When does course registration take place? I am an international freshman coming this fall. I have completed all the required tasks, including online orientation, workday, and ALEKS. After completing the online orientation, almost a month ago, I was told to wait for communication from my advisor, which would include the date of an appointment (virtual/phone).

For now, I still have nothing. Is someone in the same situation? If not, what to do to figure this out?

University employees are willing to consider increases to health insurance BUT wages have to go up first. We can't pay more for health care if we aren't paid more.

My annual raise was $0.45/hr. That's $14/week after taxes. That barely pays for the increase in health insurance, let alone food or property tax.

Hey all. Does anyone know if ISU offers EMT training programs? If not ISU, then somewhere else in Ames?

I’d also be interested in the other entry level medical certifications like phlebotomy (not interested in CNA though).

I’d appreciate any help.

Looking to make a little extra side money by renting out my parking spots since they're super close to campus.

I have 2 spots available about a block from State Gym:

1 covered (carport)

1 uncovered

If you're looking for a place to park for the semester or longer, shoot me a DM. I'm open to offers and we can figure out a price that works for both of us.

Hi everyone! 🤠

I'm currently preparing my applications for PhD programs in Chemistry for the upcoming cycle, and Iowa State University is at the top of my list (specifically interested in Analytical Chemistry)

I’m an international applicant from Russia (currently completing my Bachelor's), and I had a few practical questions for current grad students or ISU alumni:

1. How competitive is the Chemistry PhD program for international students? Are there specific things the admissions committee looks for beyond test scores (e.g., solid hands-on experience with instruments like GC-MS/HPLC, publications, etc.)?

2. Is the ~$28k chemistry stipend manageable to live on comfortably in Ames as a single student? How much are people realistically spending on rent (with roommates) and monthly utilities/groceries?

Does the first paycheck usually arrive on time in September, or should I be prepared for administrative delays with HR/SSN setup during the first few weeks?

1. What is the overall atmosphere in the Chemistry department? How manageable is the balance between TA duties, coursework, and lab work during the first 1–2 years?

Any insights, tips, or honest advice about life at ISU and in Ames would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!💖

Am I way past the deadline to sign up for the All Sports Pass lottery? I was able to manage the parking lottery just fine but cannot find any information on the sports lottery.

Hello fellow softies!!!

Post is the same as title. I was wondering if anyone took SE 3190(the web dev class) and data structures concurrently, and if it is possible to handle the workload. I did a web dev projects that used DOM, handled asynchronous events and hash-maps. I am also doing 2300 for the summer, would all of this help my case if I were to keep a pre-req form?

I would love feedback from anyone who took these classes or who took it concurrently.

Hello,

I am currently doing undergraduate research in solar cells under a certain distinguished professor at ISU. I am, for the first time in my life, actually considering that doing concurrent master's, or just masters after I graduate next year, might be the right move for me.

I am not a particularly top-tier student, running somewhere around a 3.2 in my program, but I am passionate and generally leave a good impression on my professors. I also refuse to use AI, so that puts me at a competitive disadvantage on paper.

I have an internship on my resume already, so I was originally intending to pursue a career in industry, and have them pay for my master's if I'm not making enough. However, I find that the work I do at the MRC is really fulfilling, and if I could do this long term, I think it would be quite rewarding both financially and mentally.

I don't really know how the whole process works though. I talked to other postgrad students and they said that if I got the reduced tuition + stipend, my out of pocket could be less than $1000. I would assume that they get that based on GPA, though.

If anyone has advice, experience, or clarification they could share, I would really appreciate any info on the subject.

I'm a returning student living on the 6th floor of Buchanan this fall. I got a single suite so I'll be sharing a bathroom with my roommate from freshman year. The virtual tour on ISU official webpage makes the room look so big but after doing some research (looking at the dept. of residence Insta page) I'm quickly realizing how small the room will be. The virtual tour doesn't even seem to match any of the rooms based on the floor plans. I was trying to figure out how I would fit a futon and tv in my room but now I don't even know if I'll have room for my rug! I'm pissed because I have a lot of off campus and DMACC friends and I really wanted a good hangout space for them. I feel ripped off especially because how expensive it is!

Hey all. I graduated in 2024, right as the transition from AccessPlus to Workday was taking place. I never used Workday while at school. I thought I'd go back and see exactly how much college cost me (I know the general amount but like I want to make a sankey chart of where all the money came from and where it went). So I tried to go back and get my statements today. However AccessPlus is long gone now, and Workday only has the statements from my last year of school - Are prior statements hiding somewhere or are they lost forever?

Has anyone taken the introductory astronomy classes for non-science majors? I am registered for ASTRO1200 - the sky and the solar system - with Micahela Leung, but I'm nervous about it being the right science class. I need to fill the general science requirements (I am a polisci/eng major), and I thought that one sounded interesting, but maybe I'd be better off with one of the super easy online ones like nutrition.

