Thanks so much! My son got in to Whitman today with a good offer, so that helps a little (more options the better). I really appreciate your responses. I’m definitely more stressed than he son is.
I read today that almost 150 would be taking part in this weekend’s program that is only for “a select group of candidates who are being notified of their admission early.” Congratulations to all you Early Writes! ^:)^
weather forecast says rain on Mon morning. So, better take umbrella with you all. Luckily Sunday temp would in 50s and Mon be around 48s. Luckily we be escaping the snow expect to fall on Tue 
@Grinnelladmit - My D got a Why Grinnell email on January 22 and response was due Jan 29th if I recall. They said it was optional and it had to be short. Good luck!
Several interesting insights here:
http://www.thesandb.com/article/first-of-the-class-of-2022-admitted.html
After reading the student newspaper article:
- 7,345 applicants for the Class of 2022 (second highest ever and a big increase over last year)
- The size of the Class of 2021 is 449. If the Class of 2022 has a similar number of spots and Admissions anticipates similar yields to past years, this year's admit rate will be around 20%, as it was for the Class of 2020
- 184 spots (41%) have already been filled through early decision
- 427 RD applicants received "early writes"
- Presumably, the early writes are the top applicants who will have the most and best alternative choices. Yields from that group are likely relatively low. I would presume 85 or fewer would come from that group of 427.
- That should leave 180 or more spots for the rest of the RD pool
- Bagnoli says the early writes approach helps spread out options for college visits. Visiting Grinnell is critical for enrollment and they want to make sure top students have opportunities to visit in what's likely to be a crowded spring schedule of college visits for most students
I strongly agree that enticing visits is particularly important for Grinnell. Many of the factors that differentiate it from other top LACs don’t show up well on paper. Unpretentious, friendly, open minded students; intellectually stimulating atmosphere; highly supportive faculty and staff; incredible facilities. Many students, especially from large cities, find that Grinnell’s perceived weakness (it’s rural Iowa location) is in many ways a strength and something they will come to love about Grinnell.
Tidbits from the Scarlet and Black interview with Grinnell Dean of Admission, Joe Bagnoli:
- Grinnell received 7,345 applications for the Class of 2022, the second highest number ever
- By my math, if the Class of 2022 has the same number of spots as the Class of 2021 (449) and if Grinnell projects similar yields, the admission rate should be around 20% this year
- 184 spots (41%) have already been filled through early decision
- 427 early admissions from the RD round have already been issued. Given these are likely top applicants with the most and best alternatives, perhaps another 85 spots will be filled by these early admits.
- That would leave 180 spots remaining
- Grinnell uses the RD early admit process to better space out visits in the crowded spring visit season and hopefully encourage more visits from top students. Bagnoli mentions that visits are very important for decisions to attend Grinnell.
I agree that visits are critical for Grinnell. On paper, many of the qualities that contrast Grinnell from other top LACs are not readily apparent: the unpretentious, open minded, friendly students; the intellectually stimulating atmosphere; the supportive and helpful faculty and staff; the impressive facilities. We did the classic LAC circuit tours with my son last year. Lots of great schools in neat locations, but the overnight visit to Grinnell, staying with student hosts in the dorms, meeting tons of people and going to classes sealed the deal for my son. He’s loving Grinnell as a first year student.
Also, many cite Grinnell’s rural Iowa location as its biggest weakness. On a visit, students see the activities, the diversity, the large international representation. On campus, it’s very cosmopolitan. They also see, hear and feel how the low stress, rural location has its own charms and is integral to the school’s character.
@Andrew2199, Wow~, very insightful info. We be there this weekend with my D18. We r sunny California, so cold, snow be something we need to adjust to. She be staying overnight with a host also. Let’s see how it goes, God willing.
Want to ask those of you whose kids had done overnight stay in dorm with a host, do you think it’s a good idea to take a small gift for the host student, candy box or so? Or school doesn’t encourage it?
