<p>I was accepted at both of these schools and received the same amount of aid, though Grinnell's package had no loans. I'm drawn to CC for its location, block plan, and unique opportunities. Grinnell also seems like a good fit, even though it's isolated. </p>
<p>I just want to know more about the academic/social scenes and what makes these schools different from each other. I am visiting Grinnell this week and am considering flying out to Colorado, though I still have about 10 other schools to hear back from (including my first choice, Oberlin). </p>
<p>I'd describe myself as fairly intellectual, a little out there, but friendly and very open-minded, middle-class (don't want to be surrounded by rich kids who flaunt their wealth, though I know that's sort of a given at liberal arts colleges), don't party a lot, and an undecided major. Thanks (also posting this on Grinnell and CC forums).</p>
<p>I can’t speak to these specific schools, although my D also liked Colorado College because of the block plan. She’s currently attending a Grinnell-comparable.</p>
<p>Just wanted to comment on your assumption that LACs are crawling with richy-rich kids who drive their Bentleys around campus. Many, if not most, of the students attending these schools are receiving significant financial aid. We are by no means rich, and we couldn’t afford to send her, if not for the fact that the school is providing well over half of the cost of attendance through scholarships and grants. As far as I know, none of her college friends are rich either.</p>
<p>Plus, wealth-flaunting just isn’t the vibe of these places. It wouldn’t be cool.</p>
<p>About 34% of Colorado College students are awarded need-based scholarship or grant aid. This is a little low compared to some other selective LACs. Examples:</p>
<p>College … N-B Aid Recipients … Pell Grant Recipients
CC … 34% … 9%
Colgate … 35% … 11%
Oberlin … 40% … 10%
Bates … 41% … 12%
Amherst … 57% … 20%
Grinnell … 70% … 20%
(I’ve calculated the numbers in the middle column by dividing the Common Data Set number in section H2.e by the number in H2.a for full-time undergraduates. The Pell numbers are from Washington Monthly.)</p>
<p>One of my kids is at CC. I think some of his friends are quite affluent, but wealth-flaunting is not the vibe in terms of the clothes students wear or the cars they drive. Casual clothes, little/no makeup, understated/no jewelry seems to be the norm. If they were into car-flaunting at all, it would be a Prius dirty with road dust and plastered with Save the Baby Seals stickers. Many students will have plenty of money for ski trips, high-end electronics, or exotic study-abroad programs. Northeastern boarding schools are fairly well represented. Low-income minorities apparently are not. </p>
<p>Its relative lack of diversity was just about the biggest negative for CC when he was choosing colleges. The positives outweighed that. The only negative thing I’ve heard him say about the social and intellectual atmosphere is that he wishes there were more “nerdy” kids. The typical student seems to be upper middle class, athletic, outdoorsy, politically liberal, intellectual and studious (but not above letting a grade slip for the sake of going out on an interesting climb or road trip). The block plan gives you flexibility to take advantage of everything the school’s location has to offer (not just the Rocky Mountains, but also the city of Colorado Springs and not-too-far-off Denver.) He has raved about his professors.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, if the block plan has any appeal, the academic experience compares well with nearly any other LAC (minus the scattering of star faculty or super-achieving students you’d find at an Amherst or Pomona)… especially in some of the stronger departments (which seem to include Geology, Bio, Anthro, and English). The location is nearly unequaled compared to other LACs (for the combination of outdoor recreation, small-city attractions, and sunny, dry weather). Think about whether, in your daily life over 4 years, you’ll notice and care about these qualities more than the factors that give Oberlin or Grinnell a slight bump in the US News rankings (which may be evident in somewhat better athletic/library facilities or more socio-economic diversity).</p>
<p>You’ll know more after you visit and have all your offers in hand, but a no-loan package is hard to refuse if you feel Grinnell is a good fit. Graduating without student loan debt will open up so many more possibilities for you!</p>
<p>^ Actually, minorities in general (regardless of income) are not too well represented (see the CDS figures). I assume low incomes in general (regardless of race) are not too well represented, based on the CDS data for aid, the cost of attendance, and the average debt at graduation. Bottom line: CC seems not to be a very racially or socio-economically diverse campus. Geographic diversity is fairly high ([Where</a> Does Your Freshman Class Come From? - Facts & Figures - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Interactive-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=126678]Where”>http://chronicle.com/article/Interactive-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=126678)).</p>
<p>I had to laugh because you’re also describing my D’s LAC. Pretty accurate summary of what these kids want their peers to know about them. Not money, but causes.</p>
