This is the official discussion thread for Grinnell Class of 2027 RD applicants. Ask your questions and connect with fellow applicants.
RD Application Deadline is: January 15
My son will be part of Grinnell 2027–
he did EDI and is super excited.
1 Like
are results coming out today?
1 Like
Yeah, it has come out on the 2nd Friday of March for the past couple years. Does anyone know what time?
1 Like
Decisions out tonight, it’s confirmed!
1 Like
Where does it say that?
I am an athlete and was contacted by the coach. Should come by tonight.
2 Likes
Ok, thank you!
it came out!!!
Hey guys! Are grinnell decisions out yet?
1 Like
yes!!
4 Likes
ty 
1 Like
Congratulations to all who received acceptance emails from Grinnell yesterday! My daughter is currently a first year and she is happier than I have ever seen her. Grinnell was clearly the right choice for her, even though, or perhaps because of, it has been a big change from home (we live in northern CA).
If any of you have questions about Grinnell, I would be happy to assist. I may not have all the answers but I have certainly learned a lot in the past year. My daughter is an athlete (swimming) and she joined the Grinnell Singers, in the event there is any interest in those activities out there. She plans to double major in French and something else, and she is still exploring what that something else will be. The open curriculum is one of the things that sold her on Grinnell and she is very much enjoying this liberal arts feast.
While no school is perfect, she has had an amazing experience at Grinnell so far and she has made a wonderful and diverse group of friends that I suspect she will have for the rest of her life.
Best of luck to all of you with the upcoming decision process!
3 Likes
Thank you!
-
I wonder if you are able to describe ways in which the expectations for a student in the Individually Advised curriculum are different than in an Open Curriculum (I believe Grinnell used to call it an Open Curriculum but changed that at some point).
For example, I know that Wesleyan is sometimes said to have an open curriculum, but when we visited Wesleyan, our tour guide said that taking a breadth of classes (outside your major division) is expected and that Wesleyan had “expectations” instead of “requirements” (but that the expectations were strong expectations). General Education Expectations < Wesleyan University
Has your daughter learned anything about how this operates at Grinnell?
That is, are students expected to take courses in all divisions even if not required for their majors?
Grinnell’s website says: “they are expected to complete a program of study that embraces the liberal arts. Students should plan to create an individualized academic program in conjunction with their adviser, which reflects both breadth and depth in the liberal arts. We encourage work in a variety of disciplines for the development of diverse skills – linguistic, literary, quantitative, artistic, and analytical.”
I’m wondering what this looks like. -
Also, was the rural location quite different from what your daughter was used to and did she have concerns about that before attending? Or did she view that as a positive from the beginning? Any comments on how she’s felt about the Grinnell, Iowa environment.
-
Finally, I believe there were some issues with town/gown relations, racially motivated incidents, etc. in the past 1-2 years. Do you know what the situation is with that at this point?
Again, thank you for being willing to share from your family’s experience. It’s wonderful that your D has found such a great fit!
Hi, and thank you for your message. I’m happy to help! Grinnell only has two required classes–The Freshman Tutorial which all freshman take first semester of their first year, and the Freshman Experience which all first years take during the first half of second semester. First years apply for their Freshman Tutorial topic during the summer. There are a number of topics to choose from and I believe students are expected to list their top 5 choices. Not gonna lie, my mouth was watering when my daughter was reading her list to me! The professor who teaches the Tutorial that the first year is accepted into will be their Advisor until such time as they choose a major that is outside that professor’s department. For example, my daughter went to Grinnell thinking that she wanted to major in French and something in the English Department. She chose her Tutorial topics accordingly, got her first choice and her professor and Advisor is the head of the English Department. However, she is now thinking that she MIGHT want to major in Math as well as French. If she ends up declaring a major in Math, she will be reassigned to an Advisor in the Math Department. By the way, she LOVED her Tutorial. The Freshman Experience was not as fulfilling or interesting, but it was only one day a week for half the semester, and it’s over!
Besides those two “required” classes, each major has a required number of credits that need to be completed before graduation but because there are only two other required classes, many students are able to double major, like my daughter is planning to do. As for the “expectations” that you mention, my daughter has not mentioned this at all in the context of feeling pressure to take classes that she has no interest in. She is currently taking a wide variety of subjects to give herself exposure to potential majors, but she is doing that because she wants to, not because she feels expected to do so. I hope that helps.
As for the rural location–we had visited Grinnell the summer of her junior year in HS. I strongly urge you to visit all schools your student is considering before committing! Yes, the town is small, but she (and we) found it to be charming, and it was exactly the type of environment that she was looking for. We live in a “small” town in Northern CA, but we are close to San Francisco. While it is not the same, Grinnell is close to Des Moines and my daughter has gone there on a number of occasions to see concerts and plays. Between her classes, her sport and the Grinnell Singers, she has found plenty to keep her busy and she is far from bored.
As for the racial issues that impacted Grinnell in the fall–yes–that situation was real and extremely disturbing. My daughter is not a POC, but she has friends who are and we were all infuriated by the intolerance that the guilty parties exhibited. The college addressed it in a variety of ways in an effort to increase safety on campus, find and prosecute the guilty parties (which has not yet happened) and let the world know, in no uncertain terms, that this was unacceptable. I’m sure there are people who do not think that the college did enough, and that is certainly up for discussion. As I mentioned in my original post, Grinnell is not perfect, but no college is. I hear similar stories from students and their parents at other colleges/universities. While this certainly does not make it acceptable, I point this out because Grinnell is not alone. There is still much work to do–in many places.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions or if I did not adequately address your original concerns. Congratulation again!
1 Like
Thank you for the detailed reply - much appreciated.
1 Like
My pleasure!
i graduated from grinnell last may, so i’m happy to answer any questions as well (if need be)
3 Likes
Did anyone accepted get this in their finaid checklist?
“Awaiting X Other: Contact Office”
By requirement, Grinnell students may complete no more than 39% of their course credits in any one department and no more than 74% of their credits in any one academic division (presuming a standard course load):
https://catalog.grinnell.edu/content.php?catoid=12&navoid=3643
For general information, this site, which includes Grinnell, provides an introduction to some colleges with notably flexible curricula: