<p>Hi guys, I'm narrowing down my college list and for the moment I only have one spot on my common app. Which do you think is better for me. I want to major in biology. I like RPI because of their seven-year PhD program. Grinnell is an amazing school and is great for all subjects (I think). I just don't know anymore. Can you please help me?</p>
<p>Booberry, you may be the only person in America right now weighing Grinnell vs. RPI! 
They’re very different. Consider this from Princeton Review:</p>
<p>"Grinnell undergrads describe themselves and their classmates as “students interested in social justice and having a good time.” They tend to be “highly intelligent, motivated, and inquisitive” students who constantly challenge one another “to examine topics from different perspectives. This constant thinking outside of the box is a primary aspect of a true liberal arts education.” Grinnellians “are frequently left-leaning, but there’s not a typical Grinnell student. All the students are different, so there are few issues with fitting in.” Intellect and intensity are the most frequent common denominators; as one student explains, “I’ve heard that every single student is a nerd about something. Perhaps that is what unites us—our passion, whether that be for a sport, academic subject, Joss Whedon, foam-sword fighting, or politics. We all respect that we have different interests but bond because we are interested rather than apathetic, therefore interesting and unique.” </p>
<p>"The typical RPI student may be considered ‘nerdy’ by the liberal arts world, but being a nerd is totally cool here, says a senior, and right he is. Nerds abound, but “There are a large number of ‘normal’ people as well, and each year, the percent of females in each incoming class increases.” While the three-to-one guy-to-girl gender gap may be narrowing, it’s still pretty wide, meaning that the typical student at RPI remains “a white male. They might be into sports, video games, drinking, Greek life, computers, RPG, or whatever, but they’re an overwhelming aspect of campus.” Girls seem pretty fine with the student body makeup: “I do not find the ratio overwhelming at all,” says one. The growing minority population includes “many Asian and Indian students.” One benefit of the student body being on the small side is that it allows “tight-knit relationships among students…to be established.”</p>
<p>Hi this is random and I’m new how do you open a thread?</p>
<p>Thank you for responding gadad! I’m still not sure though. Shanicerzz, I think you click on a forum and it says “new thread” somewhere, so click on that.</p>
<p>These are two such different schools. As Gadad says, you are probably one of the few who are interested in both. RPI has more than 5,000 undergrads and more than 2,000 graduate students (total pop. 7,500). Grinnell has 1,800 undergrads. RPI is less than 1/3 women. Grinnell is roughly 50/50. RPI has frats - Grinnell has none. RPI offers business, engineering, architecture and other ‘professionally-oriented’ areas of studies - Grinnell is purely liberal arts. Troy has a population of 76,000 or so vs. 9,000 for Grinnell.</p>
<p>People who want the RPI experience are not usually the people who are looking for the Grinnell experience. What draws you to both besides good biology depts?</p>
<p>Well there’s the BS/PhD program for RPI and I have to admit I’m a bit nerdy but at the same time I want to get the most out of college, including academics. The reason why I’m attracted to Grinnell is the fact that I can do sciences and still be able to have top notch liberal arts academics. I’m really confused right now, I wish I were more decisive :(</p>
<p>Any chance you could visit either or both? Sit in on some classes? Get a feel for each environment?</p>
<p>I’d be more likely to visit RPI because it’s in NY as for Grinnell, I’m basically stuck with my friend’s opinions and research unless they have some diversity day thing, because I can’t afford to fly to Iowa.</p>
<p>7 yr phd is not worth it. much will change between now and in few years. i will choose a college based on 4 yr undergrad degree. and for biology, grinnel is much better. if you do well you’ll get into phd somewhere good (why get stuck in troy for 7 years of your life?!). if you don’t do well, you don’t want to do phd.</p>
<p>I see what you mean. My mom just sat me down for a little chat and told me that she’s worried about me over stressing myself. I think I’m going to choose Grinnell.</p>