<p>To clarify, as far as finances go, my net price at both with what they’ve given me (including loans from CC) is between 23-26k, which is far from ideal. My parents would be more comfortable paying about 15-18k, which is why I may end up taking a loan even if I go to Grinnell. CC has already given me the max $5.5k loan in their package, so it’s not really that affordable, but if I took a similar amount annually from Grinnell and paid about 2k a year of my own money, Grinnell would be doable. Of course, I’d love to have no debt, but if this is the best deal I get, I think it would be worth it to have about 22k in debt upon graduation, which is nothing to sneeze at but nowhere near the amount some of my friends are considering taking on (despite my protests). I’m planning on asking both schools for more money if any of the ten schools that I’m waiting on provide better aid (fingers crossed), but I am doubtful b/c these aid packages are in alignment with our FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>What schools are you waiting to hear from? There can be big differences in the amount of aid offered. I know from my son’s experience a few years ago that CC can be willing to improve its aid offer, but even then it fell short of some of the other schools he was looking at (Brown, Carleton, Grinnell, Whitman).</p>
<p>Grinnell and Colorado are both my top choices (if I get in, of course). One of the things that seemed like a drawback from Colorado was the lack of diversity, specifically the sense that there are many white students and many affluent students. However, I looked into it a little more today and Colorado actually has a higher percentage (by a little bit) of non-white US students for the class of 2016. Colorado claims to have 27% students of color (an increase compared to a few years ago) and Grinnell, 24% (on par with the past few years). Grinnell has more international students though (14% vs 7%). When I visited Grinnell and through their website (check out the recent youtube videos), they seemed to stress the importance of diversity a lot. Both schools (as well as several other LACs) have paid overnight visit programs that high school students of color and/or low-income can apply for- so they’re both putting in the effort and money to increase diversity. </p>
<p>Colorado also has about 400 more students than Grinnell.</p>
<p>The larger size of CC is definitely a consideration. I’m not really expecting a ton of diversity at schools like these, I guess. </p>
<p>Here are the schools I’m still waiting for, in order of preference:
Pomona
Carleton
Oberlin
Vassar
Wesleyan
Macalester
Whitman
Occidental
Middlebury
USC
WUSTL </p>
<p>Pretty sure I won’t be getting into Pomona, Middlebury, or WUSTL, but I’m hoping for good news. Do you think any of these schools will offer more money than Grinnell and CC?</p>
<p>Hard to say, but for what it’s worth, your family seems to be in more or less the same financial range as ours, and my son’s offers went as follows: Whitman > Carleton > Brown > Grinnell > CC >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bowdoin, Middlebury. Some of the aid from Whitman, Grinnell, and CC was merit. Good luck!</p>
<p>Looks like the need for more loans than the Stafford loans will eliminate Colorado College.</p>
<p>As far as the other schools you are waiting on, you can wait until seeing their actual financial aid offers. If you want preliminary estimates, you can use the net price calculators on their web sites, though since you should not have to decide before seeing all of their financial aid offers, you can just wait for them.</p>
<p>Good to hear that Whitman and Carleton were more generous in your case, that gives me a bit of hope since I think I’d choose Carleton over almost any school, and I just got a nice email from my Whitman admissions counselor, which I hope is a good sign. Surprised that Bowdoin wasn’t among the best for your family. $_$</p>
<p>Okay, thanks ucb, I was wondering, with Grinnell for example, since they didn’t give me the standard $5.5k, how do I go about getting that if it’s a federal loan?</p>
<p>According to the 2011-12 Common Data Set, Section B, CC had 2008 degree-seeking undergraduates that year. 1482 (73.8%) were white, non-Hispanic. To conclude that the remaining 26.2% are students of color, you’d have to include all Internationals and all students whose race/ethnicity is unknown (as well as Black/AA, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Pacific Island, and bi-/multi-racial students.) Maybe that “27%” is based on some other calculation method with more recent data? </p>
<p>In 2011-12, only ~1% of CC students (including freshmen) were Black or African American, non-Hispanic. Only 4% were Asian non-Hispanic. ~8% were Hispanic.</p>
<p>I would vote CC due to the city of Colorado Springs which is no small town and yet has that area around the college that looks like it is love the block plan, love the atmosphere, beautiful, beautiful area–no coincidence that “America the Beautiful” was inspired by visit there,…but not worth the extra cost. If you gotta borrow more than the Staffords. the other school is the better choice by far. And Grinnell is one fine school with better name recognition. It’s not anyone’s consolation prize. I just think the locale of CC is better but certainly not worth borrowing more. Absolutely not. I would talk to them and tell them your quandry. Maybe Admissions can upgrade your award a bit.</p>