<p>I am a first-year student and would love to answer any questions y'all may have about life here at Grinnell. I remember how stressful and exciting the college search process can be and am very happy with the way things turned out for me.</p>
<p>What a nice thing to offer!</p>
<p>Maybe you could jump on to the Thanksgiving thread and let that parent know what you’ve heard about Thanksgiving on campus. My impression is that lots of students do stay on campus and that a turkey dinner is served on the day, but my info is dated.</p>
<p>Could you discuss the drinking, and drug scenes for me a bit? Also what was it like when you first got there, how did you make friends etc.</p>
<p>Drinking is fairly popular on campus, as is marijuana. There is no pressure at all to partake, and there are three “substance-free” dorms where no alcohol or drugs are permitted. The entire student body respects the policy of these dorms, and they’re usually pretty tightly-knit communities. That said, if you do want to drink, people are very generous, especially towards first-years, and there are usually fun off-campus house parties on the weekend (and smaller ones in dorms). Regardless of whether or not you choose to drink, there are tons of things to do on campus. Just last night there was a play, an orchestra concert, and Drag Show (which was incredibly fun), and on Friday there was a concert (all free). Drugs and alcohol definitely have a noticeable presence here, but almost everyone prioritizes academics before having fun. It is very common for people to do homework on Friday and Saturday afternoons before going out (myself included). But if you’re at all concerned about the presence of drugs and alcohol, I would advise you to request a sub-free dorm. I ultimately think it’s slightly more of a party school than I expected, but certainly no different from any other top liberal arts college.</p>
<p>NSO (New Student Orientation) is basically a week of meeting new people and having a lot of fun. I met a ton of people mostly by talking to everyone that I could, which was necessary because my roommates and I are the only first-years on our floor. Other floors are almost entirely first-years, so those people were able to make friends a bit more easily. After three months, I feel like I have a solid group of friends, but I’m a bit of an anomaly, and I feel like most people are still finding their niche and adjusting to college life. I don’t know what it will be like next semester, but most people here are really cool and interesting. You just have to talk to them and see who you click with.</p>
<p>What do you like best about Grinnell so far? Do you think Grinnell has a favorite type of students? What do you think of the dinning and housing? I live in TX and cannot afford to visit the campus :). Thank you!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Grinnell has a good no. of International students. Do all students interact freely with each other? Is there any groupism ( amongst people of similar races)?</p></li>
<li><p>I play Table Tennis, and it is only an intramural sport at Grinnell. Are intramural sports played seriously by atleast some students, or do all students play Intramural sports for relaxing a bit ( in Grinnell)
Thanks in advance :)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’m a current first-year as well, and I’d be happy to answer questions too. I certainly had plenty of questions to ask this time last year. (Also, SgtDonut, I think I’ve figured out who you are. Possibly. Maybe.)</p>
<p>Hezekiel, there definitely is some “groupism,” as you call it, but no more than anywhere else I’ve seen. Students are often friends with others of the same race, and international students are often close with other international students, but there’s plenty of mixing of races or national backgrounds within some groups. A big thing I noticed (and disliked) at some other schools I visited last year was students who seemed to only interact with students of the same race or background, and while this does happen at Grinnell, it’s not nearly as pronounced or common as at other places that come to mind. In general, compared to similar institutions, I’d say the minority and international populations at Grinnell are pretty well-integrated into the student body as a whole, rather than standing out as distinct groups. There is a pre-orientation program specifically for international students, and a similar one that caters to minority or first-generation students, so those can lead to some early friendships among those groups, but there’s also no problem making other friends after pre-orientation. In general, I would say that “all students interact freely with each other,” yes, even if there are groups that aren’t so diverse.</p>
<p>Take all of that with a grain of salt, though, because I’m speaking as a white, non-international student whose close friends here are also all white, non-international students – not through any effort on my part to specifically make friends with others like me or to avoid those of other backgrounds, but simply because those are the people I wound up hanging out with the most. I’m certainly friendly with international students and minority students, but none of them are among my closest friends with whom I spend the majority of my time. Make of that what you will. (Also, I don’t know anything about table tennis, sorry!)</p>
<p>My son is a white guy from VT and two of his closest friends at Grinnell were AA and Hispanic guys. Another close friend was a student from India. My son and some other Grinnell friends went to India for her engagement party. He has friends from all over the country and all over the world now. Grinnell grads love to drop in on each other when traveling.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot! Feels really nice to hear that :)</p>
<p>Hi! I’m a first gen. student who was recently matched to Grinnell through QB. Would you mind discussing Grinnell in general? I’m very nervous about attending; I keep hearing nice things about it interspersed with, well, not so nice things. I’d like a rounded view of the campus I’ll be attending next school year. Also: could you perhaps shed some light on how their study abroad programs work/length, social scene, campus activities, work study, the sport scene (as in its competitiveness and what sports are offered), and the nature/atmosphere of the student body? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Main Aspects:
The school, based on self-governance, prides itself in treating students like adults. This means that every action a student makes them responsible. The effects of that are the student body (IMHO) seems more mature than the impression I get from other schools. Another aspect of life the school prides itself in is the acceptance of others and promotion of social justice. This means, among other things, that there is strong acceptance of the LGBTQ community.
Social Life:
For the most part, the social life is contained on campus and the nearby student/ sports team owned houses. Sometimes at the school, the social scene is referred to as the “Grinnell Bubble” because all social life occurs pretty much only on campus. To be honest, I thought the small town atmosphere would get boring but between the school work, friends and college events, it is really hard to get bored (unless you want to be).
Work Study:
There are plenty of jobs on campus. You are guaranteed a job in the dining hall. Other jobs are available but require you to find them by talking to professors or administration. Depending on the job, hours can be flexible.
