<p>I heard the workload is very heavy at Grinnell. How much time can one expect to devote towards academics each day?</p>
<p>Depends on courses and major, according to my D and her friends. A science major spends a lot more time than an English major. But Grinnell is known for being a school that requires a lot of work and you definitely earn your grades. I can’t post a link here but check out the Daily Beast’s 2011 most rigorous colleges - Grinnell weighs in at number 10, above Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. My understanding (and hope) is that grad schools know this as well!</p>
<p>(I’ll try and post the link here:)
[College</a> Rankings 2011: Most Rigorous - Newsweek and The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/most-rigorous.all.html]College”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/most-rigorous.all.html)</p>
<p>I toured a few times and from what I could gather the students do have a lot of academic work but they still have free time to do whatever they want.</p>
<p>S was a science major at Grinnell and he worked hard: But he also was on a sports team, worked out regularly, and had time for friends and a girlfriend. How difficult it will be for you depends not just on your major, but also how well-organized you are and whether your education to date has been rigorous compared to that of your class-mates. If you are behind academically and have to catch up, or are somewhat disorganized, you may find yourself struggling for a while. If you find it hard to focus when there’s lots of socializing going on around you, that could also be difficult. You know yourself and your situation best.</p>
<p>I guess I need to post 15 times here before I can send a private message. So Mommaof two, my reply to you will have to wait!! One of the things we are seeing nationally is a huge variance in the amount of homework kids do. I imagine kids from a rigorous HS have an easier time. I also imagine that kids coming from large class sizes have to adjust to being really seen and heard in smaller classes.</p>
<p>Hi evrgrn - that makes sense why I couldn’t reply to you!</p>
<p>I’ve frequently heard from our local friends that kids from our HS are so well prepared for the rigors of college. And many have gone on to top schools. I think there is only some truth to that. Being on your own, having to set your own schedule, make social choices…all of this contributes to the perception of work load and rigor. Also, some colleges are just hard and have little grade inflation! If you reference the Daily Beast’s Most rigorous schools from 2011 (part of the Newsweek education supplement but we can’t post links on this site) it states: “The hardest schools to get into aren’t necessarily the most challenging academically. Newsweek ranks the schools that are most likely to keep you studying late into the night.”
Grinnell was listed at #10 - only trumped by St. John (MN), Furman, Middlebury, Franklin and Marshall, Columbia, Dartmouth, U if Chicago, St Johns (MD), and Harvey Mudd. Below Grinnell were Harvard(17), Princeton(20), Stanford(25) and Yale(23).</p>
<p>So, my take on this is yes, you can expect to work at Grinnell, even if you’re coming from a challenging HS!</p>
<p>I’m sure my son worked for his grades at Grinnell, but he did have time for a social life too. He was a history major and studied Arabic, Russian and French. It’s not an easy place, but I think there are all kinds of support systems there.</p>
<p>I should add that my son felt very well prepared by his public high school that only offered one honors class and 6 AP courses, of which he took 4. He just had good teachers with high expectations.</p>
<p>I should also add that my D worked hard for her grades, did well, played a varsity sport and had time for a social life as well. But from what I heard, the work load was pretty intense. Probably one reason why being in the middle of nowhere didn’t matter!</p>
<p>I think if you go there, you could work with your advisor to leave room for a social life. The advising sounds good, so why not use it?</p>
<p>Depending on your major and how intelligently you plan your schedule, your extracurriculars, your previous experience with working hard, etc, you can expect a big adjustment. It is definitely manageable though, and its not like people study all weekend or anything. </p>
<p>Hopefully you are not afraid of working hard if you come here. Not everyone works hard, but their grades show it. If you put in the work and learn good habits, you will be fine.</p>
<p>My son had more ECs in high school. I was surprised that he had fewer in college, but I realized he had time with close friends instead. They are still his close friends.</p>
<p>It’s just like a full time job, basically. You go to class for like three hours a day and do homework/studying for another few hours every day. It’s definitely a lot of work, but you just have to budget your time well to finish it all.</p>
<p>And there are of course a few courses that will take up a lot more time than others. Science and math courses are obvious suspects, as well as some courses like Sociology that have reputations for being heavy reading courses.</p>