This is always tough. First you need to ask you parents what they are willing to pay. None of us know your financial situation. Some families have saved for years. Others can easily pay as they go. I know of a mom that uses her salary solely to pay for her child’s education (which was the families intention). I also know of another family that paid off their mortgage before their child began college so they could continue making their monthly “payments” for college instead. So your parents must help you with this decision. Everyone’s financial situation is different.
If your parents can pay then you ought to pick the university that fits you best. After all, happy students are successful students. Only you know which university fits you the best.
However if your family finds it difficult to pay and/or you’ll have to take out significant loans, then definitely choose Iowa.
There are vast differences between a state school and a private school. Large vs. smaller classrooms, professor accessibility, TA’s teaching vs. professors, high weed outs, etc.
For my kids, they knew they had to be at a smaller private university. My son who attended another private smaller university wanted to be able to talk to his professor at anytime and he did. His professor even lived in his dorm and they became fast friends. He would stop by his dorm all the time. He would give him advice such as attend every college fair even if he isn’t looking for work so he can see who is hiring and what they are looking for. He also worked for him as a TA helping him with labs, grading and tutoring. He also became a TA the beginning of his sophomore year because he was allowed to take his major courses the beginning of his freshman year (he took his GEC courses later). Some publics won’t let you take a single course in your major until you’ve completed every GEC course which I find terrible. My kids have never once felt they were weeded out of their class/major. My son was offered so many things - TA, research, co-ops, internships, etc. It was because he had three different advisers and caring professors.
My D has been at WashU for 2 years and she won’t even come home! She has an apartment for the next two years. She is one happy person. She’s been very tight with her professors too and they’ve written her many nice letters of recommendations already. She loves the highly collaborative atmosphere at WashU. A parent once asked her what she didnt’ like about WashU. She couldn’t give her an answer. The parent was like WOW - its that good? It is to her.
On the other hand my H who attended a 50k university said every class he took was a weed out class. He also had to get permission from two TA’s in order to see his professor. Once he did he had to wait in line an hour for 5 minutes of his time. That’s because there are way too many students.
However, there are kids that are fine with all this. It all depends on what you need.
It’s so important to pick the college that fits you. If you are happy, you will have a better chance of success.
Good luck!!!