I think rankings, resources, endowment wise, Grinnell is better than Bates; just sheer numbers. And then for half the price?
One other difference that we remember from our visit to Bates is that they work on a 4-4-1 schedule. Does that matter to OP’s D? Unless there is something unique like that that is attractive, I think Grinnell wins here.
I find the 4-4-1 schedule confusing.
Many colleges located in rural or semi-rural cold weather locations used to have a 4-1-4 academic schedule in which the month of January was a separate term during which students took just one course that met 5 days a week or was used for study abroad.
In the context of this thread, I view the 4-4-1 schedule as a negative for Bates College as May should be quite pleasant in Lewiston, Maine while January calls for some marine science study in the Florida Keys or a month in Colorado studying the physics involved in downhill skiing or learning to speak French to French girls in France or Montreal.
However, if the month of May was used to get a head start at an internship, working for course credit rather than for money, then that makes the 4-4-1 schedule look attractive.
Many stay on campus for the 1/May and take interesting, fun classes. I think most Bates students would tell you they love the 4-4-1 schedule and definitely don’t see it as a negative.
@homerdog , Bates and Grinnell are much closer culturally than Grinnell and Bowdoin.
That’s a lot of money to walk away from-but let me ask-does your daughter want to run XC in college? Is that a factor in her decision-making? Don’t know about Grinnell, but Bates has an established womens XC team, D3, in a competitive league.
I’m kind of wishing Grinnell were on our list right about now. But my mother keeps saying, “he wouldn’t have been happy all the way out in Iowa” (She actually went to college near there and taught school for a year not too far from Grinnell, so it’s not a dig at Iowa, just her opinion that my kid would not be happy in a rural location so far from home and family )
So, @wyorafter, if your daughter has no problem spending 4 years in the middle of Iowa, then go Grinnell.
Bates is a lovely school, but Grinnell has dramatically superior resources which contribute to all kinds of positives for student life, from the facilities, to funded internship programs, to guest speakers, performers etc. I haven’t checked in the last year or so, but Grinnell’s endowment is over $1.5 billion and Bates was around $300 million. Plus, Grinnell has a diverse student body and fantastic academics. In my house, I could not imagine paying more for Bates. Grinnell, Iowa is, to my mind at least (your mileage may vary) a charming midwest town 2-3 blocks from campus with all the necessaries for college life – pizza, bike shop, doughnut shop, great grocery store with extensive organic offerings. Both my kids loved Grinnell, we must have visited 6+ times between the two of them, and my LAC kid did visit Bates twice so we have some basis for comparison.
You had me at " pizza & doughnut shop".
Funny, Bowdoin was her first choice. After being deferred in ED, she was rejected. She’s also wait-listed at Carleton, Colby, Middlebury and Dartmouth, which, I cannot lie, is fogging up this decision. I would say of her five wait-lists, Bates was probably her fifth choice (among five very strong choices…) But as of now, only Bates has come calling. She has visited all the campuses.
@publisher, apologies for my imprecise phrasing. Pizza shop, doughnut shop etc. . . . though a combination sounds too perfect.
Maybe I’ve been living in the midwest too long, but Grinnell, the town, has charm – 2 story brick buildings, retail on the ground floor, often apartments on the second floor. There is an actual movie theater which plays new releases. There is a community band shell in the park where there are summer concerts (our first visit was in the summer). The grocery store – 3 blocks from campus – is fabulous, lots of organic, all natural, and imported products (not that the students are picking up European treats). The few mile stretch from the interstate into town itself is disheartening – a large John Deere distributorship, a mid-range hotel, and a Walmart and not much else. But once you swing onto the actual town streets, it is quite lovely.
@wyorafter wow. That’s a lot of waitlists. Did she take spots at all of those? I think it’s really hard to deal with a multiple waitlist situation. What if you accept Bates and then a school she likes even better gives her an offer? I would say, if Bates was near the bottom of her pecking order of waitlists, she should decline.
@homerdog, the answer to the above is she’ll forfeit another deposit. It would be foolhardy to pass up one WL acceptance because another might come through. Because it may not.
So right now, only Bates and Grinnell are on the table.
I agree, forget the other waitlists. Right now, they are not options, and are not likely to be options. She should proceed as though they won’t happen
@wyorafter I have a son at Grinnell. We also visited Bates. Setting aside cost, I’d pick Grinnell. It’s a great school. Given the huge price difference, the choice seems especially clear.
The XC team at Grinnell (men’s and women’s) is very close, has a lot of fun and would provide an instant friend group. And a student doesn’t need to be top flight to be on the team.
@wyorafter,
What does your daughter say?
So, GSGal, is your advice to take the Bates offer, pay the deposit, and wait until a later date to see if she comes off another waitlist, then forfeit whatever deposit(s) you need to when making a final decision?
@wyorafter
^^ your DD CAN’T have deposits at 2 colleges at the same time.
It s the same as saying “yes” to 2 colleges, which is forbidden.
Your DD needs to EITHER accept the Bates offer now, which also means letting Grinnell she won’t be coming, OR declining the Bates offer.
With college acceptances, you can’t “have your cake and eat it too”.
Does she prefer Bates to Grinnell? Is the money not an issue? If so, she should deposit at Bates and immediately notify Grinnell that she is not enrolling.
FWIW, my D was in a similar position almost three years ago. She deposited at Bates, and immediately notified the other school that she wouldn’t be attending. I then made her take the other college’s bumper sticker off the car to seal the deal.
^^ yes, but if $$ IS an issue, she should stick with Grinnell until she does hear from any other WL schools. She can always back out from Grinnell before the first semester tuition $$ is due.
She should also check the recent history of WL #'s at the other WL colleges from their Common Data Sets- see if they have a history of offering thousands of students places on their WL, but end up accepting only a few. If that is the case, then the chances of her clearing the WL should be viewed as being very low.
One never knows how much “summer melt” will end up actually happening.
@menloparkmom , I think the OP said her D is on the WL for a bunch of LACs and Dartmouth.
Historically, if those schools take kids from WL, it might be in the single digits. In some years, several of those colleges take 0, in others, maybe in the teens. It is impossible to look at previous years’ data and try to determine if there is a chance of getting off WL. The overwhelming majority of students will not get off WL. Bates admitted 0 from the waitlist last year, but three years ago, they offered over 40. Carleton offered over 30 students a spot off WL last year, but three years ago, they offered 2.
If OP’s daughter is hedging her bets on WL, she might be in for a long and anxious wait. Students who are pining for WL spots aren’t as able to get excited about the college they plan to attend. I get the impression that Grinnell isn’t the OP’s top choice and she’s hoping for something “better”, but I hope I’m wrong.
ETA: @publisher, I literally do not know of a single person who views Bates short term as a negative. Not one, and I think by now I know a lot about Bates and I know a lot of Bates people. It is universally loved by everyone who is involved with Bates. It is a big selling point for Bates, as far as I am aware.