<p>can someone help me with this decision? i like them both! i have reservations about grinnell's location and i have reservations about vassar's supposed "pretension"... however, i have a scholarship at grinnell. agh, can someone give me some guidance please?</p>
<p>Also, for more on Grinnell's culture, search <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html?highlight=Why+grinnell%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell.html?highlight=Why+grinnell</a></p>
<p>We visited Vassar-very pretty campus/nice housing-S liked it. But he felt much more comfortable at Grinnell. There seems to be something self-consciously artsy about Vassar students. And there is that aggressively self-promoting east coast vibe that is present in all the top NE LACs. The gender imbalance is noticable-it bothers some and not others. And some of the course descriptions in the catalog were so pretentious we had to laugh-although whether this translates into pretentious students, I couldn't say. According to the 'entitlement index' (I love the concept) Vassar is rates 69 and Grinnell is 40. (see thread below)</p>
<p>But yes, Grinnell is very rural in a 'cornfields everywhere' kind of way. Poughkeepsie is a city. You'll probably not leave either campus very often and both have a lot going on. But if you plan to shop, for example, you'll need to either go to Walmart or drive to Des Moines or Iowa City if you live in Grinnell. Poughkeepsie has shopping malls, etc... And of course, NYC is accessible for a weekend. </p>
<p>It's probably also worth mentioning that Vassar is quite a bit larger than Grinnell (2,500 vs 1,700). There are pros and cons to that which you can figure out for yourself and weigh. </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>does your son really like grinnell? and, if you don't mind me asking, what general kind of person is he?</p>
<p>He's incoming this fall - but hopefully others with actual Grinnell experience will answer your question. Ask Bethievt whose son just finished his first year. Our impressions are based on visits to both schools and discussion with recent alums, reviews of the course catalogs, reading the school newspapers, college guides, etc...(we are nothing if not thorough)-but we are also going on impressions. </p>
<p>I strongly suggest you visit if you can: Neither of us was interested in Grinnell at the start of the college search process (S had never heard of it-I was barely aware). I just kept saying, "Iowa? You must be joking." But H had heard such rave reviews that we started talking to alums and doing the research and we were persuaded to go visit. My son knew it was the right place, the day we visited (and this was after visiting a dozen other LACs).</p>
<p>I strongly suggest that you visit, even if school isn't in session. You can check your tolerence for cornfields.</p>
<p>For the Vassar perspective, check out this thread:</p>
<p>How are you still undecided at this late date? Just got off a Vassar WL? They are both great schools. My son was admitted to both. He felt Grinnell students were more unconventional in a way he really liked. And, yes, completely unpretentious. He's had a great first year and looks forward to his second.</p>
<p>I'll back up bethievt and M's mom. My daughter is an incoming freshman and chose Grinnell over Vassar, Oberlin and Reed (among others but these are the most similar to each other). We visited all four of these schools and they all appear to be outstanding academic experiences. The student populations did have differences-some subtle, some not so subtle. D felt Vassar and Oberlin had quite a few similarities-artsy, and more students that tend to express themselves very openly (opinions, fashions). Reed had more of an "organic flavor" to her.</p>
<p>Her decision to go to Grinnell was based on the students-very unpretentious and fun, not over the top quirky. D is fairly quiet and felt she would have more of a chance to be heard at Grinnell.</p>
<p>The cornfields and the landscape were a shock to us (we live in a college town with "one of the 10 most beautiful campuses"). However, the setting won't matter so much if you are happy with the peer group. The college campus itself is its own little world and looked like any other very nice college ( beautiful buildings and old trees). Grinnell has an admitted students facebook group. Go and check in with them. D's met a lot of people and it can also give you a sense of who's coming. She also did Oberlin and Vassar's facebook groups before making her decision.</p>
<p>I will add that I know several past and current Vassar students and none of them are pretentious, but they're all Vermonters and we do tend to be low-key here.</p>
<p>thank you all for your responses.. i've just bit in a bit of a frenzy because vassar is only giving me 3 days to decide</p>
