<p>if you currently attend grinnell, i would greatly appreciate it if you could answer some of the questions below in any form. feel free to throw in anything else you would like me to know, things that would convince me to go there! </p>
<p>How's the weather?
Diversity?
What are the pros/cons?
Food/Dorms?
How is it in getting kids into grad schools?
What do you love most about it?
How academically challenging is it?
Off-campus life?
how are professors and classes?</p>
<p>I'm a current student at Grinnell going into my second year. I can tell you that:</p>
<p>The weather is nice in the fall and spring, and its really really cold in the winter, but if you dress appropriately its not actually that bad.
The diversity is great for a small liberal arts school. I doubt you will find more diversity at schools of the same size, but you will find more at larger schools.
Pros would be the people and the academics. The people are awesome, the campus is really close knit and you actually have personal interaction with professors. The cons would be that there isnt as much variety in class selection that you could find at bigger schools, and the town is really small and can get really boring. but fortunately there are a lot of breaks so the boredom with the town never gets too bad
Food is not bad, dorms are about the same as most other schools I've seen, and the new east campus ones are really nice
Grinnell is one of the top liberal arts schools for people going on to get graduate degrees
Overall classes are great, professors are really open and willing to talk to you, the people are really awesome, and the academics are really challenging but you learn a lot. The only thing I would say is that if you think you can't handle a really small school or a really small town, Grinnell might not be the best place for you.
Hope that helped!</p>
<p>I havent yet. Grinnell students almost always study abroad their third year. But I am going to study abroad, so I can probably answer questions if you want. and I'm from DC so if you have any DC questions I can answer those too.</p>
<p>How's the weather? -- Depends where you're from. Compared to where we live, it's a few degrees warmer and a lot sunnier.
Diversity? -- I think better than most LACs because of participation in Posse program and relatively large international student population. What impresses me is the degree to which students of different backgrounds interact.
What are the pros/cons? -- PROS = other students, academic rigor, facilities, faculty, resources that allow special programs. CONS = location and size which affect variety of classes and variety of things to do off campus. Not sure it is worse than many other small LACs, however. Really -- what's the difference between Grinnell, IA and Waterville, ME.
Food/Dorms -- Dorms are nice. New dining halls is beautiful, but I have not been too impressed with the food.
How is it in getting kids into grad schools? Great. The academic community knows the value of a Grinnell education. You can go anywhere from here.
How academically challenging is it? -- Very.
Off-campus life? -- Isn't much of one. There are a few restaurants in town and a couple of coffee shops. Your life will be on campus.</p>
<p>I'm starting to wonder what son should bring to campus. We'll be driving him. He knows about winter clothes, so that's no problem. Will we get a list? I will read all the threads at the Cafe, but I wondered if there was anything more specific to Grinnell.</p>
<p>The only thing he need NOT bring that may be useful at other colleges is a TV. I don't believe the dorms have cable -- so basically they don't work. There are TVs in the lounges.</p>
<p>Thanks for reminding me snorky. I think on the tour they said they deliberately didn't provide cable because they wanted students to be more social if they chose to watch tv. A Grinnell parent just told me that sometimes they have "dive-in" movies at the pool--that sounds like fun.</p>
<p>bethievt - we did the long distance Grinnell student thing, too, and never drove s. out. He flew out with two suitcases, one with sheets, pillow and towel so he would have those right away. We ordered the rest of his bedding from Company Store and had it sent to school (they carry twin XL - and we stuck with the minimum) and mailed a few things. There is a Super Walmart a couple miles from campus for all the little things. Back when s. started, he was sent a very helpful guide for first years written by students - including a lot of information on what to bring/what to leave behind. </p>
<p>S. is not a kid who needs a lot of 'stuff' and whatever kids do bring, has to be dealt with at the end of the year. Some kids pool together and rent storage spaces so they can leave things over the summer. Some kids on campus will have cars, so a trip to Walmart or to summer storage just seems to work out. Maybe we're just odd (I'm sure a lot of Grinnell families would say that) but when I hear friends arranging two cars/trucks to move their child out of a shared dorm room, I don't want to know what that room looked like during the year. If less isn't exactly more, it's at least enough. </p>
<p>There have been threads in the main parent forum on this in the past and no doubt they'll resurface come July/August. Good luck!</p>
<p>I'm hoping they will send some packing info. I guess I'm just impatient to start planning. We are planning to drive there, but if it doesn't fit in our car, I imagine it won't fit into his dorm room either. He'll be moving in early, before the canoe trip, so we can check out the room then and make adjustments when we return for orientation.</p>
<p>two things (you probably already know the first, bethie...) there are very few hotel rooms in Grinnell & they get booked quickly. If you know you will be visiting book your room - the alternatives include staying in Brooklyn (20 miles east) or des moines / coralville (60 miles!) Also, right in Grinnell just north of the highway is a restaurant called AJ's Steakhouse. They have a big grill in the middle of the restaurant and you can grill your own steak (which you choose from a refrigerator) or for a dollar extra they will cook it for you. It has become one of our favorite places during our daughter's 2 years there...</p>
<p>Four of us flew out to Grinnell with largish suitcases, & we also mailed a few things (mostly bedding) beforehand. It's really easy to get basic stuff either in town or Iowa City (really nice town). My S mostly brought clothes, books, laptop, posters etc. ... I think the most important things to bring are the "special" things that make a dorm room feel more personalized ... the other things are easy to pick up locally. Good luck!</p>
<p>We've already booked our hotel for August and Sept. I didn't know about the steakhouse though. I was thinking about the "special" things too. A rug, posters, etc. for the dorm room.</p>
<p>My son arrived with 2 duffel bags. Anything else he needed he has bought at the SuperWalMart or we have mailed to him from Amazon or whatever. We bought all the plastic things he needed, a carpet, etc. at the Walmart. No big deal, it was well stocked. If need be, there is a decent sized mall an hour a way in Iowa City. He is moving out to an apartment this year and bought the furniture from the kids who were in it the year before. A lot of his 'stuff' has been accumulated this way- he is a low maintenance guy.</p>
<p>My son is incredibly low maintenance too. His feet stopped growing and we didn't even need new tap shoes. No expensive bikes or skiis. He just likes to read and walk. And write. Grinnell is starting to sound perfect for him. Will he need an e-bay tuxedo for waltz night? He looks really good in a tuxedo.</p>
<p>The shopping for the 'theme' events has mostly been done at Goodwill and such. However, the local branch in Grinnell is usually sold out, so he hits it each summer. </p>
<p>Son is sorry he is missing John Edwards who will be in Grinnell ?next week. Iowa will be interesting next year.</p>
<p>Another special place to visit (IMO) - the dairy barn, or whatever the ice cream stand is that's just a short distance down the main road from the college. It's a small building and you walk up to the window to order your ice cream (it might remind you of VT, bethie). It's right next to a tractor dealer, and there are a couple picnic tables you can sit at and contemplate those BIG machines. Last time we were there a dad had four small children (!) and they took turns curling up inside the tires on the tractors. When I mentioned something about it to my son, he said he'd done the same when his team stopped at the dairy barn. Guess it's an Iowa thing. The tractors (not trying to make TOO much of it, but I was riveted) have a sculptural quality. And the ice cream is excellent (and cheap).</p>
<p>The kids are going to that ice cream place after their meeting about the orientation canoe trip. No parents allowed though--we'll have to visit separately. Do they have soft-serve--or as we call it in VT--creemees?</p>