<p>Ask about me about anything- college life, partying, professors, admissions e.t.c! I'll be more than pleased to answer!</p>
<p>~bumpity</p>
<p>My D is a jr in hs. She visited Grinnell this summer with my sister and niece (who is a sr in hs). My D was along for the ride (with visits also to Carleton and Macalester). She didn't interview, really only got the admissions office pitch and interacted with the student tour guide, but she fell in love with the place. Even after visits to a host of other schools, Grinnell is the top of her list. We plan to visit in Sept 07 of her sr yr when classes are in session.</p>
<p>Concerns I have had are:
1) Since we live in Ohio, transportation accessibility both for her and for us to come to visit.
2) Admissions: she is at a hs that has been consistently ranked in two to three lists (including Wash Post) as one of the top 150 public high schools in the country. She is in honors and AP. Has a 4.125 on a 4.0 scale. Just took her jr yr PSAT, but on her soph yr PSAT she was in 92%. SAT and ACT will be later this year. Has one AP score so far in a Euro Hist of a 4. Also, is a vocal music focus student in the visual and performing arts magnet program which housed and generally academically integrated into the hs. Has sung in Europe and China over three years. Is 1st chair oboe in the metro youth symph, and is an excellent pianist. (We visited College of Wooster last week. She was in the intro to music theory class, and answered a question the regular 15 Wooster students couldn't. The prof made the point to the class she was a hs sr. She got a shocked look from him and a groan from the class when she said she was a jr! That gave her a feeling of confidence in handling college classes. She also visited a Pol Sci class and felt comfortable with her own awareness in the class discussion.) She is student govt sec and is active in tutoring in a low-income school setting, is on the tennis team (more for the comraderie than her ability to play tennis), and the women's syncrhonized swim club. SO...I have tried to prepare her for the reality of Grinnell admissions by telling her that students like her are a dime a dozen of kids applying to Grinnell and that it may be like being the lottery if she would be admitted. What would be your thoughts on my observation about her Grinnell chances?
3) And then if she would be admitted...financial aid. I read Grinnell has the bucks, but in other setting am hearing that they are shifting their financial aid emphasis from merit to a more need based foundation. Any comments on that?</p>
<p>Thanks for joining in this conversation.</p>
<p>How would you describe the student body? Is there a lot of different types of people (not just ethnically), or does the student body seem to be pretty similar? Describe your typical Friday night for me.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi, this comes over a week after you posted this board so I'm not sure whether or not you are still taking questions. If you are, I would like to ask one, but I would like to apologize in advance for the seemingly shallow nature of this question. </p>
<p>Okay, here goes. What is the weather like in Grinnell? Specifically, what are the winters like? I won't be able to visit before I apply, if I apply, because of my location and last-minute planning tendencies so I want to get the full picture of the campus and I feel this is not something I see answered on college websites. :)</p>
<p>Feel free to be totally honest with me because my own personal weather preferences may or may not be what you would expect! :)</p>
<p>Thank you! (I won't be totally offended if you don't answer this considering the date of this post.)</p>
<p>We are from Michigan - and my son finds the weather to be better than here. Winters are slightly warmer - but much sunnier. You can get very precise information on weather.com.</p>
<p>Deloar - we're also from the midwest - and transportation to and from has been a challenge. The school runs shuttles to the airport about 4 times a day around breaks, but sometimes the kids end up waiting around in the airport for a couple of hours. If your kid knows this going in, then maybe it won't be a problem. Your daughter sounds like she has a good chance of being admitted and, in terms of aid, Grinnell is trying to move toward more financial aid and less merit aid. I don't know for sure - but I imagine they will need to continue to offer merit aid to attract top students.</p>
<p>Bumpity:
Thanks for offering to take questions. My son has visited, met with a coach and a professor, and is very interested in Grinnell. One big unknown for him is the level of playing in the instrumental ensembles. Have you ever heard the orchestra, band or jazz ensemble perform or do you know anyone in these groups that could comment on their level of satisfaction with the music experience there? He isn't looking for conservatory level but wants something better than high school.<br>
Thanks for any information you can share.</p>