Grinnell vs. Oberlin?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Grinnell College
1

<p>I've finally narrowed down my choices to these two schools, and having visited each twice, I know that they're much more similar than they are different, but in the end I can only pick one. I have a few specific concerns about each that I was hoping the gurus of CC could help me address. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Price/debt: Grinnell would cost my family about $22k and after graduation I would have about $16k in debt. Oberlin would cost $25k and leave me with around $24k in debt. Is 8k more significant enough that I should be cautious taking out so much money in loans? I read recently that the average amount of college loan debt is around 26k (!), which is really scary, and I don't want to be overly burdened upon graduation. However, Oberlin would definitely be my first choice if they were the same price.</p></li>
<li><p>Opportunities: Grinnell's Career Development Office seems to offer a lot of cool possibilities for internships, externships, and the like. I couldn't get a sense as much from Oberlin's Career Services page how useful the center is, but I did get the understanding that they don't subsidize unpaid internships (Grinnell does). However, I understand that Oberlin's January Term could be used to explore internships/externships, so maybe the two are equal in this category? I also feel like Oberlin has more extensive study abroad opportunities in Spanish-speaking countries; when I looked at Grinnell's options, they seemed a little more limited than I expected. One of my main concerns is being able to find a job after graduation (in what field, I don't know), so I want to gain as much as experience as possible while in college.</p></li>
<li><p>Student bodies: When I visited Grinnell, I felt a little more like I was back in freshman year. My host and I didn't really connect, I would have wanted to be his friend, but I'm not sure we would have been. He was a Posse scholar, a program that I like because it increases the socioeconomic diversity of the school, which I think is as important as racial diversity. The student body seemed more balanced socially, but I don't know if that's what I want. I talked to a lot of people on the Oberlin 2017 Facebook group and overwhelmingly felt that I would fit in there better, although that may not be a good indication. Both schools also seemed to be a bit racially segregated, which was sort of disappointing. I also liked how everyone at Oberlin had awesome music taste.</p></li>
<li><p>Location: Oberlin's town wins easily. Both are 5 hour drives from my house. I also feel like Oberlin is more connected to the coasts than Grinnell. I'm from Chicago and would like to live elsewhere after graduation, and I get the sense that Oberlin has a stronger national reputation, while Grinnell is more regionally well-known. Cleveland is also a bit better than Des Moines, though I doubt I'll be in either city much.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>So those are my main concerns. Thanks for reading.</p>

2

<p>SgtDonut, I can appreciate your effort to come to a decision by writing it all out. I am not a “guru of CC” (love that), but in an effort to postpone the weeding that I really don’t want to do, I will join you.</p>

<p>My gut reaction to your reflection is that you prefer Oberlin, but Grinnell has given you more money. And you know your reasons for preferring Oberlin are pretty minor. Ten years ago I would have counseled you to go where you really want to go because the loans will get paid off with relative ease (they did for me 30 years ago, anyway). But these are less lucrative times and money matters more. </p>

<p>Other than the $$ piece, it sounds like your preference for Oberlin is based on things that Grinnell has - with different emphasis’ (career development, student body, location…). As far as reputation goes though, from my perspective (both U.S. coast and Canada) Grinnell has it all over Oberlin. I think of Oberlin as the regional school, which just goes to show you how subjective these things are :)</p>

<p>Grinnell is pretty remote though. So if you don’t really want to be there it could be difficult. This is why they call it “self-selective.” But honestly, I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat (and go to Grinnell)!</p>

<p>Good luck. It’s an embarrassment of riches, really.</p>

3

<p>I know both schools pretty well. Oberlin’s great advantage is they have the music conservatory. I don’t think you can take classes there is you aren’t accepted into the conservatory, but there is always incredible music on campus. The Grinnell advantage is the Rosenfield lectures and other lectures they bring in. They also bring in some great music but nowhere near as much as Oberlin. Otherwise I tend to agree with the previous poster - Oberlin tends to be a little bit Ohio-centric while Grinnell does tend to have larger populations from the coast and Chicago. Because so many people come from Chicago they run buses there on holidays which is convenient. Good luck with your choice.</p>

4

<p>I was quite surprised to see someone here describe Grinnell as having a bigger reputation than Oberlin. Grinnell having a national reputation versus Oberlin’s being “Ohio-Centric”?Well, I beg to disagree with that. Certainly here in California among students, faculty and counselors with whom I have contact, Oberlin is far better known. As a high school and college student in Connecticut, I knew of Oberlin but never heard of Grinnell. My son at Wesleyan has two professors who are Oberlin alums. My son who is a senior in high school was waitlisted at both Grinnell and Oberlin, for whatever that’s worth and I don’t think he felt either one had a bigger reputation either. Just saying, since reputation is entirely subjective by its very nature.</p>

