<p>What do the statistics look like for people who are admitted?</p>
<p>It's an excellent school whose academics are just as respected as the top liberal arts colleges. It also has a huge endowment--larger than most University endowments. It's less competitive than it's LAC peers just because it's in the mid-west and in a small town and not quite as popular as the big LAC names. However, still quite selective. I got in with a 3.7 UW, 31 ACT (no SAT) with less than average EC's.</p>
<p>Check it's stats, it is getting harder every year. Also it's students tend to "self-select". One of the things that makes it seems easier to get into than some other LAC's is its admission rate but because of the self selection the rate is skewed. Even with that I think this year is somewhere in the 30's%.</p>
<p>Yeah, don't be fooled by the (relatively) high admissions rate. It's a top school, and if it were east coast, it would be much more popular.</p>
<p>what are my chances then? 3.9 UW GPA 30 ACT great ECs</p>
<p>also, does any one know if and how they recalculate your GPA for admissions?</p>
<p>Unless selectivity is on the rise, I think you have to problem. I got in with worse stats (see above).</p>
<p>what is self-selection? and does grinnell only accept the ACT?</p>
<p>Self-selection simply means that most students who apply to the school are more than qualified and have it as their school of choice, so that you shouldn't be fooled by a higher acceptence rate.</p>
<p>Grinnell accepts either the ACT or SAT. Median ACT for the class of 2008 was 30+ and the median SAT was 1380 per <a href="http://www.grinnell.edu%5B/url%5D">www.grinnell.edu</a>. Acceptance rate was 42%.</p>
<p>Grinnell is absolutely a no show for my neighborhood -- Florida.</p>
<p>Grinnell has little attraction to anyone outside of the midwest.</p>
<p>Academically, it is as good as you will ever need, maybe better than what you need. Quite possibly, as good as it gets for teaching, nurturing and learning. </p>
<p>Numbers of admissions are high -- around 42%. But, it is selected -- not selective (read Pope's book about Beyond the Ivies). Simply said, your chance of getting accepted are high.</p>
<p>The more important question is -- do you want to be there? If Grinnell floats your boat, great. If not, great. Trust me, you should not be in a town of 8,000 in the middle of Iowa if there is a chance of disliking the school.</p>
<p>Hence, make sure you want ot be there.</p>
<p>I liked the life there. No, I loved the life there. My daughter wouldn't dream of it. Some genetics just do not pass on.</p>
<p>Actually, NY is one of the 5 most represented states. I think they are Iowa, Minnesota, New York, California, and Texas. So it's not solely midwestern kids. I agree with the making sure you want to be there. Until I visited, I was nearly positive I wanted to be there. Afterwards, it was not as much. Just didn't feel right.</p>
<p>People who have lived in big cities are their lives might find the switch hard. I know I did...</p>
<p>can somebody describe the atmosphere at grinnell?</p>
<p>You just have to visit. Grinnell is truly a unique place in this world; I have never been anywhere like it, and I've lived on both coasts and a lot of places in between. You have to visit, then you'll know if it's for you or not.</p>
<p>My brother is going to be a sophomore in Grinnell next year. He came from a suburb of Boston with a population of 30,000+ and surrounded by towns with the same or greater populations. He almost lived in Boston with how much time he spent there. </p>
<p>He absolutely LOVES Grinnell. He wasn't always the best student and got a few Cs on his report cards. He took easier courses at our high school but worked up to mostly honors his senior year. His major extra curriculars were marching band, (he was very involved and became the drum major) and the youth group at our Uniterian Universalist church, where he was on the Youth Adult committee. His SATs were mid 600s to low 700s.</p>
<p>He applied to UMass Amherst (accepted), Clark (accepted... I think, maybe wait listed), Pitzer (rejected), Hamilton (wait-listed and then accepted) and Grinnell. Boy it was a tough decision to choose between Hamilton and Grinnell... But thats where the self selection happens. </p>
<p>Grinnell is a tiny town, but Grinnell College parties a lot. The kids there seem to always have sometime to do, and my brother could not wait to get back there. The kids at Grinnell are all a little weird. Well, my brother says theres the kids like him and the sports playing kids (not jocks! by they are sportier). </p>
