<p>hi! i have wanted to go to grinnell since i was 14, so i visited this past summer and loved it. i'm wondering what my chances are of getting in. my unweighted gpa is a 3.7, and i take mostly IB classes. i'm also tennis captain and student body vice president. my ACT score was a 30.</p>
<p>@bbear416, you have a lot going for you! I’m confident many schools will want you. Can you look a little deeper and consider “all the right reasons” for choosing Grinnell? Such as the major/minor, a professor, or an activity that you want?</p>
<p>Grinnell is a beautiful campus indeed. However, your “fit” in a school away from home for four years is more than placing your strengths into the school with the highest selection criteria, best aid, or best buildings (and nice dorms). </p>
<p>In 2000, my son at age 10 visited Grinnell while our family was on a trip to Iowa for the 1st time for a family reunion. He kept Grinnell among his top choices ever since. In 2010 he died at age 20 from injuries suffered with Grinnell College’s Track & Field Team. Grinnell was the worse decision ever, for many reasons, not only because he died. </p>
<p>Grinnell College spends a lot of money on image promotion. Much of what you are exposed to in the news is their own self-promotion; for example, the claim that Grinnell supports social justice or advice to parents. </p>
<p>Don’t rush, and remove your rose-colored glasses to look at Grinnell before you make your decision.</p>
<p>^That’s a tragedy, but I don’t see what it has to do with the college, unless you’re claiming it happened through some sort of incompetence on the part of the college staff.</p>
<p>@OP, your stats are a good match for Grinnell, but you’ll want to make sure to apply to some safeties too.</p>
<p>bbear, you look like a good candidate. Make sure you let the school know that it’s your top choice. Demonstrated interest matters as LACs like Grinnell. I’d also get in touch with the tennis coach. If you are the tennis team captain, he may want to put in a word for you with admissions.</p>
<p>Post #2 - So incredibly sorry to hear about your son. Very ,very tragic. This must be so painful & difficult for you. Prior to this accident did you have misgivings about your son attending Grinnell?</p>
<p>OP - Sounds like you have great things going on & should be a great applicant at most schools. Best of luck!</p>
<p>@RahRah02647, thank you for your kind words.</p>
<p>We thought time in rural Iowa away from the East Coast would be a grounding experience. We have relatives not too far away. Grinnell seemed the best of both worlds, a LAC in Iowa. However, most people spend time on campus, and it’s an eclectic group.</p>
<p>I know a sizable number of kids there through my son. My impression is that those who arrive as freshmen with a firm idea of their major do well. You don’t have to declare a major officially until the end of sophomore year… However, if you don’t know your major when you arrive, the Freshman Seminar takes a chunk of time away from exploring other fields.</p>
<p>We naturally were excited about Grinnell. No doubt the facilities are well cared for. My 1st misgiving though was at freshman orientation dropoff, in August 2008, when we had to attend the “traditional parent send-off”. They tell us to hit the highway by 5pm. I had never heard the phrase “helicopter parent” before then, but they didn’t want us hovering. The none-to-subtle pressure is to not contact your child so that he may grow up. You can read about it in the NY Times, [Students</a>, Welcome to College - Parents, Go Home - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/education/23college.html]Students”>Students, Welcome to College; Parents, Go Home - The New York Times). In retrospect, I would advise parents to “Trust, but verify,” the school environment.</p>
<p>I have one other child. I dropped him off at a different school with simply big kisses and hugs, and without any drama or ceremony from the College telling a parent they should learn how to let go.</p>
<p>I attended the welcome ceremony the year it was in the NYT. I thought it was a wonderful ceremony, focused on the students, but inclusive of the parents. I recall that article, and thought it was misleading – it talked about how the president had his back to the parents – well, yes, because he was talking to the students, who were grouped along one wall in the gym, and the parents were on the other walls. However, there were screens so we all could see what was going on! If we were all in an auditorium facing the same direction, there would have been no need for a newspaper to make a point like that!! At the end of the ceremony (again, a welcome for the students, to which parents were invited), the speakers turned to talk directly to the parents, and it was the kids’ turn to watch onscreen. </p>
<p>My son does not know what he wants to major in, and I don’t see how having to take ONE required course makes it that much harder… Many (in fact most) schools have at least a few distribution requirements, if not a set of required courses.</p>
<p>I have gotten no message, subtle or otherwise, that parents are encouraged OR discouraged from having whatever type of relationship with their student or the school that they would like, albeit under the information constraints imposed by the fact that our “children” are legally adults (this goes for any school, not just Grinnell). </p>
<p>On that First-Year Welcome day, after the official “good-bye” with their students, parents were invited to stay on campus to meet with the advisor / tutorial professor. And certainly, parents could stay around and go see their kid again if they wanted. </p>
<p>What I DO see at Grinnell is a school that encourages students to act with personal responsibility, yet gives them incredible amounts of support, structure and guidance if they want and desire it!! </p>
<p>Something I have always found really interesting about Grinnell is how self-analytical it is, and how open it is about this process. Check out the website and see the front-page story about the strategic review underway. Note how the school is making this a time for full campus dialogue. Note that a student serves on every steering committee involved in the process. </p>
<p>Check out the website, too, and see the emphasis on Social Justice. The Prize, the Symposium. The new president (currently in his second year) is reinvigorating this historical mission of the college, making it not just part of the mission statement for the students, but a learning experience for all.</p>
<p>When we visited with our son for accepted students’ weekend, years ago, a young man who had gone missing had just been found in a local swimming pool. The campus was in mourning for this student and made it clear to all of us that he would never be forgotten. No college is perfect, but this was my first look at this college that said, “This is not business as usual; we are mourning for Paul.” His life was celebrated. I never knew him but I’ll never forget him.</p>
<p>i am student from nepal.i want to get placement in grinnell. Though i don’t have outstanding.I got physics-A,CHEMISTRY-A, MATH-B, GENERAL PAPER-B AND BIOLOGY C HOW IS MY CHANCE IN GRINNELL.
MY RANK IS 25 and i have taken part in national level activities and won prizes. i have taken part in many activities like social services.</p>
<p>The Grinnell send-off was not bad. They simply make it clear when parents are to leave. It works well because then all the first-years turn to each other and begin to find friends.</p>
<p>There is no need create hype about making the parents leave. Of course parents leave, it’s Iowa, but it was a seminal event to travel so far to bring the student there. When they said, “Parents don’t worry, your children are safe.” I trusted, but I should have verified.</p>
<p>I remember when that tragedy happened (I’m from Iowa). What a terrible, terrible situation; I’m so sorry.</p>