<p>I am throwing this out for discussion at the last minute. If you had the choice, money was the same, field was economics + an interest in business which would you chose?</p>
<p>I believe there is more diversity at Grinnell, that would sway my decision (but San Antonio is nice).</p>
<p>D was accepted at Trinity and we visited there. Love SA, and Trinity because it is so small, it gives wonderful personal attention. And the dorms are really nice, too.</p>
<p>Also a vote for Trinity... don't know anything about Grinnell, but I'll bet Trinity is less expensive anyway. They have a very good business/economics/international studies program, from what I hear. They also have a hugely popular study abroad program. We visited last weekend for their admitted student's weekend, and I was very impressed with the level of personal attention students receive. Extremely helpful staff, professors, students, great dorms, really good food in the cafeteria. My D is going. Plus, there's the San Antonio weather, culture, and friendly Texans :)</p>
<p>If this helps from the PR, looks to be close in terms of academic quality of peer group with an edge to Grinnell.</p>
<p>Grinnell College
Freshmen Academic Profile
Average SAT: Not Reported
SAT - Verbal Range (25-75%): 640-750
SAT - Math Range (25-75%): 640-730
TPR Projected Range SAT Writing: 660-740
ACT Composite Range (25-75%): 29-33
Students in top 10% of HS class: 73%
Students in top 50% of HS class: 99%
Students from Public School: 69%</p>
<p>Trinity University
Freshmen Academic Profile
SAT - Verbal Range (25-75%): 600-690
SAT - Math Range (25-75%): 620-690
TPR Projected Range SAT Writing: 630-690
ACT Composite Range (25-75%): 27-31
Students in top 10% of HS class: 51%
Students in top 50% of HS class: 97%
Students from Public School: 65%</p>
<p>Trinity actually has a business school, which I don't think Grinnell has. Plus it has a better location (imo).</p>
<p>I am going to pass all this along to a young lady who will be making a decision very shortly. Thank you all for your responses! Keep it coming.</p>
<p>Wow, I expected more support for Grinnell!
I'm a good source for this matter, as I've visited both schools (though I didn't apply to Trinity). Both have beautiful campuses. Trinity has the edge in both the weather and Mexican food department. However, I got a bad vibe from Trinity. I may have just met a few bad eggs, but my impression of the students at Trinity was that they were a bit stuck-up.
I would pick Grinnell (oh wait... I did) personally. But it's her call! I think either one is a solid choice.</p>
<p>PS- What is Trinity ranked on the USNews list?</p>
<h1>1 Southern University - Masters</h1>
<p>All things being equal:</p>
<p>Grinnell. It has one of the top-10 per student endowments of any college or university in the country. As with most things, the old adage, "follow the money", applies to higher education. Grinnell has more money than they can spend.</p>
<p>It depends where she wants to live her life. If she is a Texan and wants to remain a Texan, by all means Trinity. If she wants the world- Grinnell!!</p>
<p>The kids from our HS go to both and this is a complete delineation....</p>
<p>I would pick Grinnell in an instance</p>
<p>Grinnell has an excellent economics department with one course in Financial/Managerial accounting and one Corporate Finance class but no business school. I believe that Trinity offers free maid service in its dormitories. Grinnell is located in an isolated small town in Iowa with an extremely liberal student body while Trinity is located in a moderately large city with a major league sports teams and a more political moderate student body. Most of what CAL302 said about Trinity is also true of Grinnell:"high level of personal attention from professors, staff, and students; nice dorms, and hugely popular study abroad programs". Grinnell may have a few "friendly Texans" but has a more diverse student body including a large number of international students. I would assume that few students who would be comfortable at Grinnell would also feel at home at Trinity since they appear to have little in common other than being good small schools. I doubt they have a lot of overlap in applications.</p>
<p>I hear stuck-up and I hear friendly. Welcome to the two sides of the TX personality, and it is both sometimes. I live in OK and have a friend whose daughter (a Jr.) LOVES Trinity. As for my son, he doesn't do TX, so he is going north to school. I would suggest you consider that regional as well as school feel if you can. Trinity doesn't make the rankings near like Grinnel but I think it has a lot of $. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Both Grinnell and Trinity are excellent schools that have a lot of money. Grinnell has an endowment of around 1.3 billion and Trinity around 650 million. Grinnell is ranked higher in U.S. News primarily because the average admitted Grinnell student has a higher GPA, class rank, and standardized test score than the average admitted Trinity student although there is a fair amount of overlap as you can see by the statistics posted by idad.<br>
Although Grinnell itself has money, it meets 100% of the demonstrated need of all admitted students. It has many students who are receiving substantial financial aid. Since virtually all campus activities are free and there really isn't any place to spend money in the town of Grinnell (except Wal-Mart and a few downtown shops that close at 5 PM), the campus lifestyle of all students is pretty much the same regardless of family circumstances. Grinnell has no fraternities or sororities. Visit the campuses if at all possible so that you can a sense of where you best fit in.</p>
<p>Overseas - what is the person was considering Trinity and Grinnell looking for in a college?</p>
<p>Trinity's per student endowment = $260,000
Grinnell's per student endowment = $860,000</p>
<p>That is a significant difference.</p>
<p>ID, Do you think that would affect a student's financial aid through years 2 to 4?</p>
<p>Per student endowment affects everything. It basically drives the budget because roughly 4% to 5% of the per student endowment goes directly into the per student operating expense budget. That's a serious chunk of change. Schools with larger per student endowments are generally less reliant on per student revenues (tuition, etc.) and can take more financial aid students or offer larger per student discounts.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong. Trinity has a very handsome per student endowment. But, three times more is three times more.</p>
<p>I'm not saying go to the higher per student endowment school if you clearly prefer the other school. But, if you truly can't decide, picking the school with a much larger per student endowment is better than flipping a coin.</p>
<p>They have very different student bodies, so I would have to know the student making this decision to give advice. Academically, they are both excellent choices, but they are very different in terms of campus culture. </p>
<p>Trinity tends to attract very middle of the road to conservative students, Grinnell tends to attract more liberal and quirky students. You won't see many (if any) kids with purple hair and piercings at Trinity, but then you won't see many girls in skirts and high heels at Grinnell either. Trinity has sororities and fraternities, Grinnell doesn't. Grinnell pulls a more national student body, and also has more international students. Trinity is trying to attract more geographic diversity but hasn't yet gotten there -- it's still mainly texans. </p>
<p>Again, it really depends on the student involved, and where she'd feel most comfortable. If she's an international, however, I think I would lean towards Grinnell simply because they have a larger population of internationals and thus are probably a little better at helping them adapt and do well.</p>
<p>Carolyn - Excellent point. I would agree that the primary difference between the schools is cultural. Although you might not see women in skirts and high heels at Grinnell, you are likely to see men in that attire at the annual Mary B. James Cross-dressing ball. Grinnell is an extremely supportive community for gay students. It is rumored that there may be four or five Republicans attending Grinnell but most students are well left of center.</p>
<p>A look at a listing of student organizations at Grinnell will give you a sense of the school's culture.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.grinnell.edu/student/groups/%5B/url%5D">http://www.grinnell.edu/student/groups/</a></p>
<p>A student who admires George W. Bush, enjoys frat parties, and wants to see pro basketball will probably not feel comfortable at Grinnell.</p>
<p>Compare the listing of student organizations at Trinity to those at Grinnell.</p>
<p>One simple way of determining what school is a better fit is to look at the listing of clubs each school offers. I think this is a simple way of getting a sense of their respective cultures.</p>