Study Abroad:
The main study abroad programs the school offers are similar to other schools through the country. Most are one semester, but some last the entire year. One of the year long programs is the Grinnell in London for economics. I, honestly, don’t know very much about study abroad because I do not think I will be able to fit it into my schedule. Disclaimer: Most are able to fit it into their schedule.<br>
Sport Scene:
Well, we have Jack Taylor if that counts for anything.
The sports culture at Grinnell is quite minimal. I have gone to only a few sporting events over the course of the fall. All sports teams are no cut, but that does not mean you will necessarily have very much play time. For the most part, the college offers a great deal of sports and clubs. If there is not a club that you are interested in, I think it takes like 3 or 4 people to form a club.
Academics:
The professors here are here to teach and tenure is determined heavily on the teaching performance of the professor. The average GPA at the school is a 3.3 out of 4.0. This means that in most classes As have to be earned. There is a good chance that most will find the school to be “adequately rigorous”.
Side notes:<br>
The school has lots of money that is spent on facilities, clubs, professors, entertainment and research. It shows. Grinnell’s endowment is #10 in the country for amount per student. I recently hear that paying full tuition (~$50,000) only covers 2/3 of the full cost per student. (But who knows how reliable that information was. If it is true, it does not surprise me at all.) Also, everyone here is a little bit “nerdy.” (I put it in quotes because I think it is all relative and everyone is “nerdy” about their own things). And I mean this in the best of ways. My philosophy on this is that the accepting and academic nature of Grinnell breeds a beautifully intelligent and passionate student body that can come across as “nerdy”.
I love it here.</p>
<p>A majority of students at Grinnell study abroad (60%). The college actively encourages 2nd and 3rd years to look into OCS, and they give you the same financial aid for your semester abroad which means studying abroad is the same price or cheaper than a semester in Grinnell. Other than that, study abroad works the same way at Grinnell as it does at most any other college.</p>
<p>What are the dorms like? Does one dorm have more athletes? Does one dorm have a closer knit community?</p>
<p>The dorms I’ve seen are all pretty nice. You’ll get assigned one the first year, but after that you get some choice. My son said the athletes tend to choose the side of campus near the gyms and playing fields and the “artsier” students tend to choose the other side, near the theaters and art museum. Current students can correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>The food is really pretty good and the student center, where the dining hall is, is gorgeous, with flags from all the countries of current students hanging. There’s probably a picture on the website, but it’s prettier in person. One lounge area has an enormous fireplace and really comfy couches.</p>
<p>Ghettohorsey–are you part of the Posse Program? If not, maybe you could seek out some of those students. My son’s 2nd year roommate was a Posse student and they had retreats that they could invite other students to attend. Posse students were mostly 1st generation to college kids and the program is designed to help them adjust to college. Grinnell has about 40 posse students at any given time, divided among all 4 years. The idea is to give them a “posse” of other students who also might need support adjusting to college.</p>
<p>Grinnell also has very close advising. Your 1st advisor will be your prof of your first year tutorial and he or she will be there for you right away. I remember my son met with his advisor multiple times before registering for classes.</p>
<p>Dorms are basically divided into North, South, and East campus, and clusters within those sides of campus… each side has its own sort of personality/stereotype, and those stereotypes are kind of self-fulfilling from what I’ve seen. I think athletes tend to live on North, but I don’t really know much about any of the North dorms so I can’t really comment on that. Norris, the northernmost dorm on North, seems to be everyone’s least favorite; a lot of first-years wind up there. South is artsier but also has more parties and drinking/drugs (mainly pot), although I can speak from experience that it’s easy to live on South and not participate in that culture. East is quieter, fewer big parties, and allegedly less dorm community… they’re also the newest and nicest (in my opinion) dorms, with elevators and air conditioning and such. I actually love the East dorms and I’ll probably live in one of them next year; others would never live there. It’s really up to personal preference. There’s one sub-free dorm, meaning no “substances” (alcohol, drugs, etc.) on each side of campus.</p>
<p>I’m personally sub-free, in practice if not in name, but I live in a non-sub-free dorm on South this year. Not really the best fit for me socially, but other people love it here and it’s a nice dorm in a central location. In general, the dorms are pretty great and it isn’t hard to find one that suits you.</p>
<p>My son actually had a great first-year experience in Norris, but I know it’s described as the worst dorm on campus. He was on the top floor (4th?) that had it’s own little lounge and the mix of students was great–very social.</p>
<p>One of my friends lives on that floor, and he and everyone else who lives there are happy enough, but I doubt most of them would elect to live in Norris again next year. It’s not that the people there are unhappy, just that there are other places on campus that most people would consider far preferable.</p>
<p>How is the social life at Grinnell? </p>
<p>I applied ED2 to it but I’m having some anxiousness since I want a college with strong academics (I know Grinnell fulfills this) but I also want a college who has a very good social life.
Social life for me means ocassional parties, campus events, or hangouts with friends.
I don’t know if Grinnell hosts parties at all, or what time of events they do, but I am sure that hanging out with friends is certainly not an option because Grinnell’s location is remote. The town it is located doesn’t has much to offer, as I have been told.</p>
<p>Is there a good social life at Grinnell for ANY kind of people? (from bookworms to preppy dudes)</p>
<p>My son, rather nerdy, had the best social life imaginable at Grinnell. Within weeks, he had more friends than he’d ever had in his life and he’s kept those friends 2+ years after graduation. The college sponsors lots of parties (many with years of goofy tradition behind them) and all kinds of activities, more than you could ever do. Movies, concert, speakers, all of it free. There’s a whole building just for parties and movies. For my son, the best thing was often just hanging out with his friends in the dorms. I’d say you have a lot to look forward to.</p>