We are planning to go, but now wondering if it is useful. We have to drive from KY. Son has attended admitted student days at 2 other colleges (this is one of 3 he is seriously considering) but has not visited beyond the driveway we did this winter. What happens at this college for the admitted student days - what sort of experience of campus culture is available beyond visiting class? Thanks
I would definitely recommend going. My daughter and I drove about 8 hr to attend the earlier admitted student days. I know you have the schedule, but here are some observations: After the campus tour on the first afternoon, current Grinnell students met with prospective students while the parents attended a Dean’s Reception. D17 reported that the “Grinnell Experience” was useful in getting a sense of the student body and campus climate. At the reception, a number of deans, faculty and staff circulated, answering questions and chatting with parents. I found this very easy and helpful (and I’m not very social). Dinner and a social event (Improv) for the students only gave my daughter more of a feel for the campus climate. She commented that this (and a hike at another school) was very useful, versus simply tours and sessions. The next day she did several class visits, which she loved. She was able to talk to the profs afterwards. While she was doing that, I attended “Grinnell’s Transformative Academic Program” where they described their mentoring/advising, which sounds amazing!
The second morning, as we were arriving, I overheard students saying “I am definitely coming here.” There seemed to be quite a buzz of conversation. Yes or no, this particular visit seemed very instrumental in helping students feel if they would fit in.
And I almost forgot…for the parents, while the students had dinner the first night, the college reserved a local restaurant that was usually closed on Sundays, so that parents could eat there. I went over separately, a little late, and they said they were just seating people with others as they arrived. Met a nice father from TX and had a great conversation about the college search process. Plus, the food was excellent!
Would love to hear what your son thinks! Safe travels and good luck with the looming decision!
Thanks, Karnmom! Very helpful! How casual vs business casual were the kids? (Do boys wear jeans/hoodie or collared shirts/kakhis/topsiders or something a litter more dressy than that?).
I strongly recommend that your son go. The admitted students event at Grinnell sealed the deal for my son. Meeting and connecting with faculty in his areas of interest were critical to his decision, as was feeling comfortable with the student body. S’s ideal school was one where he could engage in intense academics in a collaborative and friendly atmosphere. You can read all about those things but you really can’t feel them until you sit in on an actual class and hang out with other students.
Kids didn’t dress up as I remember. S wore nice t-shirts, jeans (or casual pants), and sneakers.
PM’d you.
@karnmom @Otterma @listener76 Wow. Sounds like admitted students day at Grinnell is fabulous. We have a S19 who we think would thrive there. I’d love to know what other schools your kids are all considering and comparing to Grinnell!
Thanks for the clothing advice! We leave in the morning. S is now down to St. Olaf, William and Mary and Grinnell. He has some possibilities close to home, but none of the LAC’S closely have strong math. Also, he loves the music. These three programs seem to provide nice opportunities for that combined interest. He’s also looking for a student body that “fits” - or that will be easy for him to fit in with. How about your kids - what are they looking at? Are you also out of state?
My D also looked at St. Olaf and Carleton in this region. In talking to other parents at the Grinnell visit, Kenyon was also a popular choice. She had some LAC choices on the east coast (Holy Cross, Colby, Middlebury), but had to start narrowing the list and given the distance and the fact that they gave us no aid (which I had been warned about but couldn’t believe and had to re-read), she took those off the list. She did get a scholarship at Grinnell, so it was in the running.
Have you visited St. Olaf? Despite the excellent academics and advising, my D could not see herself fitting in at Grinnell, but she loved the feeling at St. Olaf.
St Olaf is his first choice (had a great experience there earlier) and grinnell will have to wow him - tho some folks have said that’s what their kid experienced. I’d love to know if your daughter ends up at st Olaf!
we are from Massachusetts and our S will be visiting Grinnell this weekend. Everything about the school sounds great. in some ways he may be one of those who “self select” Grinnell. He is seeking rigorous academics, zero fraternities, small class size, classes taught by the professors. He has attended a progressive private school that has no class rank, zero AP classes, 90 minute classes…so, it sounds like a good fit. i just worry whether he will find the school to be too far away and quite isolating. I am so surprised that very few people we speak to here in the Boston area have never even heard of the school, he is already hearing…Cornell wow good for you! Oh Grinnell? Never heard of it -:). I really hope he enjoys his visit this weekend.
