Location

Colleges and Universities A-Z Grinnell College
1

<p>So, I feel like I haven't really read anything on cc about Grinnell's location and how people have enjoyed it, despised it, whatever it might be. Personally, Grinnell is perfect in every way all across the board except for environment, and I have no idea if I'm going to be surprised and love it or it's going to be me, corn fields, and 4 years of college. </p>

<p>I'm visiting pretty soon so hopefully that will give me a better feel, especially since Grinnell is one of my top choices.</p>

<p>Any current students, admitted students, prospective students, parents, alums, whoever, have any input on what they enjoyed or disliked about Grinnell's middle of no where environment?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Well, Grinnell is not quite in the middle of the cornfields, but it comes pretty close. The town of Grinnell itself is small, although it does have a Wal-mart and a good selection of restaurants and businesses. Des Moines is about 45min to an hour drive away.</p>

<p>However, when I visited Grinnell had a very homey, close atmosphere, and all of the students talked about how manyt things there are to do on campus. From what I understand, most students stay on campus over the weekends, and with their huge endowment they can afford to bring in big-name bands and performers. Also, there are many extracurricular activities, sports, clubs, and of course homework to do; none of the students indicated they were bored, in fact they all remarked on how much there was to do on campus.</p>

<p>If you want a club scene, bars, and are looking for the night life you might get at schools in larger cities, Grinnell is probably not the school for you anyway.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

3

<p>do you think a car is necessary at grinnell?</p>

4

<p>My son has gotten by for 2 years without one. The college brings tons of stuff in. He manages to get to Iowa City fairly regularly with friends who have cars.</p>

5

<p>Does everyone love Grinnell? We are going this week. I am hoping she will love it. At least on paper, it looks perfect.</p>

6

<p>My son loves it, his sister is going to visit this week as well. I'm hoping she chooses it too.</p>

7

<p>Hey, Tag -- would be interested to hear what you think after your visit. My daughter is a sophomore and she loves it. The location really doesn't seem to be a problem in terms of having a social life, making friends, finding things to do. My daughter is involved in sports and theatre -- and these things keep her plenty busy. The one time the location is definitely a drawback is when it's time to come home -- especially if you're trying to travel any time other than the scheduled breaks. At breaks, the college arranges for shuttles to DesMoines, Chicago, and I think Minneapolis. At other times, there is no easy way to get to an airport. You have to find a friend with a car -- or you can arrange for someone to take you - which we did once, but it cost about $70 one way. My advice is to make your travel arrangements well in advance. Oh! It's also really hard to get a hotel in town around graduation, parents weekend and such. You really have to plan ahead. We are thinking about making reservations now - for graduation two years from now!</p>

8

<p>Dear SR 3 Mom:
Is your D leaning toward Grinnell now? My D can definitely see herself there. I had dinner with an old friend who is a theater professor there. She is amazingly bright and talented : if she is representative of the profs at Grinnell, our Ds can't go wrong!</p>

9

<p>She seems to be, we'll know after the Kenyon visit on Tues/Weds.</p>

10

<p>ditto here. let's talk next week.</p>

11

<p>I'm going to Grinnell tomorrow...well technically today, the 18th. I'll tell whoever it was that wanted to hear about my reaction my adventure...or...whatever it is.</p>

12

<p>Hmmmmm, that's interesting.</p>

<p>I was just in Grinnell on the 17-18. I wonder.......</p>

13

<p>Tagran</p>

<p>How was your visit?</p>

14

<p>hah hey, nickleby, are you nick from montana</p>

15

<p>hey, guys, we are waiting for your reactions to Grinnell.</p>

16

<p>WOW,</p>

<p>I wonder what the chances of that are. Yes I am.</p>

17

<p>that's so weird. i was there on the eight and ninth, was anyone else?</p>

18

<p>Yeah yeah I'm coming with it. </p>

<p>Grinnell was great. The campus was beautiful, I almost sort of liked how it was in the middle of nowhere, at least the feel I got when I was driving endlessly to get to it, though I'll probably learn to regret that. I had a great tour guide and my host was alright, nothing bad just wasn't all that talkative which in turn made me less talkative. Everyone was, like they say, exceptionally nice. I think I'll just go with pros and cons that I viewed when I went there. </p>

