My daughter is looking at LACs that provide generous aid (need and/or merit) and she seems to keep coming back to Grinnell. In the “Why Grinnell” thread, a number of people mentioned the students being quirky. Can anyone elaborate on this? I actually think my daughter is rather quirky herself, but when we toured New College (FL), she quickly knew the students were too “out there” for her. (It’s the only liberal arts college we’ve been able to visit so far.)
While she’s politically liberal and quite open-minded, she’s pretty conservative in terms of her lifestyle. She’s ambitious and take school seriously, although she is undecided in terms of major (but leaning strongly toward STEM).
We will only be able to visit a few out-of-state colleges due to budget constraints, so we’re trying to gauge “vibe” from hundreds of miles away - a tough task, so I’d love to hear your thoughts.
S19 was accepted to Grinnell early in the RD round and just went to an Accepted Students Day this last weekend. He is not quirky. Not in any way. He’s a runner and a curious, bright suburban kid. He really did not like Oberlin when we visited. The kids there seemed quirky and too social-justicy for him. The students at Grinnell seemed mainstream overall and very open minded. He felt like he could definitely fit in there. Hope that helps. If you’re going to visit, I would do so when kids are on campus.
I’m not sure where else you’re considering but many kids who apply to Grinnell also apply to Carleton. S19 likes Carleton too but he would say the kids seem more intense there. I’m wondering if part of it is the quarter system at Carleton keeps the kids really on their toes. He also thought the Grinnell kids just seemed maybe friendlier overall and maybe less buttoned up if that makes sense? He fits with both groups. We are still waiting on Carleton’s decision (and ten others!)
Spend some time on the website College Niche reading school descriptions. There is a poll for each school that asks students to describe their fellow students in one word. Then niche lists the top 5 answers. Looking at one school is not all that enlightening, but when you line up several it can be telling. Of course like you do have to take it with a grain of salt, but there’s probably a hint of truth to it.
It’s been a couple years since we’ve been on campus, but we had been there about 5 times over a few years, including athletic recruiting for one kid. My athlete, musician, kind of quiet but friendly, kid, really liked that all “types” of kids interacted at Grinnell, socially it felt seamless and connected. For instance, when he had lunch with the team, it was not just the team members at the table but lots of their friends too. That was unusual for recruiting visits. Looking around campus, there were kids in khakis and polos and kids with blue hair, and everything in between. We came away with the sense it is a place where all kinds of kids can thrive and there is not a single, dominant culture. He didn’t get his test scores into the required range for Grinnell (basically Grinnell’s top 25% score, which we understood correctly as meaning that recruiting for his sport was not a priority) so he had to move on. But we continue to admire Grinnell.
My son is a senior at Grinnell, I would describe the “vibe” as accepting, intellectual and nice. Lots of different types of kids thrive at Grinnell. I guess my son would fit “quirky”, he’s very liberal, plays D&D doesn’t drink and read philosophy for fun. With that said, he could not see himself at Oberlin, everything was a bit too in your face or Carlton because it was too intense. He was drawn to small Midwest campuses with a diverse student body. Also, Grinnell has both economic diversity and diversity among international students.
From my observation, Grinnell students (my own included) are accepting and comfortable in their own skin. Not overtly quirky.
Sounds like a fit.
We didn’t visit Grinnell or any out of state school before my son applied. He then went to the accepted students events for his out of state acceptances. This is very very common and your daughter will not be disadvantaged for not visiting.
Sign up for the admissions mailing list. Look for when admissions officers are conducting interviews in your area so she can demonstrate interest and talk to people about the school.
Also the parent of a current student I agree with what everyone has said so far. In my experience, Grinnell students are smart, thoughtful, independent-minded and kind. It’s a very accepting vibe. We also visited after admission (after taking any local opportunity to connect that we could find, including local interview and an 8ofthebestcolleges.org session). We had visited a LOT of schools by that point, and Grinnell just clicked.
Thanks so much for sharing your impressions. If memory serves, Grinnel mentioned the possibility of a fly-in in one of our emails, so maybe my daughter will get to go see it for herself. She’s anxious about the location, while I’m anxious about the financial end, but it’s certainly on our (long) short list.
@Publisher, I sure wish NCF had a different feel - my daughter picked up on it quicker than I did. Well, at least we’ve crossed a few off the list.
Although the location is pretty remote, the town of Grinnell has about what you need for a college town, and the college does a good job of keeping a busy calendar of events. Iowa City and Des Moines are just an hour away in either direction, and then there are more major cities about four hours away in each direction. It’s quiet, but it’s not boring.