@Andrew2199 , thank you for the information. We arrived late last night for this weekends program. I am hoping my daughter loves it here, but the rural location is definitely a factor for her. Hopefully she will be convinced that it is not an issue.
@sanjosedad , my daughter did not bring a gift for her host and never has at any of the other schools she has visited. I have never thought about bringing a gift.
@sanjosedad My two Ds always brought a small gift - local chocolate - to their hosting student
@pcmom1 Didn’t even cross my mind with everything else! Hopefully they won’t be the only ones :-S
Any parents go to the early admit event? Please share your experience. I would have loved to go to the meet and greet! ;))
@Meddy, we just came back from the event last nite. It was very hectic for us, flying all the way from Bay Area, CA on Sun early morning and returning on Mon nite! We arrived at the campus around 4:30p on Sunday. After registration, my daughter went off to the dorm with her hostess student. There was a reception for parents by college president. We had a little bit of bad luck with weather on Mon. There was strong gusty wind and rain most of Mon morning. We were planning to take a campus tour, but decided to against it. So, just attended sessions inside. Most of the activities are in JRC bldg. So, you don’t have to move around much. Food places are also in the same bldg. The campus size is decent , comapare to student size. Grinnell is a very small town, the school is in surrounded by Grinnell population. There isn’t much places for the students to go outside the campus. So, they seems to stay inside the campus, study, eat, partying etc. Attaching program schedule, so you may get an idea it. Few new things learned during the session. Spring break is two weeks. They have a program for those freshman and sophomore students who are still undecided about their career paths, the school will arrange sending them to shadow program with an Alumni. Students will spend two weeks with the Alumni at his/her work place, to help them decide about a career path. They also arranged group tours of science students(Math/CompScience etc.) to visit Google, Ebay, Intel in Silicon valley and get a close experience with the high tech companies. No many parents traveled with the students.
@sanjosedad What were your D18’s impressions? We picked up our daughter at 10pm and the hour drive from the airport was filled with lots of chatter. She thoroughly enjoyed her host student who was kind enough to invite her along with her and friends. She even bought her coffee. Lovely impression of current students.
Oh~, I forgot your daughter is attending also. Our D18 also had a positive impression. She enjoyed her time staying in the dorm, enjoyed some Improv performance, music etc. late nite. She was happy to hear about few of the things I posted in my previous posting this morning. But she wants to wait to hear back from all other colleges and financial aid package before she will decide which one to pick. She even made 2/3 friends from Michigan, Chicago. One thing she mentioned, the host told them due to the event, the food quality went up a bit compare to regular standard! I guess school was trying to impress the incoming students and their families
I also went with my daughter. We flew in Saturday so we wouldn’t be rushed on Sunday. We went to brunch in town on Sunday morning at one of the local restaurants. It was good, not great, but there were lots of students there. We got to campus at around 2:30 to sign in and do the 3:00 tour. The entire program was fine, but my daughter did not love Grinnell like I thought she would. She texted me Sunday night around 8:30 and said she didn’t love it there. I didn’t love it there either, but of course I did not let her know that. She did attend 2 classes on Monday and a few of the panels. But, she crossed it off her list after this visit. She thought the food was ok, but certainly not the best campus food we have had. The parents reception was nice and it was great meeting and talking to other parents.
@pcmom1 Can you elaborate on what you and D didn’t like? My D was also an early write and did an over night a couple of months ago. She didn’t love it either but I think she has grown to like it more. For us though, it doesn’t seem like it is going to be an affordable option…so probably fine that she didn’t fall head over heels.
@megawillmae , I am not sure I can pin point any specific things that she and I didn’t like. She just didn’t get that “This is the place” feeling. I also don’t know that she was thrilled with what her host and her hosts friends decided to do on Sunday night instead of going to the planned events. I think she may have been a little bit bored. She said the classes she visited were fine and she liked the people she met, but it just is not the right place for her.