<p>I recently visited Oberlin and completely fell in love with the place. I've seen multiple CC posts on Oberlin vs. Grinnell, and they appear to be very similar schools. What I particularly liked about Oberlin was the openness and genuine friendliness of the people, the acceptance and open-mindedness (especially with the lgbt community), the artsy and musical vibes, and the activism/social justice passion that seemed to be about the air. I also thought the campus was gorgeous, and their January break was super interesting! Oberlin is also a lot closer to where I live (NJ), but I am headed out to visit Macalester this summer, and Grinnell is only like 4 hours from there. I'm hoping to study Women/Gender/Sexuality studies, which both Oberlin and Grinnell offer. Do you think I'd be a good fit at Grinnell as well? Would it be worth my time to take a look?</p>
<p>If Oberlin appeals to you, you should visit Grinnell if you have the opportunity. Aside from the absence of a conservatory at Grinnell, the two are very similar - in diversity of the student body, liberal tone, and activist spirit. Grinnell has a huge endowment and it shows - top notch facilities, including a student center and art center designed by Cesar Pelli. Oberlin is reasonably close to Cleveland and Grinnell is about 45 minutes from Iowa City, a great college town (University of Iowa), but I get the sense that the majority of students at both places spend most of their time on campus. Grinnell is perhaps a little tougher to get to from the east coast - the best bet would be a flight to Des Moines and a 50 minute drive east to Grinnell. Fwiw, I had lunch at Grinnell with a female student who grew up in Manhattan and preferred Grinnell over Oberlin because she felt there was less of an east coast vibe at Grinnell (probably true) and that a lot of the students at Oberlin - at least those from the east coast - in her view would be “exactly like all the girls I went to high school with”.</p>
<p>visiting it in the summer won’t give you an idea of what the college is like in session, but certainly if while you’re out there you want to make that long a drive, then do visit. However, if your timeframe is limited, you might want to visit Carleton instead while you’re in that area (unless you know that it doesn’t offer what you want to study).</p>
<p>Grinnell was the one school we did not visit before applying (although we did go out to see other midwestern schools during spring break junior year) but he went after his acceptance, and that visit was what sealed the deal Any school we had only visited during the summer (which were only schools in driving distance) S had to revisit anyway to see them with students there. For him, perceived fit with the student body was the ultimate deciding factor and, particularly for these LACs, you can only determine that with students on site. </p>
<p>Even if you can’t visit Grinnell, I think it’s worth applying to based on what appealed to you about Oberlin. Do be sure to ask for an alumni interview in your area so that you can demonstrate interest – even if you haven’t visited, you should be able to get a feel for the school via the website, Fiske and other guides, researching here to determine that it might be a possibility for you. </p>
<p>@SDonCC wow, thank you for recommending Carleton! I hadn’t ever even considered it, but it does have what I’m interested in studying. I’m going to do a little more research on both it and Grinnell and then decide if I should go visit </p>
<p>Grinnell and Carleton are both fantastic small LACs. Both made our son’s top 4 and while he did not ultimately choose either of them (ended up picking NU on the strength of getting into the MMSS program) we felt that he would have had a great experience at both of them. We visted Grinnell in late Feb/Early march (feels like a lifetime ago !) for their admitted Student weekend and were very impressed with the facilities, faculty and students. The size of their endowment allows for some fantastic research and internship opportunites. </p>