Opening Thoughts
After being on campus for about a year, I’ve had a lot of time to figure out where I study best. I’ve done some trials and errors when it comes to studying places on and off campus. These are some of my favorite places to study during the fall season. (These are my opinions and you don’t have to agree with me)
10: Study Lounges in the Residence Halls
There are multiple places on campus to study, but one of my top 10 favorite places is going to the study lounges in the different residence halls. Every residence hall has a big study lounge on one floor of the building or multiple on different levels. The residence hall I lived in last year, Stanley, had a big study room on the 3rd floor and study lounges on each floor. Although most of the time, we used it to talk, play games, and have fun with each other. In Currier, there is a huge study lounge and game area on the ground floor. Lots of tours of the campus come through that area because it has study rooms and games for everyone, along with a computer lab that Currier and Stanley residents can use if they need to print something off or need a bigger computer screen to look at.
I will say these are some of the common places I like to study because they are close to my classes. Usually, I always try to stay close to the next building my class is in. If I have a class in the Chemistry Building, I’ll go down to the study rooms in Burge basement. They redesigned some new study rooms this year, and it really utilized the space a lot better. So, the Residence Hall study areas are my #10 on the list.
9: Outside on the Pentacrest
Usually, you see more people during the summertime sitting or sleeping on the Pentacrest. I love sitting here and doing my homework when a cool breeze is blowing. I usually do this a lot of the time when it’s not too cold but also not too warm. It can be distracting on the Pentacrest with the city in the background, but there is something about being outside in fresh air, trying not to die, because of homework. This is a great place to pause and enjoy life with a good book as well. That’s why this is my #9 spot.
8: Outside Tables Within The Campus Grounds
There are multiple places on campus that have black tables that are outside different buildings. I love studying in these places because, with a nice cool breeze, it’s a nice way to not keep yourself inside all day. Even as it gets cooler outside, I still love being able to sit outside and do some homework. Mostly because you get fresh air and you can people watch. That’s one of my favorite things to do, is people watching coming from the Pentacrest and all over campus.
7: Blank Honors Center
The Blank Honors Center is one of my favorite places to go in between classes to do a little bit of homework. That way I’m still on campus and don’t have to go too far to my different classes. Most of the time I like coming here after my early morning lectures and reading the chapters before my other lecture starts. Plus it’s usually really quiet in the morning because most of the classes don’t start until like 10 am in that building. There are multiple floors with study rooms you can use with your friends to do homework and group projects.
6: Van Allen Hall
Since I’m a psychology major, I spend a lot of time in this building for discussions and lectures. I mostly like to spend my time near the lecture hall, whenever I have my discussions. Honestly, the basement of Van Allen scares the crap out of me a lot of the time, but sometimes if I don’t want to go up the stairs, I’ll stay down there for a little bit. This takes my number 6 spot because I have most of my psychology discussions within the building so I know it fairly well, not the best but we’re getting there. The rest of the building does have a cozy feeling to it, so it’s easy to stay in the building if you have multiple discussions during the day.
5: Main Library
This was the first place I had ever studied when I first got onto campus. The main library is one of the best places to study because each floor has different places to study. Usually, if I’m on a tight schedule I try and stay on the 1st floor. The 2nd floor is a little bit quieter than the 1st floor. The 3rd to the 5th floor are the quietest floors within the whole building. I like each floor for different reasons.
The 1st floor is great if you just need a place to go during a break from classes. A lot of the time when I’m on the 1st floor I always try and reserve a study room with a door so I can practice concepts from my math classes, specifically statistics and the equations that go with the data.
The 2nd floor is great if you still wanna be around people, but it’s not as quiet as the floors above and not as loud as the floor below. During my first week of classes as a freshman, I explored the library like crazy. Almost got lost multiple times but the 2nd floor is a great place to focus on homework.
The 3rd to 5th floors have a very Hogwarts feeling to them. On the 4th floor, there are group rooms where you can get keys to work on projects with a group of friends from class or a group of friends in general. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the higher floors of the library but I always love going to them when I’m down the lower part of the hill. (Let’s be honest the hill is hard to walk up)
4: Tru Coffee
Tru Coffee, I think has one of the best aesthetics to study in the fall. This place is one of my favorite places to study off campus because of the huge windows and drinks. It also has my favorite iced chai in all of Iowa City in my opinion. The coffee shop itself is a little bit off of downtown and is usually open in the early hours of the morning and into the afternoon. This is one of my favorite places to go during finals week because everybody is working to pass their classes. I highly recommend you go there because of the food, the coffee, and the teas they have along with having seasonal drinks for the different seasons.
3: Pappajohn Business Building
This is my 3rd choice to study because it is very close to campus and there are multiple places within the building to study. Mostly the business students hang out in there but I like popping in every once in a while between classes. It can be chaotic in there, but they have multiple places to charge your devices and the business library. Plus there is a Starbucks on the third floor where the business library is and I love going up there on my long days. If you are taking a tour of the campus, you should definitely see if you can get into the business building. It’s a very nice building with everything you need to make your study day just a little bit better.
2: Java House
The Java House takes my number 2 spot mostly because it has one of the best chairs and tables out of all the coffee shops within Iowa City. Usually, it is one of the busiest coffee shops in the city, but it’s one of the places I know that I can always focus on my work. They have pretty good coffee, chai, and teas but I mostly like to go because it’s pretty much the center of downtown Iowa City. I always come here on my days when I’m mostly on the campus. It has a very cozy atmosphere and the lights are dimmed down very low. I can always focus more when there isn’t a lot of light around me. So I highly recommend you try studying in the Java House, because it’s one of the best places to study off campus.
1: Prairie Lights
Prairie Lights is everything I’d ever want in a coffee shop and a bookstore. The store itself sells books and the cafe is on the second floor. I love going there when I need a break from everything. It plays classical music that is said to help you focus more on what you’re doing. As a creative writing major, I like to spend a lot of my time in the store. I mostly like to look at the books and figure out what I wanna read next. I’m a huge book worm so I always love being in the store. It’s very cozy and warm in the cafe part of the store. Plus the store itself has a bunch of books, old, new, and everything in between. There are also a lot of authors who like to come to Praire Lights to promote their books, read things, and just show love to an iconic bookstore. The atmosphere within Praire Lights is kind and sweet, and everyone is nice. And their chai/lattes are the best within ALL OF Iowa City. Come here if you get the chance.
Closing Thoughts
Even with all of these amazing places on and off campus, there are so many places and buildings in all of Iowa City to get your work done. These are just my go-to’s to get work done. I highly recommend that you look at the coffee shops around Iowa City, because it makes the city feel more like a small town. This campus is amazing with that feeling. Thank you all for reading this post, and I hope you all have a great day, week, month, and year.