Surprisingly, people in Louisville have said the exact same thing re: Cornell vs Grinnell “never heard of it”. As S considers these Midwest schools, I do wonder if they have an employment/grad school teach beyond Midwest- hope so because the non Greek rigorous discussion fits him well (tho I wouldn’t mind an excuse to visit Old Williamsburg a couple of times a year)
Hi @listener76! Sound like you are on the road, as I am writing this. I have a bit of a unique perspective, as I have a S16, finishing up his 1st year at Grinnell, along with my CC friend @Otterma’s S, AND my S17, will be attending St. Olaf, in the fall. We LOVE both schools, and each is a wonderful fit for my 2 different sons. Interestingly, for LACs both schools have a pretty good mix of guys and girls, about 55/45 at both campuses. One difference: Grinnell - about 1700 students and St. Olaf - 3,000 students.
First Grinnell, since you’re headed there now:
S16 chose Grinnell because he is very academic and he wanted to be challenged by some of the brightest college students around. He was a NMF and is very bright, but never lived up to his full potential as a student in HS. At Grinnell, he has been challenged, but worked hard and had a very good first semester. Grinnell has a reputation as a school where the kids work very hard on their academics - check out the Princeton Review site for Grinnell, #6 for “Students Study the Most.” The kids ARE involved in a lot of other activities on campus - sports, music, art, nerdy games like Zombie Nerf wars and Dungeons and Dragons. For the nerdy (in a good way) reputation of Grinnell, I was surprised by the fairly large population of D3 athletes at Grinnell. It was definitely more socially diverse than I expected.
RE: “employment/grad school teach beyond Midwest,” you’ll find that a good chunk of Grinnell students no longer come mostly from the Midwest. 18% of the class of 2020 are International students, and that was a draw for my S.
The college has a very strong “Grinnellian” Alumni network, and my S16 just spent part of his spring break shadowing two recent grads at their software jobs in San Francisco. One at Amazon Music and the other at a start up company. And for Grad school, although the avg citizen of KY and out East etc. may not be familiar, Grinnell is well-know and respected in the world of academia. A large % of graduates go on to Grad school, and they have lots of opportunities. While your D is busy check out this site: https://www.grinnell.edu/after-grinnell
Lastly, Grinnell is a fine little town, but nothing you’d go visit, if you didn’t have a reason to be there. It is clean, safe and pleasant. My S doesn’t have a car, and although the main street is only a few blocks away, he is so busy on campus, and they have so much going on each weekend, he does not head in to town very much. Just for occasional jaunts for junk food, shampoo, etc. Also, he/we are on a budget, and he likes the food at the dining hall, so he’s happy not tempted to spend his $ off-campus.
LOL, that Grinnell/Cornell problem won’t go away, trust me. But we found the accepted students program very well run, (for both parents and teachers) and absolutely worthwhile.
And casual dress is completely fine.
Now for St. Olaf, or the campus “on the hill” as they call it. My S17 is also very smart, but not quite as academic as S16. S16 was in the middle upper end of the stats for Grinnell, and S17 was in the lower end of the stats for St. Olaf, but has a lot of good EC’s and I think demonstrated through his interview, essays, and personal contact with their very responsive admissions team, that he could do well at St Olaf.
The students at St Olaf are definitely very smart and academic, but seem to make a bit more time for other activities. I think 1/3 or more of the students participate in some form of performing arts - Choirs, ensembles, bands, theater and dance. Obviously, being SAINT Olaf, there are many more kids of faith at St Olaf, than Grinnell, but my S17 is a non-believer, and has a few friends who are freshman, and everyone is accepted there. St Olaf has a much defined curriculum standard, vs only 1 required class at Grinnell, besides the classes that make up your major - Freshman Tutorial. At St Olaf students are req’d to take 2 courses in some sort of religious ed. Although it could be about Eastern Religions or many other topics, I think one has to be about Christianity. But there is no pressure to be religious.
