Ames is only about 30,000 people once you take away the student population. I grew up in a town of 4,000 people and Ames was manageable for me. The nice thing about Iowa State is it's kind of out on the west side of the town, on its own. The campustown area just south of campus is going through a big renovation right now, too, to refresh its look and add more amenities.
The Iowa Storm Chase team are mostly Iowa State meteorology grads and they have a tornado vehicle (Dorothy). It might be worthwhile for your daughter to contact them and find out their experiences in the program at Iowa State. At the very least a campus visit couldn't hurt, right? And then you could visit the Gamma Phi chapter house (it's a gorgeous house and a strong, established chapter, plus it's right next door to the equally as gorgeous ADPi house
).