5

<p>Sgtdonut - you “overwhelmingly” feel like you would fit in better at Oberlin so it sounds like your question is whether it’s worth $2,000 more a year. I would suggest you then look at the full 4 year costs. Does Oberlin index awards as tuition increases? Does Oberlin increase the amount of loans they build in to your financial aid package each year? These are 2 new areas for the class of 2013 at Grinnell. </p>

<p>Also, Grinnell has many externships over their 2 week spring break.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

6

<p>You are lucky to have two great choices. I don’t think the difference in cost is substantial–either way you will graduate with a reasonable amount of debt.</p>

<p>As you can see people have different opinions on the geographic distribution of the students. I would say that Oberlin has been more nationally known FOR LONGER but Grinnell certainly is nationally known now. (Ten or 20 years ago it might have been a different story.) It is crazy to call Oberlin “Ohio-centric”–students from my kids’ Wisconsin high school have been going there for years, whereas I’ve only recently heard of kids applying to Grinnell.</p>

<p>You really can’t go wrong with either choice, so go with the place you see yourself being most comfortable and you should do fine.</p>

7

<p>sally, do you mean “reasonable” as in manageable or “reasonable” as in considerable? 16k seems like a lot of money to me, so 24k is even more.</p>

8

<p>Well, it’s subjective, of course. And depends on personal circumstances now and upon graduation. Nowadays it seems that anything under $25k total for debt is considered reasonable in that the monthly payments, even on a starting salary, would not be prohibitive for most people. Again, there are a lot of variables. But if you were my kid facing the same decision I would encourage you to go with perceived opportunities and overall fit.</p>

9

<p>By Ohio-centric I simply meant that there are more people from Ohio at Oberlin (I’m not sure people from Ohio would consider this a particularly bad thing). A primary reason for this is that there are A LOT more people in Ohio than in Iowa. I have lived in both states for a time and while in Ohio I have met many Oberlin alumni who want to sent their children to Oberlin. Getting into Oberlin from Ohio is very competitive. For whatever reason, probably some of them sociological, it does not seem the same in Iowa. There are students from Grinnell at Iowa but it always seemed to me that Grinnell had to be more open to make sure they had a decent Iowa contingent at the school. It is also important to remember that the conservatory, which I think is one of the top five in the United States, has students almost exclusively from the coasts, and ironically like Grinnell sometimes have to be more open to get Ohio kids there. Don’t ask me why this is the case (if it is, this is based on anecdotal conversations). There’s nothing wrong with being Ohio-centric if you are in Ohio.</p>

10

<p>I should dislose that my son is choosing Grinnell over Oberlin, though he loved Oberlin and it was a very close second, so maybe I have some bias. That being said, a couple of points–</p>

<p>(1) Oberlin is almost twice as big as Grinnell in terms of enrollment. This is a not an insignificant difference. While Oberlin obviously is not huge, I think you would have a bit more of an ability to be anonyomous there than you would at Grinnell if that is what you want. My son likes what he feels is the incredibly tight community at Grinnell over the larger community at Oberlin. Not better or worse, just different.</p>

<p>(2) Oberlin has the Con. Having 600 or 700 musicians around is just going to give you a different vibe. Again, not better or worse, but a definite difference.</p>

<p>(3) Academics–Grinnell has no distribution requirements, Oberlin does (3 courses in each of 3 areas). In some sense, Grinnell replaces distribution requirements with really intense advising by a faculty member.</p>

<p>(4) Town–I actually disagree with the point that the town of Oberlin has it over the town of Grinnell. Both are really, really small, but Grinnell actually has more people than Oberlin, I think it’s about 9,000 vs 8,000. Oberlin may have a few more restaurants, but it’s not a whole lot more, both have the requisite movie theater, really good pizza place, pharmacy, etc. Grinnell is not any further from Des Moines (not saying Des Moines is the most exciting city, but I have a lot of family from Cleveland, and while it’s OK, it’s not exactly a garden spot for students) or Iowa City (location of U of Iowa, so a lot going on) than Oberlin is from Cleveland. In terms of social life, I think if you go to either place, you go for the campus life, don’t expect much from either town in terms of entertainment, etc. Both are pleasant enough, but your life will be centered on what’s going on on campus.</p>

11

<p>In my opinion, fit with the student body (such as you sense it) should be the most important consideration, if the money works out.</p>

<p>That having been said, music is important on the Grinnell campus as well. Have you seen this? [Grinnell</a> Concerts |](<a href=“http://grinnellconcerts.com/]Grinnell”>http://grinnellconcerts.com/) This is the student-run concert organization; it is in addition to what the school itself brings in for performances.</p>

12

<p>Agree with SDonCC that fit with student body is most important consideration between these two schools. I did not mean to say that there is not music at Grinnell, in fact there is a lot going on there, music and otherwise. My point was just that there are 700 musicians at Oberlin, which not many places can say.</p>