what if UIowa had never been in the B10 (Iowa City: how much, top school)

[edsg25]

Strange question here, but please bare with me.

The University of Iowa is among the better state flagship universities in the country. Indeed it would very difficult to find a state university in a non-ubran state like Iowa that would be the quality of the UI.

how much of what makes the character of the UI comes from being a long time member of the Big Ten conference? I think that membership in the B10 (along with Iowa's location in the eastern portion of state) have oriented the university towards the lands east of the Mississipi, the urban regions in area that has some of the very best state universities in the nation.

I think Iowa's B10 membership has helped to contribute to the strong connection the university has with Chicagoland. I also believe that Iowa's membership in the Big Ten's CIC has been an important contribution to UI.

my guess is that if Iowa had been in, say, the Big 8, it might have been a far different institution than it is today.and that is not meant as a knock against the old Big 8 nor against member ISU which is, of course, a very good university in its own right.

am i way off base on my observations, or do you think that B10 membership has had a major part in shaping the University of Iowa and that if it hadn't been in the conference, it would be a vastly different school today?

[Qwerty]

Iowa State is not in the big 10 and is a fantastic school as well. I think what makes Iowa and Iowa State outstanding is the feeder schools are good, aka, the schools in Iowa, MN, etc. that send kids to these schools in large numbers.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Qwerty

Iowa State is not in the big 10 and is a fantastic school as well. I think what makes Iowa and Iowa State outstanding is the feeder schools are good, aka, the schools in Iowa, MN, etc. that send kids to these schools in large numbers.

i agree, qwerty, and as i stated above, i in no way suggested that ISU wasn't. but the culture of each of the schools differs greatly (i realize that the curricular divide between the two is the major factor), but I also think that Iowa through its B10 membership, being in the eastern part of the state, and so linked to the Great Lakes region is fundamentally different from ISU.

i don't know if you'd agree with those points or not.

[Qwerty]

Originally Posted by edsg25

i agree, qwerty, and as i stated above, i in no way suggested that ISU wasn't. but the culture of each of the schools differs greatly (i realize that the curricular divide between the two is the major factor), but I also think that Iowa through its B10 membership, being in the eastern part of the state, and so linked to the Great Lakes region is fundamentally different from ISU.

i don't know if you'd agree with those points or not.

There are plenty of successful schools that are not in metro areas or associated with any big athletic conference or whatever. What drives success is notoriety and the quality of schools it attracts. When you have feeder schools from MN, IA, WI going into both Iowa schools, your student base is just better. Take a school like Alabama, for it's size and athletic prowess, it should be a top school based on your assumptions, but it is not. What Alabama has done, however, was offer full-rides to National Merit Scholars and free tuition to very high stat students in an effort to improve their academic standing. They have done that very successfully over the past 5 years or so. Before that effort, their feeder schools were from the worst educational systems in the county and it was mainly a party campus for sorority/frats and pretty much a joke school in educational circles. That has now changed.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Qwerty

There are plenty of successful schools that are not in metro areas or associated with any big athletic conference or whatever. What drives success is notoriety and the quality of schools it attracts. When you have feeder schools from MN, IA, WI going into both Iowa schools, your student base is just better. Take a school like Alabama, for it's size and athletic prowess, it should be a top school based on your assumptions, but it is not. What Alabama has done, however, was offer full-rides to National Merit Scholars and free tuition to very high stat students in an effort to improve their academic standing. They have done that very successfully over the past 5 years or so. Before that effort, their feeder schools were from the worst educational systems in the county and it was mainly a party campus for sorority/frats and pretty much a joke school in educational circles. That has now changed.

i agree with you…..i'm not sure where you got the idea i was suggesting that being in a metro area was important. Indeed, you couldn't find a better college town atmosphere than iowa City (Iowa City is a big part of the university's appeal). In comparison, I see U of M's location in Mpls, particularly its DT, as a negative because you just don't get the feel of a campus oriented institution. i'm from chicagoland and you probably figured out i went to UI…and talking about feeder schools, Chicago's suburbs are loaded with one that feed into Iowa with big numbers. among the best high schools in the Chicago region, Iowa has always been incredibly popular. Hence the old joke: the University of Illinois at Iowa.

when i mentioned urban, i was suggesting the state, not the university. and Iowa outside of the original 7 state B10 footprint is the only state without a major city (DM is not in the category of Mpls, Milw, Indy, etc.) my contention was that for a largely rural and rural-identified state, there is no public university that ranks as high as UI.

Iowa is ranked 27th among USN&WR's public universities.
Top Public Schools | Rankings | Top National Universities | US News | page 2

only one school on the list is from a smaller state than Iowa and that would be Delaware (Univ of Del)….and Delaware is not rural but part of the northeast corridor (and besides, its minuscule physical size is the reason for its small population)

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by Qwerty

There are plenty of successful schools that are not in metro areas or associated with any big athletic conference or whatever. What drives success is notoriety and the quality of schools it attracts. When you have feeder schools from MN, IA, WI going into both Iowa schools, your student base is just better. Take a school like Alabama, for it's size and athletic prowess, it should be a top school based on your assumptions, but it is not. What Alabama has done, however, was offer full-rides to National Merit Scholars and free tuition to very high stat students in an effort to improve their academic standing. They have done that very successfully over the past 5 years or so. Before that effort, their feeder schools were from the worst educational systems in the county and it was mainly a party campus for sorority/frats and pretty much a joke school in educational circles. That has now changed.

In the past decade, the U of A has also attracted a VERY high amount of out-of-state kids. It's gotten to the point where Alabama students are the minority in the past few freshman classes. There's some quality students in Texas and Florida that might not get into UT-Austin, A&M, or UF, but are still plenty good enough to get into Bama. There's a lot of kids in Alabama that aren't getting in now that might have gotten in half a generation ago because the Board of Trustees likes the extra out-of-state money too much.

That said, while the Alabama education system does get ragged on a lot, its top high schools are just as good - if not better - than those in Iowa. It's just that their bottom schools are far worse.

[Yvanung]

Originally Posted by Qwerty

There are plenty of successful schools that are not in metro areas or associated with any big athletic conference or whatever. What drives success is notoriety and the quality of schools it attracts. When you have feeder schools from MN, IA, WI going into both Iowa schools, your student base is just better. Take a school like Alabama, for it's size and athletic prowess, it should be a top school based on your assumptions, but it is not. What Alabama has done, however, was offer full-rides to National Merit Scholars and free tuition to very high stat students in an effort to improve their academic standing. They have done that very successfully over the past 5 years or so. Before that effort, their feeder schools were from the worst educational systems in the county and it was mainly a party campus for sorority/frats and pretty much a joke school in educational circles. That has now changed.

In educational circles other than law, where Alabama overtook Iowa... I wouldn't go to Alabama for something other than law school.

[fezzador]

I dunno, Bama has a pretty reputable business program. It's not Big Ten quality yet but it most definitely is more than a glorified community college these days.