My daughter got into engineering at both Iowa and ISU. ISU clearly has the more robust engineering program, but it is slightly farther away from us (we are in Oak Park/Chicago). Also, she is hispanic and Iowa City is more diverse than Ames.
Thoughts on social life for a woman in engineering between Iowa City v. Ames? Thoughts on acceptance and openness in Ames v. Iowa City?
She got scholarships from both ISU and Iowa but due to tuition pricing, ISU ends up being $5k less a year than Iowa, which after four years can be significant and we are guessing that job prospects for an engineering grad from ISU are stronger.
I cannot answer your specific questions, but can offer some thoughts:
Iowa State has a better reputation for engineering.
ISU is about 57% male & 42% female.
University of Iowa is 47% male & 53% female.
University of Iowa has a beautiful campus & great sports team.
Iowa State is 5% Hispanic/ Latino and University of Iowa is 7.3% Hispanic/ Latino. Found this information on COLLEGEdata.com.
Thank you, I truly appreciate the stats. I have those as well. I am looking for information beyond numbers however, admittedly it is the very low percentages that make us concerned and have inspired my question. Thank you!
Due to the ag program Iowa State will get more of the small town, rural Iowans if you buy into any of those stereotypes and those students tend to lean a little more “red state”. University of Iowa has a higher population from the Chicago suburbs who most likely have had more diversity in their upbringing than the more rural student body at Iowa State, for better or for worse.
I do know that there was a racist incident last fall at Iowa State involving several freshman engineering students. I understand from a family friend of one of the students that nothing was meant by it and it was a very misplaced joke but I also see that the students are still enrolled and it doesn’t look like the school took any action against the students for what its worth.
@iaparent that is really helpful. Thank you.
Honestly, you’ll find offensive dumb kids from all sorts of socio economic backgrounds and geographical origins. Have you met Lax Bros? 
You should email the diversity clubs (there should be several associations and groups on both campuses) and ask them straight up, do you regret coming here, would you recommend I go to (other U), are you often uncomfortable and why, etc.
@MYOS1634 we aren’t necessarily worried about dumb offensive kids but about racism and isolation. Dumb jokes and mean comments are not our main concern but I wholeheartedly agree that dumb offensive people come in all shapes and sizes. We have emailed them, but I haven’t asked the questions you pose, those are really good ideas and I will suggest my daughter follows up! Thank you for the ideas!