Mount Pleasant (Iowa City, Wesley: low crime, theatre, private school)

[Looking 4 Info]

Is anyone here familiar with Mount Pleasant, Iowa? I have a son who is considering going to school at Iowa Wesleyan and was hoping to learn a little about the town.

We are from California so I am a bit worried Mount Pleasant isn't a great place to experience college.

[NjD00]

I lived in Mount Pleasant for 12 years and my parents still do. What exactly do you want to know? Iowa Weslyan is a good school but it is small (600-800 students) and Mt. Pleasant isn't that big either, ~8000, so "college life" such as at at large state university obviously won't be the same.

[sciencetiger]

Originally Posted by Looking 4 Info

Is anyone here familiar with Mount Pleasant, Iowa? I have a son who is considering going to school at Iowa Wesleyan and was hoping to learn a little about the town.

We are from California so I am a bit worried Mount Pleasant isn't a great place to experience college.

I would not recommend Iowa Wesleyan College. I use to live in MP and it is not very well regarded. See US News Reports ratings in fact. Its a poor school and away from any opportunities.

[admit39]

I may be biased since I have been working at Iowa Wesleyan for several years, but it is a great college to attend and is well regarded in SE Iowa. The College has had a tremendous turn-around in the last 5 years (referrring to sciencetiger's post) and has increased in students, faculty, majors, buildings, AND in reputation. We currently have 850 students coming from 15 countries and 25 states. We have the highest percentage of diversity of all Iowa colleges. We have increased in enrollment for the past 4 years and are in the middle of a $15 million campaign which has allowed us to renovate residence halls, build new residence suites and upgrade classroom buildings and equipment.

Although MP is a town of 8,500 + the college offers many opportunities that a larger university does- we have sports teams, intermurals, clubs, organizations, coffee shops, and tons of opportunity to be involved. If students do want more by way of clubs and shopping they head just up the road to Iowa City. MP itself has the 24 hours Super Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee plus some downtown shopping and it is a very college- friendly town.

If your son is still interested (I see your post was from November) please check out the college's website at www.iwc.edu or the MP website www.mtpleasantiowa.org (broken link).

[justbfree]

I just found this. I hope you had your question answered. Mt Pleasant is a great small town. Crime rate is low, you know your neighbors, and we ALL pitch in and make sure the college students are well cared for. I graduated from IWC and am a proud Alumni. Hope your son came this way, if so, I probably met him when I volunteered to help the new students move in!

[mrsb24]

i agree with the part about mp being a great town, i was raised there and actually miss it a lot. however, the college was not a big part of my growing up. it's a small private school and you barely ever see any of the students in the community. i was always told that a lot of the students were exchange students from other countries.

[justbfree]

The Iowa Caucus helped to make the IWC students to become visable. They were out campaining for their personal favorite Canidate. I wonder if it is just that we don't frequently have events that would pull many students into the view except for sporting events, theatre, Old Threshers and now the Caucus? Just wondering... I suppose the answer is that is why there are many places to live and go to college. It isn't a "one size fits all" world.. and for that I am grateful. It would be very boring if that were the case.

[fishers93]

Originally Posted by Looking 4 Info

Is anyone here familiar with Mount Pleasant, Iowa? I have a son who is considering going to school at Iowa Wesleyan and was hoping to learn a little about the town.

We are from California so I am a bit worried Mount Pleasant isn't a great place to experience college.

It's a small town about 25 min from burlington,iowa and it has about10,000 people and your son will meet alot of people. The teacher are very nice people and they have a nice libary. He will be safe they have take a lot of actions to keep all students safe day and night. I hope this help to releave your worrys.

[swampfox42]

This is an outdated thread, but still worth adding another viewpoint. Raised in MtP and attended IWC. Small town life is not for everyone. Mt P is a quiet town and not close to any major professional sports venue or high end shopping mecca. Its size doesn't lend itself to offering much interaction w/ IWC students. The local high school is 'the' center of the town as it is in most every small town across the US. An out-of-stater attending IWC coming from a metropolitan area must want to experience small town USA and should be prepared to volunteer time to Mt P in order to experience life in a small town. It's too easy to restrict one's activities to just IWC and U of I at Iowa City and never reap the benefits of living in a small town. SE Iowa's population is relatively stagnent and therefore life is as it has been for 50 years or so. It's safe, friendly, and the college offers a diversity of interactions with exchange students and students from around the US. Again, small town life is not for everyone.

[Ps94515]

Hi. Ive been researching Mt. Pleasant as a place to live and it seems great. One question: from the crime stats on city-data.com, it seems like there was a big increase in crime in 2004 and it has remained at that level since. I realize it is still a low crime area, but does anyone know the reason for the jump since 2004?