<p>The kids at Grinnell are all kids who never really fit into a specific group in high school. (I think I'm stealing that from Princeton Review, but it fits!) They're all very friendly and very social and like to make friends. </p>
<p>I'm on the Grinnell website trying to find the acceptance rates. In 2001 the acceptance rate was 65%. I think in the US News standings I looked it up and they were down to 51%. Grinnell is becoming more selective, but compared to colleges with similar academics, they are a MUCH MUCH MUCH easier school to get into. </p>
<p>I consider it the perfect fit for my brother, who is VERY intelligent, but took a while for that to transfer into grades and academics. It's a school that he could get into and get a top notch education while being himself. He didn't even think about college until his senior year. He never tried to prepare for it, or think about what admissions officers would think about this or that, he was just himself, and granted, for most people, never thinking about college won't get you into Amherst or Williams, but it got him into Grinnell where he gets an equally excellent education.</p>
<p>This year's admit rate was in the upper 30's. It is getting harder every year.</p>
<p>Father -
1) Grinnell has several Floridians
2) Less than 1/2 of the students are from the Midwest
3) According to their stats, they acceptance rate last year was ~35%</p>
<p>My daughter attended a preview day at Grinnell last week and loved it--wanted to attend "now!" A few yrs ago, their acceptance rate was hovering around 50%, we were told it is 37% for this year's entering class. The mean SAT is 1390 (old test). DD stayed overnight on campus and really connected with the students. You could almost feel the quality of the students and their intellect/intensity compared to some of the other campuses we have visited. The only negative was raised on the way home, when DD commented on the 9,000 population town: "Mom, where could I shop?" The only store we noticed was a small Walmart; no mall, no movie theater; there were several fast food restaurants. Des Moines is c 1 hour west and Iowa City 1 hour east, with an outlet mall on the interstate. The next day there was a bus trip planned to a Des Moines mall. I told her she could cope if she is fortunate enough to be admitted. The facilities were excellent, esp the art/music/theater center. There were several prospies from as far as NY state and CA, and all neighboring states; a busload of HS kids arrived from Chicago. Wish this place had been on my radar screen thirty years ago! I'm sure the acceptance rate would be even lower if Grinnell were located in the East or in a larger community.</p>
<p>Bookmom -my D and I both adored Grinnell when we visited. She went back a second time and stayed overnight, and it was by far her favorite of all her schools, with the exception of the one she attends.
Grinnell has to be one of the friendliest places on earth.
Iowa City is only an hour to the east. It's a wonderful city - a university town, really, with U of I in the middle and a bookstore on every corner. Iowa City is quaint, yet sophisticated, and more diverse than you might think. We were there one Sunday when they closed off part of the main street for an all-day jazz concert. People will just start talking to you on the street like they've known you all their lives. A beautiful river runs through the town with a running path along side where you feel amazingly close to nature considering you're in the city. Students don't go there all that often, but an hour isn't that far.
My D isn't much of a shopper, unless you count bookstores, so the lack of a mall wasn't a problem. They do have a main street in Grinnell with some stores - she bought one of her favorite pair of leather sandals there. I know they have at least one really nice restaurant, near the train tracks.
Williams is out in the boondocks yet has a very low admit rate. I can see Grinnell becoming more selective in the future. D seriously considered and did overnignts at Williams and Amherst as well, and quite honestly felt the education at Grinnell was at the same high level, which is saying a lot.
Remind your daughter that she will be home for Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break and summer - unless she's abroad- and can do a lot of shopping then. She will be too busy with school and the campus activities to miss the stores all that much.</p>