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Iowa State University
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Inside Scoop

Quick Stats

School Slang
  • Campanile: The bell tower located in central campus.
  • Campaniling: Campaniling is an ISU tradition. A student is not an official Iowa Stater until he or she is kissed under the Campanile at midnight.
  • Campustown: Strip of bars, shops, and restaurants that runs along Welch Avenue, just south of campus and Friley Hall.
  • C-Stores: Short for convenience stores, the C-Stores are located in the commons areas of the major dorm complexes on campus: Willow-Larch, Friley, and Towers.
  • The Daily: Short for the Iowa State Daily, which is the campus newspaper.
  • Dining Dollars: Dining Dollars are often included with a meal plan (if you get one), but they can also be purchased seperately. Dining Dollars are accessible on your ISU card and work just like cash on campus.
  • Drunk Bus: Also known as the Moonlight Express, this bus offers a safe and free ride home (or to other parties) on Friday and Saturday nights 10:30 p.m.–2 a.m. when ISU classes are in session.
  • Free Speech Zone: A place on campus designated for students to freely speak their minds on whatever issues they feel are important. It is located right out in front of the Hub and Parks.
  • The Hub: Originally built to fulfill the University’s need for a bookstore, post office, and waiting room for the Ames and College Railway, the Hub was built in 1892. It has moved from its original location and is now located just south of Parks Library and west of Morrill Hall. The Hub now serves as a multi-purpose building for students to utilize.
  • Learning Communities: Small groups of students who have similar areas of study. Usually, they have anywhere from one to three classes together and may live in the same residence hall.
  • Library 160: A class that all students at Iowa State are required to take. The Library is huge, and the purpose of this class is to show students where to find everything and how to use it.
  • M-Shop: Short for the Maintenance Shop, which is located in the Memorial Union.
  • MU: The common abbreviation for the Memorial Union.
  • Towers: Towers is the common collective term for the dorms Wallace and Wilson, located on the far south end of campus, just behind Campustown.
  • Veishea: Veishea is an acronym for the seven colleges that were part of Iowa State University in 1922: veterinary medicine, engineering, industrial science, home economics, and agriculture.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
  • Don’t get a huge meal plan or too many Dining Dollars. If you don’t use them up, you lose them.
  • Time management skills are very important! Don’t get too far behind in your homework.
  • Tuition rises every year, so be expecting an annual increase.
Tips to Succeed
  • Do your best in your classes, so you don’t have to waste time and money retaking them.
  • Go to class! It’s important!
  • If you get put into a learning community, use the people in it as resources. That’s what they’re there for.
  • If you need help, get it. ISU offers a lot of help for students who need it.
  • Join a learning community to help you study. Not only will it help you learn, it will help you find some really great friends.
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Iowa State Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Inside Scoop at Iowa State University

cmercado18

Veterinary Medicine '12

5.0
A+

Campus Life

Our campus is big, yet accessible. It is beautiful as well.

Apr 11, 2012

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Inside Scoop at Iowa State University

wtgray

Civil Engineering '15

4.6
A

Student Involvement at Iowa State

The student involvement at Iowa State is really good. There are so many sporting events at Iowa State it's tough to miss one. Plus the vast amounts of intramural activities, different clubs, and greek communities here make it nearly impossible to be involved in something.

Mar 20, 2012

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Inside Scoop at Iowa State University

karissa7

Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition '14

3.5
B

Cyclone Nation

Iowa States campus is what finalized my decision on coming to school here. Everything is all in one spot and I could walk around campus for days!

When it comes to sports and community Iowa State gets a good grade. We are very school spirited and is a good school as a whole.

But.. when it comes to financial aid Iowa State can be really slow at giving students financial aid and refund checks. And it seems as though they do anything to squeeze every last penny out of the students.

There are many different places to workout. They just built the State Gym and we also have Lied Rec Center and Beyer Gym.

Overall I give Iowa State a B for academics, opportunities and spirit.

Feb 18, 2012

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Page 1 of 7
User rating for Iowa State University - Inside Scoop is 4.6 out of 5 based on 20 user reviews.

Facts

Traditions
  • Homecoming: Beginning in 1914, ISU alumni began returning to Iowa State for Homecoming. The celebration has grown since then and now includes such traditions as “Yell Like Hell,” tailgate parties, fireworks, lawn displays, and mass campaniling.
  • Lake LaVerne: If you walk around Lake LaVerne three times with your beloved, it is believed that you are destined to be together.
Urban Legends
  • Allegedly, all our tuition dollars go to cover the dome on Beardshear Hall, which is dollar-bill green.
  • If you step on the Zodiac in Memorial Union, people say you’ll fail a test!

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How do we get our information? Find out here or report an error here. The statistics on our site are from the National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS database.
We update this information twice annually, most recently in May 2012, but it may not be the most recent information available for a particular school.
For additional information we encourage you to visit school websites or contact the schools directly.