Grinnell vs. Colby

Colleges and Universities A-Z Grinnell College
1

<p>Hey everyone! I should be decided by now but I'm not so I was hoping I could get more insight here. Grinnell is $2,976 more than Colby for the first year and I would have to do work study. At Colby I'd get first-year perks of free music lessons and a research assistant job. I could use the small amount of money I'd earn at the research assistant job (maximum of $1,800) to take out fewer loans. Money is really important because my cost of college might go up astronomically in future years if my sister doesn't stay enrolled in college.</p>

<p>The problem is that, from what I've read in guidebooks, Grinnell is what I'm looking for in a college. Princeton Review ranks it #3 in "best classroom experience". It's also on the list of "students study the most", "class discussion encouraged", most liberal students", "most politically active students", "LGBT-friendly", and "least religious students". How much weight should I be giving to guidebooks?</p>

<p>Are the differences between teaching at Colby and Grinnell actually not significant? I want to go to grad school to be a research scientist. I know that Grinnell has a high rate of phd production in the life sciences but is that just because more students are more interested in obtaining phds at Grinnell? And would this be offset by the experience I'd get as a research assistant at Colby starting my first year?</p>

<p>With the campus climate, I think that Grinnell would be a better fit but it was hard for me to really tell off of one visit. I was looking for a group of radical liberals to protest with. Overall, I thought the friends I made at Colby and at Grinnell weren't that different. I visited Colby during the Presidential Scholars open house so that might have been why everyone was super passionate about something. The student body in general seemed athletic and preppy. I'm not athletic and come from a diverse public school. At Grinnell, I didn't go to the event with all the early-writes because it was cheaper to go later. The people I met were pretty friendly but I actually didn't meet anyone who was super into politics or anything radical. In fact, the students I was with l groaned when I brought up the subject of feminists. My dorm host seemed to downplay everything I have ever heard about Grinnell. I've seen it be marketed as very much like Reed but after visiting I thought the students were actually mild.</p>

<p>Do you think Grinnell is worth the price difference and turning down a research assistant job for my first year? Is the political activism and liberal attitude at Grinnell exaggerated? Also, will the price difference be significant once I graduate and have to pay off the loans? Any advice or experience that anyone could share would be appreciated.</p>

<p>P.S. Should I go to UC Berkeley or Macalester (haven't visited) instead? They're the same price as Grinnell.</p>

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<p>This is a tough one to answer. I think that on any campus, the students are going to be involved in their day-to-day activities of going to class, doing homework, outside activities, etc., so it might not seem at first blush like it is a hotbed of protest. </p>

<p>However, promoting social justice and a sense of personal responsibility are real values that the college promotes and the students embrace. </p>

<p>At Grinnell, taking action doesn’t necessarily mean “radical protest”(although Grinnellians speak out and speak their minds an awful lot!) but finding ways to solve problems in the world. This starts right with the “self-governance” structure where students learn to live and work together as members of a community. The first place to go to resolve issues is to fellow students, not the administration. I remember being struck by an article in the NY Times about females being harassed at Yale by students yelling things out a window, and students complained that the administration wasn’t doing anything about it – at Grinnell, the students would take the issue on themselves first; they wouldn’t first look to the administration to step in and take care of it. </p>

<p>As an institution, the school provides support for its mission of promoting social justice, most notably through its Social Justice Prize, which not only rewards the winners, but brings them on campus to interact with students through classes and forums and provides internship opportunities.</p>

<p>Not all students at Grinnell will be interested in politics or even in making a difference in the world. But, if this is your interest, you will find ways to do it and willing partners to join you. Students there have a multitude of passions, and what I have found from my son’s experience is that fellow students support, embrace and celebrate whatever individual quirks or interests their friends may pursue. There is no pressure to fit into a particular mold or way of being. (one notable exception: those with right-wing politics would likely not feel comfortable at Grinnell.)</p>

