@Grinnellhopeful “We realized last night that we left off the fact that her highly selective choir received top scores at competition each year. I don’t know if we can add that now or not?”
You can certainly e-mail this to whomever is in charge of the choir. That stuff definitely does not hurt! Actually the Dean of Admission’s daughter was very active in Grinnell’s choir (or maybe a Capella choir) I believe. We went to a presentation a while back and he spoke about it in depth.
@IBviolamom Beloit keeps coming up. I will talk to my daughter about it when she gets home. @Cornellian88 We know Grinnell is a reach. We know there is a chance she won’t get in. However, we heard great feedback from her rep who said my D was a “fit”. My D also feels like it is a fit for her.
I think she’ll probably just hang tight another 16 days and if she is rejected we will have learned a lesson from it.
My other daughter is a Sophomore in HS and I am learning so much that I didn’t know but she is benefiting because she will be better prepared.
@cornellian88 do you work in admissions? You have some really great knowledge into the process. There is a thread somewhere on here where people are looking for insight into the ED process.
I appreciate you’re insight. It will be hard to look at our State school after getting so involved and hopeful about Grinnell. But it’s a good school and she has already been admitted into the Honor College, which will make it seem like a small school within a big school.
I’m really going to take a look at Beloit and pass the info on to her.
Thanks to all!
No I am not in Admissions but I have volunteered with Admissions for my alma mater for almost 30 years. Some of my learnings are from those experiences , many though are a result of our current journey with our son.
I thought of two other items to share, less for you but more for the users that may stumble on this thread in the future.
Prior to the start of application season we pulled together a spreadsheet that listed all of the colleges my son was applying to as well as all of their application due/reply dates (ED, EA and RD) as well as the critical school holiday dates. Our first round was the ED application as well as any EA applications we could process. We are now closing in on the second round and noted that the RD dates for the remaining schools fall during or shortly after our Winter Break. I am reaching out to our HS counselor to identify his drop dead date for transcript requests.
In order to cover all our bases in the event ED doesn’t work out we need to be in a position to process all remaining applications during Winter Break. That means requesting transcripts well before our counselor leaves for the holidays. Worst case/ best case these schools will receive only the transcripts but not my sons Common app if his ED application works out.
Also: take trip over to collegedata.com they have a great breakdown of stats for each college including selection factors:
https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=997
I plan to pull all of my posts together and share on another thread. I also have a friend with a daughter in a similar situation as yours (soph, small school district, inexperienced counselors, focus on CC and State school etc) who I will share all theses learnings with.
@Grinnellhopeful Schools with overlapping vibe to Grinnell include Beloit, Knox, Kalamazoo, Earlham, and Wooster.
Earlham and Knox both have EA non binding admission deadlines tomorrow, Dec 1, are on the Common App, are test optional and give merit awards. I don’t recall if they have supplemental essays. Consider quick Common App applications to both, to have some alternatives in the works if Grinnell ED does not work out. I very much hope you and your daughter get good news from Grinnell, but there is no down side to getting other EA applications submitted while waiting.
Seconding what @Midwestmomofboys said.
@Midwestmomofboys Can we apply EA when we have applied ED1?
@Cornellian88 great tip regarding transcripts. Although, and again forgive me of my ignorance, if the schools use the common app won’t everything already be in there?
@Grinnellhopeful - Anything your kid, personally, ENTERED in the Common App will carry over. (Be sure the main essay does not specifically reference the wrong school though.)
However, official school transcripts have to be sent on request by the HS. Ditto recommendations. And scores have to be sent by the testing services.
Yes, you can apply EA with a pending ED application.
If there is a “why earlham” or “why knox” supplemental essay, and if she wrote a “why grinnell” essay, then simply adapt the “why grinnell” as there is so much overlap in school culture – in any event, something which focuses on wanting a small, close community, with dedicated faculty. Earlham has strong sciences, a quaker school, no greek life; Knox has just added a new arts facility, and is all about inclusion, while there is greek life, it is small and not “traditional” – much more geeky.
The other steps would be to order test scores to be sent to Earlham and Knox and request that the high school process the transcript request. Please make those requests today! Those don’t have to be received by the school by Dec 1, just initiated.
@porcupine98 – I thought teacher recs were submitted through Common App, so would go with the Common App?