<p>Of course we can't tell you what to do and you wouldn't want us to. No question Grinnell is in a very rural area as there is also no question that Poughkeepsie isn't the nicest city. Students from both schools center their lives on their incredible campuses. You can't lose with these choices. If you need access to NYC you won't get that at Grinnell, but in a period of a month or so this spring, the St. Petersburg Ballet, the Beijing Opera, Ladysmith Black Mombasa, lots of speakers and movies were available on the campus and most things are free. It is a very socially comfortable campus for all kinds of people. My son chose it over Carleton, Haverford, Macalester, Oberlin, Pomona, Reed and Vassar. Good luck with your choice.</p>
<p>"If you need access to NYC you won't get that at Grinnell."</p>
<p>Haha, quote of the day.</p>
<p>Well Grinnell is second to last so it definitely has a low "entitlement" index, but Vassar was surprisingly low down, too. Below the half-way point, which surprised me.</p>
<p>My son spent some time deciding betweem Grinnell & Vassar (after ruling out some other great schools). He finally chose Grinnell - much better financially, & for him, a more comfortable social/intellectual atmosphere. Just more his kind of place. He's a city kid, but being in Iowa hasn't been a problem at all. Quite the reverse. He's glad to be in a different part of the States, & for political junkies (he's one) Iowa has been a great place to be. He'll be a senior next year, & has had a really good experience so far. Excellent classes, lots to do, bright, curious people from all over the country. Financially, it's been much more manageable for us to deal with.
Vassar is a great place too - I'm sure you'll enjoy either school. Good luck!</p>
<p>among grad schools, do you think that vassar and grinnell have a similar reputation? i know that where i'm from hardly anyone has heard of grinnell and can hardly believe that i would pass up on the chance to go to vassar</p>
<p>We're from VT and almost no one has heard of Grinnell out here. It has a tremendous rep with grad schools, though. I'm pretty sure it sends more students on for PhD's than Vassar. In other parts of the country Vassar is less well known.</p>
<p>I don't know how to do links, but if you google PhD rates by college and go on the Reed site, you'll see that Grinnell is in the top 10 in several areas and Vassar in none. Vassar does have high acceptance rates to law school and med school though, according to its web site.</p>
<p>The 'prestige' thing is a beast many of us wrestle with: It's unquestionably gratifying when people you know say, 'Wow, you go there? I'm impressed." or words to that effect. Especially when you've worked hard for many years, while telling yourself that the satisfaction for a job well done, is doing the job well-and the occasional 'attagirl.' Picking a college 'your' people have heard of and respect, feels like validation. The problem is that 'your' people is such a limited (and changing) subset of the world-grad schools know all the 'good' LACs. Most internationals have never heard of any of the LACs. Employers who recruit at the LACs know them-those that don't, don't. So ultimately, turning down the volume on the 'prestige' dial, and turning up the 'what fits' is the smartest strategy. For some that's harder than for others (A struggle for me, I admit. A non-issue for S, who needs less external validation of this sort.)</p>
<p>S's new t-shirt: "Where the hell is Grinnell?" on the front.
"Who the hell cares?" on the back.</p>
<p>And I've always liked Dave Barry's t-shirt quip (I think he went to Haverford?) "Haverford-We've never heard of you either."</p>
<p>So much for t-shirt philosophy.</p>
<p>We live in a college town (top public U called a "public ivy"). D has found that among faculty parents and grad students, Grinnell has no issue with name recognition and, when she mentions the name, gets lots of nice compliments. Among folks with just a bachelor's degree or high school students is where most of the "where's that?" comes from. Just a personal experience. </p>
<p>Initially, D was troubled by the lack of major name recognition but now sees the selective group for Grinnell recognition as a plus. In general, the LAC's have less name recognition though Vassar, because of its long top women's college past seems to have less trouble.</p>
<p>leilarose68 - what great choices you have! in answer to your grad school question, check out the link below to a report on Grinnell's website. relative to student body size, Grinnell is among the top 20 institutions in terms of PhD productivity.</p>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>Plus if you pop on to their website, they are constantly announcing students and grads who are getting Fullbrights, Watsons and other kinds of fellowships and awards. You might find that on the Vassar site too--I just don't look there. The point is, they are both super-great schools where you could accomplish anything you want. Sounds like Grinnell is offering merit $$. If you live in the NE, don't forget to factor in travel expenses to and from IA.</p>