<p>Take the time to go the colleges. If you are this confused, nothing will solidify your choice more than visiting the schools. BOTH of them. My kid got into 7 schools and we visited 6 of them. These tours were without question critical to our decision making. On paper UCLA looked great. After the tour and orientation, we knew that it was NOT a match and we marked it off our list. We had very little interest in Cal Poly Pomona and even less interest in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo when we started and after the tours and orientation, these school soared to number one and number two.</p>
<p>Ultimately we chose Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and turned down 5 UC offers including UCLA and UC San Diego. What happens on a tour is that you get a real feel for the school, the students, the teachers and the culture. You get to see the town and taste the food. You tour the dorms and you see everything both good and bad (if you do the tour right and ask the right questions).</p>
<p>Can you imagine going to Grinnell sight unseen and hating it?</p>
<p>Grinnell is a strong contender for the strongest sciences at any LAC, and IIRC Biology is one of the three most common majors. If you fit into the campus culture (not everyone does) and don’t mind living in the middle of a cornfield for four years, definitely go for Grinnell.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I’m incredibly biased. Lol.</p>
<p>
What other schools are you applying to?</p>
<p>Biology is a cookie-cutter major, and most top schools will have strong programs. Certainly many LACs - Carleton, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Middlebury, etc. - have programs as good or better than Grinnell’s. If you have several LACs on your list already, it might make sense to apply to a university. If you have several universities on your list, it might make sense to apply to a LAC. </p>
<p>It would also help to know your stats and/or financial need. RPI is more generous with merit aid than Grinnell, but Grinnell has better financial aid.</p>
<p>"Certainly many LACs - Carleton, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Middlebury, etc. - have programs as good or better than Grinnell’s. If you have several LACs on your list already, it might make sense to apply to a university. If you have several universities on your list, it might make sense to apply to a LAC. </p>
<p>It would also help to know your stats and/or financial need. RPI is more generous with merit aid than Grinnell, but Grinnell has better financial aid."</p>
<p>Source? Where are you getting this information?</p>
<p>^agreed. cite your sources for such a flippant remark. M’s Mom is a parent of student at Grinnell, so she is speaking from direct experience.</p>
<p>I am also a parent of a very happy Grinnellian. I agree completely that you need to visit before deciding whether to attend, but note that my son did not visit until after he was accepted. (coincidentally, it was the only school he applied to without visiting first!)</p>
<p>I wonder why you can only add one more school to your app, though. Does your high school limit the number of colleges to which you can apply?</p>
<p>Frankly, I don’t think it’s that odd that you have both these schools on your list. I actually think it’s good to have a variety of options to choose from come next April. What you think you want now might not be how you feel later.</p>
<p>btw, while I’m obviously not on campus, i think that Princeton Review description of Grinnell is spot on; or at least it’s a description of my own son, and what I think he likes about the place.</p>
<p>
I’m well aware that she’s a Grinnell parent. Among LACs, the exuberance of certain posters for Grinnell is exceeded only by those for Holy Cross, which is admittedly a tough act indeed to follow. </p>
<p>As for the “flippant” remark, I checked the CDS before posting. I see no reason to spout off about a college based on my own purported knowledge. </p>
<p>Tuition + Room/Board
RPI: $48,400 (assuming double)
Grinnell: $49,144 </p>
<p>Percentage of class with need
RPI: 65.8%
Grinnell: 73.5%</p>
<p>Percentage of class with merit scholarship and no need
RPI: 32.2%
Grinnell: 14.5%</p>
<p>Average merit scholarship
RPI: $14,085
Grinnell: $10,145</p>
<p>Athletic scholarships
RPI: 13, $44,186 each
Grinnell: 0</p>
<p>As one can see, RPI provides more and bigger scholarships to its students not receiving financial aid. In fact, virtually all students without financial aid received a merit scholarship, whereas at Grinnell, roughly half of those students do not. RPI comes out ahead even if one accounts for the ~8% more students Grinnell has on financial aid. </p>
<p>One could argue that Grinnell is far more generous with its merit scholarships to students on financial aid, I suppose, but that is something for which I would like to see evidence.</p>
<p>I think I’m going to apply to both and see what happens after. Thank you very much everyone!</p>