@Midwestmomofboys I believe Grinnell has no supplemental essay…
Can still access Common App from my kid’s cycle – Knox and Earlham do NOT have supplements.
I thought her transcripts were part of the report sent by the GC? He also submitted her 1st quarter grades which are all A’s. I’ll have to ask him to email those to the other schools,
They look like they would both be great fits. However, I don’t know if they would be affordable?
We qualify for application waivers, so I need to check on that as well.
I’m still really concerned because I feel like our ED agreement says that we cannot apply to any other schools aside from state schools.
I will call Grinnell to confirm.
Thank you all for your support!
Yes definitely check your ED agreement for what’s permissible.
Not sure about the recs … it may vary by school … just be sure to check. My recollection was that we needed to work with the GC for that since the number required/permitted varied.
No. Common AP is only one part. Counselors send transcripts and recommendations etc. Go to your application status page on Grinnell s Admissions website, it should list out all of the required info in addition to the common ap. We were given slips by our counseling department that we have to fill out and sign for every school we want materials sent to. Students are only responsible for the common ap and sending standardized test scores.
And yes you can apply EA and RD if you have applied ED. Your only requirement is that you pull all open applications if you are admitted ED. Search the web for the wording of the ED agreement.
I don’t want to lead the OP astray, so please, call Grinnell Admissions and ask whether ED applicants can apply to non-binding EA elsewhere while waiting for ED decision.
I could log into my kid’s old Common App account, add Grinnell, activate ED and read the agreement – it simply says that student must withdraw all other applications once admitted and does not appear to prohibit other applications while waiting.
Please call Admissions to confirm, I would not want to encourage a mis-step.
Also, regarding supplements, MOSTLY you’ll find them in the common app, but some schools, including Grinnell, have been known to add a last-minute mini-essay or other late-breaking requirement via the applicant portal. So check the applicant portal, just in case!
This is the ED Agreement and applicant acknowledgement:
If you are accepted under an Early Decision plan, you must promptly withdraw the applications submitted to other colleges and universities and make no additional applications to any other university in any country. If you are an Early Decision candidate and are seeking financial aid, you need not withdraw other applications until you have received notification about financial aid from the admitting Early Decision institution.
Yes, I have read and understand my rights and responsibilities under the Early Decision Process. I wish to be considered as an Early Decision candidate at Grinnell College. I also understand that with an Early Decision offer of admissions, this institution may share my name and my early commitment with other institutions.
Your child should have electronically signed this in the common app and an email should have been sent to you with the same agreement which you were required to electronically acknowledge.
I don’t want to overwhelm the OP.
A phone call to Grinnell admissions should be able to confirm that Grinnell allows other EA and regular applications pending the ED decision. With that, OP can add Earlham and Knox to Common App schools, fill out the requested info online, check the right boxes so that student part of EA application is on time. Also, complete process for requesting high school to send transcript to those two schools and do anything additionally required to process teacher recs (that may vary by high school). Order test scores for delivery though both are test optional, so not technically necessary. Then, sit back, continue to wait, and hope Grinnell comes through. But at least alternative paths other than the not-satisfying state school are in the works.
@Cornellian88 - Thank you so much for sharing your experience and the knowledge you’ve gleaned from the process! Our only daughter has Grinnell on the top of her list for next year - her hook may be the tennis team…
@tangoman64 we reached out to coaches before junior spring break and used spring break to start the school visit process. Get on their radar early. Meet with as many coaches as you can and ask how they identify recruiting candidates. There may be camps and showcases that your daughter should participate in. Also engage your high school coach and guidance counselor. We were surprised to find out a Grinnell alum (and athlete) was a teacher/coach at our high school. Grinnell is really focused on increasing the number of student athletes that apply ED. Their student paper published an article you might find interesting on that topic. Good luck.
@Cornellian88 - Thanks again! Yes - I did see that article and found it very interesting that Grinnell is pursuing that direction with student athletes. Would be interested in your thoughts as to why. We had a fortuitous opportunity to visit Grinnell about a month ago - D had an injury and had to pull out of a tournament so had a few days booked off - called the tennis coach last minute - so D had a chance to lunch with the team and tour facilities with the coach. At the end of it all the coach offered her a pre-read - so right now Grinnell is at the top of her list.