UMN vs. ISU

Colleges and Universities A-Z Iowa State University
1

<p>If I already contacted you via PM with more detail, you don't need to respond to this thread :)</p>

<p>I've narrowed down my college choices to Iowa State and the University of Minnesota. I had great visits at both schools, though I would give a slight edge to ISU because of the great community feel on campus.</p>

<p>UMN will cost ~$7k/yr total
ISU will cost ~$20k/yr total</p>

<p>I love the activities, networking opportunities, and diversity available in the Twin Cities, but I also really liked the quiet feel of Ames when we visited.</p>

<p>Both schools seem to have very reputable engineering programs - I want to study chemical, civil, industrial, or mechanical. One of the assets of ISU is a great career services department and awesome industry reputation, but I feel like networking at Minnesota is strong too and there are definitely recruiters there as well. Can anyone who has interned in engineering fields comment on the reputations of these two programs?</p>

<p>Beyond that, I'd appreciate any advice you can offer. The extra $13k/yr in the bank tips me towards UMN, but I like ISU far too much to make it an easy elimination. The two are so close in all other categories...</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>My experience with the Iowa State career fair has been fantastic. As a freshman I got interviews with several companies, some I even had to turn down there were so many! ISU’s engineering career fair is the largest in the nation. Nearly everyone I know who went and made an effort at the fairs got an internship.</p>

<p>I understand your hesitation with UMN because of the price. However you can get scholarships at any school after you’ve accepted! At Iowa State many of my friends and myself applied like crazy for departmental and individual college scholarships and we got many of those monies.</p>

<p>I know this is a very biased answer coming from a proud Iowa Stater, but I’m sure you’ll be happy wherever you end up!</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>