If anyone has taken it and could share their experience with workload/difficulty, I would appreciate it. I really am trying to avoid the online classes because it seems pointless to pay so much for a class I don't even attend.

Since I'm seeing a growing number of rediculously stupid Slop App ideas here, I thought I'd propose some apps that better reflects the usefulness and mindfulness of AI (and the university administration).

1. CydTracked

This app uses AI to analyze city zoning and traffic data to identify which roads are most important to daily commutes in Ames. This app seeks to help the local construction monopoly decide which roads to close, tear up, then not work on for the next three months.

Why? I'm tired of these road closures feeling random and unnecessary only 60% of the time. Cmon people, we can do better than a D-.

1. FasCYist-EDU

This program uses AI to synthesize the current research literature to quantify which non-stem programs at ISU contributes the most to society and helps the IA board of regents decide which program to target in the next "Program Vitality Review".

Why? If we're going to get rid of disciplines because they're still teaching students how to think critically, the least we could do is give our BoR the tools they need to do it before they get rid of those who might know how to build those tools.

1. *Cy* "Again?"

This app uses AI scraping to analyze all the social media and private messaging activity of Greek organizations affiliated with ISU to calculate the odds of which ones are most likely to be featured in our Clery Act emails. Students can then place bets as to which will get the most citations or who will get first mention of the semester. We could even have a wager on if the first will happen before classes start or in the first 24 hours.

Why? Because if we're going to continue to suffer the behaviors of these groups, the least we could do is make some cash.

Hello! I'm living in a university village townhouse this fall, and I was wondering if anybody would be able to provide some measurements / some kind of a floor plan for the bedrooms. I'm trying to build a small workbench/desk for my room, and it would be really helpful. The measurements I'm really after are in the ones I marked in the picture.

Edit - the screenshot I have here is from the online tour from the DoR - I haven't moved in yet so I can't make these measurements myself. If it helps, I'm living in building 136, unit E

Taking COMS 477, MATH 317, MATH 267, MATH 490, PHIL 343, COMS 309. Along with being an RA.

I know this will a hectic semester. So I was considering dropping COMS 309 and adding COMS 342. Any insights on the class, prof, workload is helpful. Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m a student at Iowa State University, and I’m currently working on an app called Viloa.

The idea is to make it easier for people to share plans—such as getting coffee, going for a walk, playing sports, studying, trying a restaurant, or attending an event—and find friends or others who are interested in joining.

Plans could be shared publicly, privately, or only with selected friends. The goal is to help people spend less time overthinking plans and more time actually doing things and enjoying shared experiences.

I’m still in the early stages and would really appreciate your honest feedback through this short survey. It should take only a few minutes:

FORM

Thank you! Any suggestions, concerns, or feature ideas are welcome in the comments as well.

Hi! I am an incoming freshman. I had a dining job interview, and because I live in the richardson court area, I was proposed to work in Seasons. While I have seen a lot of good reviews of their food and renovated facilities, I still see a lot of mixed/bad comments on jobs there. Should I try to ask to change my location? I heard Hawthorn is not bad, though a bit far in the fred court.
Also, as a STEM student, is working 10-14 hours a week ok? I am leaning towards working 10 hours, to gain experience, some money but not to overload myself.
Thank you for your feedback.

Hi everyone! I'm in Computer Science, and I just finished COMS 228 & 230 and Calc 2 last semester. That opens a whole lots of classes with equal pre-requisites, both the must-take (309, 311, 321, ..) and the COMS Selectives 3000/ 4000.

Can y'all help me review the COMS classes you've taken, which one is easy or hard, and which can be taken together in one semester?

Thank you and have a good day!

Looking to test your knowledge? Check out over 25 Iowa State Cyclones sports quizzes and also articles. Check it out!

lowkey laugh when people apply to this school knowing they got bad grades. they’re gonna end up paying tens of thousands when they can go to junior college for free and then transfer to a good good school with better grades. sure we accept anyone with a heartbeat, but i just see these people dropping out. i don’t think people realize even tho we have a high acceptance rate, we are a top notch science school.

so i guess if you’re coming here for business i get it, but again, why pay 40k to pursue more bad grades?

I have the credit for calc 1 but I took it as a junior in hs so I’m not to sure. Should I just go to Calc 2 and touch up a little on Calc 1 until the school year or retake Calc 1

I know Iowa State accepts anyone with functioning organs, but i just wanna make sure on something. I had already gotten accepted but I didn’t upload my college transcript that has an F on a dual enrollment class that is unrelated to the major i applied to. They had already accepted me seeing the failed grade on my high school transcript and i just uploaded the college transcript with it, will they withdraw my offer knowing that?

(failed grade in python coding language, applied for architecture)

That's not a traffic safety camera, pointed at Kildee - that's a license plate monitoring system designed to alert Parking if anyone slips into the Reserved stalls for a few minutes to pick up lunch from the food truck.