<p>There are absolutely rabid feminists at Grinnell… the groan may have been because of a sense of fatigue with women viewing the world entirely through this prism. It doesn’t mean that the students you met were not strong supporters’ of women’s rights, but perhaps a bit weary of that approach as a means of clear communication and interaction. (I guess that sounds contradictory to my paragraph above. Not sure if i am really explaining all this right: so let me know!). </p>

<p>If you are, indeed, looking for a place where all – or virtually all- of the students spend almost all of their time thinking and acting on political causes, then perhaps Grinnell won’t be right for you. But, I’d be pretty surprised if you could find a campus where this was true. The reality is that college life is a blend of pursuing lofty ideals and down to earth day-to-day living. </p>

<p>One plus about Grinnell is that the Presidential candidates will be coming through Iowa before the caucuses – although if Hillary does decide to run, I guess this advantage will be moot for a Democrat…but if she doesn’t run, you can bet that a few Presidential hopefuls will be coming on to the Grinnell campus (yes, Obama visited it during his first campaign!).</p>

<p>In terms of the research assistant job and free music lessons. At Grinnell, there are lots of opportunities to do research. I don’t know whether any of those opportunities are paid or are strictly academic. Here’s a link to information on music lesson fees at Grinnell:
<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/academics/areas/music/lessons?group=9293”>Private Lessons | Grinnell College;

<p>Since I don’t have personal experience with the other colleges you are considering, I can’t make a comparison. We did visit Macalester, and I thought it was terrific, but I prefer to only offer information on what I know.</p>

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<p>“The problem is that, from what I’ve read in guidebooks, Grinnell is what I’m looking for in a college. Princeton Review ranks it #3 in “best classroom experience”. It’s also on the list of “students study the most”, “class discussion encouraged”, most liberal students”, “most politically active students”, “LGBT-friendly”, and “least religious students”. How much weight should I be giving to guidebooks?"</p>

<p>Absolutely, none. See for yourself. Princeton Review’s methods are highly unscientific and look at college life through rose colored glasses. Seriously, who is Princeton Review to say that students at Grinnell have a “better” classroom experience or more discussion than those at Middlebury, for example? In order to compare, you need to find students who have attended more than one college. Keep in mind that in a few years Princeton Review’s rankings and categories will change. There will be newer and hipper categories. Princeton Review is for entertainment purposes only. Pretty much the same goes for USNWR rankings, especially for LAC’s.</p>

<p>Berkeley and Mac are both good choices too.</p>

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<p>@SDonCC Thank you so much for all the information, I think it really helped me look at this in perspective.</p>

<p>@rhd3rd Okay, that’s very good to know. I guess these rankings aren’t very accurate.</p>

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<p>Here’s another thought for you Collision: if you do prefer Grinnell, but the money differential points you to Colby, why don’t you try contacting the school and see if they can match Colby’s offer? There might be ways to supplement the offer as Colby did, too (I don’t know: just guessing). But, if you are doing work/ study you probably wouldn’t want to add in much more of a job – you need time not only for your studies but for fun! However, having a conversation directly with someone at Grinnell can’t hurt, IMO. </p>

<p>Once you’re at Grinnell, there isn’t much of a need to spend money (this may be the case at Colby, too). Most everything (ie., social and cultural events) on campus is free. There are money saving ways to rent or buy used textbooks.</p>

<p>One other thing to factor in is the cost of travel to and from these campuses for you. I imagine they are all in flying distance? This is hard to predict because of changing airline costs and routes, but maybe you can pick out a few random dates and check costs just to see. The Grinnell shuttle (college van) currently costs $30 to / from Des Moines airport and operates during breaks. Students also sometimes take / share cab service (about $80 total; less if divided up among riders) or find rides to that airport or other cities. </p>

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<p>Consolation: have you ever read the “Why Grinnell” thread lower down on the dock here? It was started a while ago, but has been update through the years and it remains true to what I have seen of the Grinnell experience. It doesn’t talk about politics, but it does characterize the student body, and you can see if this sounds good to you or not. </p>