Chances for Grinnell

<p>Hi I am a current Junior and I think I want to apply to Grinnell ED this November could anyone tell me how likely it is i'll get accepted?</p>

<p>Sex: Male
Location: Missouri
Status: 1st Generation
Ethnicity: 2nd generation in America White</p>

<p>GPA: 3.8 UW 4.1 W
Never taken a normal course all honors and AP with 3 AP in junior year and 4 next year. B's in math classes and C's for two semesters (terrible i know).
Rank: 27/ 515
Public School
ACT: Taking the April test all my practice leads me to believe I will get a 29-32 (no definite score yet though)</p>

<p>EC's
Class of 2014 Liaison 4 years
Stuco Officer, publiscists this year, Running for VP for next year.
NHS Officer, Historian,
Quiz Bowl Founder and Captain
3 Year Varsity Wrestler Captain for next year
Junior Achievement Company President
Prestigious summer Program in 2012
(most likely boys state this summer) </p>

<p>Volunteering:
50 Hours of tutoring
60 hours per year for special Olympics planning
72 hours as a leadership camp counselor
(I feel as if this isn't enough)</p>

<p>Recs:
My counselor and i have a great and we already have a running rec going it will be great hopefully
My history teachers all love me and will provide me with good recs, i Hope. </p>

<p>I know i don't have everything yet, just let me know what you think.</p>

<p>Hi there, sorry no one has responded. I don’t think many on this site really know how to address “chances” but I will say that if you’re applying ED, you should definitely show interest. Get to know your local enrollment rep, visit spring, summer and/or fall. ED admission rates are higher anyway, and your stats look as good as many I’ve seen.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>@missouri boy- I am an admitted student currently deciding whether or not to attend, so I have a very small sample size, but I’d definitely say you have a decent chance! For an ED1 anyway a lot of people apply to reaches, and it sounds like Grinnell is at least possible for you, so if you are definitely sure you would like to attend then I would realistically encourage an ED application there! Also, just a quick piece of advice. It doesn’t look like you are doing this anyway, but just be careful not to fall victim to the “listing of every activity on a giant resume” idea that some CC’ers seem to encourage. I even left some of my activities off completely and instead tried to convey 2-3 that I was extremely passionate about, and I was accepted with merit without any of your hooks (1st gen, missouri, male, etc) and somewhat similar grades/scores, so just have fun with the applications as much as you can and convey what you are most passionate about. It will be a lot more fun that way anyway! Good luck!</p>

<p>yeah I know I already left some EC’s off of this i dropped 3 i think just because i don’t want to look like a “jack of all trades master of none” kinda guy, and I really loved Grinnell when I visited and I would love to apply ED (as of now), but financially it is scary since I will need substantial aid to attend.</p>

<p>missouriboy, my friend was in a similar situation. His EFC is low and needs a lot of FA. The common advice is that if FA is important, you’d better not apply for ED–apply RD so you can compare different FA offers. However, he thought he would have a greater chance to be admitted to his first choice college, so he applied ED to the college, which meets 100% financial aid for admitted students (like Grinnell). He was admitted and the FA met all his need in a reasonable way. He wanted to apply ED because he thought he would not stand out in the RD when many Ivy applicants would apply to this selective college too. He worried that his high need for FA would be a negative factor on his application, either in ED or RD. It turned out that it was a right decision to apply ED and he was admitted and his financial needs were met. The college actually is need-aware toward the lower ranked applicants in the RD. I don’t know if my friend’s case is a singularity. He did not have any “hook”. If you are really sure Grinnell is your dream college, maybe applying ED is the right move–Grinnell does have higher admission rate for ED and claims that it meets 100% financial need. Make sure you arrange an interview.</p>

<p>We applied ED and needed aid too. It was a risk that we went round and round about, but since Grinnell was far and away first choice, it was worth the risk. ED is binding, except if the aid doesn’t meet your needs. But you need to make sure it’s where you really want to be. If you get in, and receive reasonable aid, there’s no turning back. When peers start boasting later about their amazing aid packages (true or not), you need to be able to say that it’s worth getting an adequate, but not braggable, aid package from Grinnell over any other school. </p>

<p>You seem like a good candidate, though so much of this is unpredictable. If Grinnell is what you want, go for ED. You can always decline IF you can’t afford their offer. And it you don’t get in, you can apply ED2 or RD to many schools and do fine too.</p>

<p>Evrgrn - great advice. My D ended up applying ED 2 to Grinnell, which essentially meant we couldn’t compare aid offers. But she loved the place, we hoped that with financial need it would be affordable, and she really wanted to enjoy her senior year. Sometimes I look back and wonder, “what if she had applied to _____, would they have given her more money?” but then I remember the way she asked me if she could apply ED because she knew she wanted to be at Grinnell. So, my advice, if you feel this way, ED might be a good choice for you as well.</p>