Do people look down on party school's?

I went to Iowa and I think only people who don't understand/know about the quality of the academics there would judge it on the party school reputation. Plus, if you put in the work to get a degree, it means you obviously spent at least some time focusing on academics (that said, I'm surprised at some of the people who were able to graduate from there). I generally went out about 1-3 times a month and had no problem, even when I went to grad school there and had hundreds of pages to read every week along with papers and projects or in undergrad when I took the maximum course load (18 s.h.) some of the semesters (I got both my bachelor's and master's degrees there). Even going out a couple of times a week (like Friday and Saturday, and maybe three times a week on Thursday if you don't have Friday classes) is fine as long as you make sure you get your assignments done and have studied well for tests. Going out isn't really going to affect how well you do in classes if you put your coursework first. I mean, I usually didn't go out multiple times in a week (couldn't take it, especially when I was older by grad school and occasionally I'd go out two nights in a row and the alcohol just hit me too hard [and I've been told that I'm someone who knows how to hold my drink], but if you can do it and still get your studies done, go for it. Also, you have to factor in what you're studying. I got the impression that people in say, engineering, didn't have time to go out [not that I got the impression they were the types to go out anyway], while those in business, for example, did go out a lot and had the time to.

A couple parties a week? I don't know much about the University of Iowa, but if you pulled that at my college, you wouldn't last the semester.

NO. What matters is the academic reputation of the school, which is very good for the U of I, and more importantly, what you have achieved as an individual by the time you graduate. The only way the partying will hurt you is if you actually get caught up in it yourself.

The challenge is actually graduating. A lot give in to the partying and not make it.