St Olaf is definitely less diverse than Grinnell, but they are working hard to expand their reach to find more racial, socioeconomic and geographic diversity. St Olaf is a dry campus, with not a lot of partying, while there is drinking at Grinnell, esp on the weekend, but they have a Sub-free dorm, for kids who are not interested. I don’t think there is a lot of pressure to “party” and many kids still love to go to the many DJ dances and other activities they have on the weekend, without any “substance” being part of the evening. What do you think, @Otterma? St. Olaf, students who are 21+ will go into town to one of the tavern type places they have in Northfield, which is a pretty cute town, in my opinion. I’ve heard the St O kids who want to “Party” in that way, often go to Carleton, which is easily reachable by the shuttle that regularly travels between the 2 campuses and downtown Northfield. Your D would not need a car at either school. Relations between St O and Carleton have gotten better and stronger, over the years, and our S will have at least 3 friends at C, so he is planning on spending some free time there, as well. There is supposed to be a way for St Olaf and Carleton students to be able to take a courses at each other’s schools, but we are not sure how that works. St O is a 4-1-4 school and Carleton is a Trimester school. They do share dining hall privileges and, ,at least up till now, St O is known to have much better food, and Carls will often come to St O for dinner on Friday evenings.
ANYWAY - both are wonderful schools, and we are so happy to have our sons attending, or about to be attending, both of them. I think your visit to Grinnell, this weekend, and your previous visit to St Olaf will demonstrate which college is the best “fit” for your D. Both schools have great alumni support and programs to help your D reach her goals, after 2021 graduation. Both schools really support study abroad for their students. Both have wonderful, supportive professors (I think class sizes are a tiny bit larger at St Olaf, at least in the general ed requirements).
Good luck finding the right landing spot for your daughter’s next 4 years!
Since you asked about other schools our kids applied to, @listener76:
Other schools S16 applied to: Oberlin, Kenyon (both OH), Kalamzoo (MI), Lawrence, Beloit (both WI), Reed (OR), Whitman (WA), and U of MN and Carleton.
Other schools S17 applied to: Univ Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran & Gonzaga (WA), Willemette, Univ Portland (OR), Lawrence (WI), Luther College, Iowa State (IA), NDSU and U of MN. U and Gonzaga wait-listed him, but he was accepted everywhere else. 
Thx for the advice about Grinnell. We actually fly in tomorrow.
So much of what you describe sounds like a great fit for our S. Beside the academics, he loves sports, hopes to perhaps play D3 Soccer and Tennis. and has been worried if there will be others like him who love the competition and camaraderie of sports, but he himself is turned off by a “jock” culture.
I hope the library is good…as this is one of the first buildings he looks at to judge whether he will enjoy the school.
Here is his impression from afar…
Great school academically
Great facilities
Diverse student population
Rigorous study but not in a type A, competitive way
Great endowment enables fun social activities
Great opportunity to study abroad
Great preparation for grad school (doesn’t know yet what discipline)
Hidden gem with very generous financial aid (aid is a key factor)
He doesn’t really know what to expect of the students…we will find that out soon though.
Thank you so much for the generous description for the generous description of both grinnell and st O. We are beginning to get the differences. S is also a NMF, and while at the top of the stats for Grinnell- he was not at the top of the stats at his hypercompetitive high school (only near perfect scores and state level awards as opposed to his friends perfect sat’s and national awards. Towards that end, he has been a little worried that he wouldn’t be “smart enough” for Grinnell. Thanks for sharing that your son is in the same league and thinks it’s just fine. S is a baritone in search of opportunities to perform- so hoping he can find music people to talk with. The admissions office has been very friendly and helpful!
Boerboer (don’t know how to make your avatar blue, still new to this) perhaps we will run into each other over the weekend- I hope you guys have a great time.
@boerboer I would say the assessment thus far is spot on. Now it’s all about vibe and fit. Hope everyone enjoys the visit!
Vc
Sorry about the typing error- didn’t notice it till this morning)
Last question: suggestions for lunch or dinner?