the first week of May.
I think Amherst tends to get bigger snow storms (more inches in a single snow) because it is a slightly higher elevation than the other two places, but I think of it as a typical winter length (late November through March).
You can definitely get some unpleasant storms in Rhode Island (the wind off the ocean when it’s cold can be pretty unpleasant), but I think overall it is the least wintery there.
1 Like
My daughter went to Delaware, it’s only 2 hours south of here but the weather was usually milder than here.
3 Likes
Deleted
1 Like
2 questions about Delaware from my daughter:
-
It says housing is only guaranteed the first year - is that a big concern or is it plentiful off campus? She is the type of kid who would prefer to live on campus at least 2 years most likely.
-
She doesn’t mind people partying per se but generally prefers more chill socializing like fun activities, movies, hanging out, board games. It’s a fairly big school so hoping she’d likely find her people there?
I’ve been scouring the internet on these things but haven’t gotten far.
Thank you for this. Yes, I was wondering about Binghamton in particular
It really hasn’t been an issue with housing, while upperclassmen get first pick for housing choices, sophomores are prioritized to get housing (so might not get the best housing but I’ve never heard of any sophomore not getting on campus housing). Yes, there are parties, but it’s large enough to find other things to do, so many clubs. It’s not a suitcase school. There is also ample close off campus options, apartments and houses, my daughter moved off campus sophomore year and didn’t have a car, she could walk.
1 Like
Thanks!
1 Like
I was literally communicating what my friend, a POC educational professional, told me. If this is the first time that you’ve heard that private prestigious East coast boarding schools have a reputation for being WASPy or “hoity toity” then I’m sorry your bubble has been burst and you feel insulted. I don’t know you, ANONmom. You’re going to be fine.
7 Likes