<p>Pros:
Great campus
Student body
Facilities (I'm interested in art)
Profs seemed very nice
EVERYTHING is free
Nice long breaks</p>

<p>Cons:
FOOD ouch, the food yes.
Student body
Smaller student body than I wanted, but not too small.</p>

<p>Eh, that list isn't working for me, I'll just keep writing. Let's just say the food blew completely. I mean, it wasn't as if it was inedible, but for such a loaded school and a school inthe middle of a ton of farms, you'd think that the food would be better. I hear there's a movement by the students to get the Grinnell area local businesses and farmers to provide the food instead of outsourcing to a large company. That would be good on both ends. There are two cafeterias, which, as they say, have about the same food in both. I ate in the vaulted ceiling one. The cafeterias are the main reason for the North/South campus divide. North more sportsy, south more artsy (though they all seem relatively the same), but the college is planning on trying to end that by building a large new studnet center, an improvement over a nice but comparatively small one they currently have. They will clsoe down the other two cafeterias and it will just be one, so people will be forced to be together. Apparently with this new dining hall there will be better food that comes along with it. The food wasn't anything bad, like I said, but I can just see it getting really old, really fast. </p>

<p>As far as dorms I didn't really get to see into a normal room, the guy I stayed with David Churchman had a sort of single and then a large room with some beds and I think he hosts prospies a lot. Anyway, he showed me how big they were and it seemd like they were of a reasonable size. I liked that they were old but not so old taht they were antiquated. I also liked how people were just crawling around on the top of the buildings and going in and out of windows -- looked like fun. People all over the loggias too. Looks like one of those dorms would be good. </p>

<p>I'm out of time I have to work on Vergil, but I will come back to tell more. If you have any questions about my visit do tell.</p>

19

<p>tagran: Did you sit in on any classes or go to any student activities like movies or concerts? How is the social life? Are the kids hippies or a mix of types? My D is leaving today for her visit. She is not terribly excited. "I don't know why I am going to Iowa." We'll see what she thinks.</p>

20

<p>I was only there for the second half of one day and the first half of the other, so between eating, getting a tour of campus, and a tour of the studios I didn't have a whole lot of free time. I didn't get to any classes which really aggravated me -- I found the room with Greek Art and Architecture just as the class was starting, and I didn't feel like being the bumbling prospy coming into class -- I already got stared at for a dropped tray WHICH WASN"T EVEN MINE but nevertheless I got stared at for that, so the confidence level wasn't so high, but that's okay. I'm sure it would have been fine to come in a minute late, and I'm sure the class was great too. </p>

<p>I really loved how the train rolls straight through campus, with so many drunk and high kids roaming around, I'm kind of surprised there aren't any accidents -- it literally cuts right through the heart of campus. It's really cool though, I like it. </p>

<p>As far as the students, if you've ever been to a JCL convention, that's a pretty good depiction of what the students look like. Yes there seem to be a lot of "hippies," but I only saw a few that looked really stereotypical. That said, although there are lots of sporty and not so sporty people, they all have long shaggy hair (gasp) and look pretty, well, cool I think. But it's not out of control, most people sort of wear gap looking clothes and things like that. There seem to be a lot of people who I think would be really cool and I'd like to be friends with, but then also a lot of people who looked kinda like they were rejects from the school they went to and found Grinnell as an accepting community, which it seems to be. Nothing against that, just saying. There were a number of activities the one night I was there including a showing of senior artwork in an offsite location, so there were things to do. Like I said, everything is free, concerts, movies, plays, ..over the counter drugs..., you know, pretty much anything you'd ever want to do, in all senses of the word. Lots of famous bands, if you're into the sort of indie rock scene, there were a lot of bands that I knew that they were getting to come. Also, along with the official campus activities, I know my host was planning his own sort of caberet event which sounded pretty nice, made for people that don't have the time to go to a practice everyday, yet still want to participate and show off their talents or what have you. </p>

<p>There's a lot I could talk about I guess, that'll be it for my post, if you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer them. Sent in my deposit today, that was nice.</p>