Official Grinnell College Admissions Rd Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Grinnell College
1

<p>Hi!
I can't believe nobody has started this thread yet (or have they?).</p>

<p>Here's the format (delete the spaces in the box though). like if its [ *] delete the space.</p>

<p>Congrats to those accepted and best of luck to those who didn't!</p>

<p>[ size=+1]
[ color=green]
[ b]
Accepted
[ /b]
[ /color]
[ /size]</p>

<p>[ size=+1]
[ color=red]
[ b]
Rejected
[ /b]
[ /color]
[ /size]</p>

<p>[ size=+1]
[ color=blue]
[ b]
Waitlisted
[ /b]
[ /color]
[ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT:
[ *]SAT II:
[ *]ACT:
[ *]GPA:
[ *]Rank:
[ *]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB)
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays:
[ *]Teacher Recs:
[ *]Counselor Rec:
[ *]Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides)
[ *]Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please) [ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location:
[ *]High School Type:
[ *]Ethnicity:
[ *]Gender
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: (just yes or no)[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars:
[ *]Awards:
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list]</p>

2

<p>

**
Accepted
**

</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 770 CR 710 Math 680 Writing (and I freelance, what a joke)
[</em>]SAT II: 690 WHistory 780 Math 2 740 Lit (didn't submit them though)
[<em>]ACT: NA
[</em>]GPA: 3.88/4.0 scale (UW)
[<em>]Rank: top 10%
[</em>]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Kinda okay, not really really good.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Great
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Even better
[</em>]Supplementary Material: wanted to send poetry, couldn't.
[<em>]Hook: I am doing 2 boards at once?[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: India
[<em>]High School Type: Highly Competitive, Pvt
[</em>]Ethnicity: Indian
[<em>]Gender: F
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Yes[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: editor of school paper, national debater, writer, i freelance for India's No.1 English newspaper
[</em>]Awards: Student of the Year, Speaker of the Year twice in a row
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I got early notification with a 10k merit scholarship. Grinnell's competitive and selective, if you got rejected don't feel bad, you'll get in somewhere else, life doesn't end with rejections.[/ul]</p>

3

<p>How did you know?</p>

4

<p>Accepted! Got a DHL today.</p>

5

<p>

**
Accepted
**

</p>

<p>Stats:[ list]
[<em>]SAT: 720 CR/700M/680W
[</em>]SAT II: 790 bio 740 math
[<em>]ACT: 32
[</em>]GPA: 4.0w
[<em>]Rank: top 15%
[</em>]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) Bio - 5 USH - 4
[/list]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Excellent; offers of publication ^^
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Very good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: No idea; I've only met my counselor...twice?
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook: None [/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: IL
[<em>]High School Type: top 250-ranked public
[</em>]Ethnicity: caucasian
[<em>]Gender: female
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Yes
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Lit magazine (board), GSA (board), youth group (board), scholastic bowl (varsity), speech team (varsity, multiple medals)
[</em>]Awards: National merit commended
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Congrats to all accepted; good luck to those waitlisted; I wish everyone happiness at wherever they end up! [/ul]</p>

6

<p>[ size=+1]
[ color=green]
[ b]
Accepted
[ /b]
[ /color]
[ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: n/a
[ *]SAT II: n/a
[ *]ACT: 30 (English:35, Math:33, Science:26, Reading:24)
[ *]GPA: 3.8 unweighted
[ *]Rank: 12/180
[ *]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) AP European History:3
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: pretty good
[ *]Teacher Recs: one was great, not sure about the other
[ *]Counselor Rec: should have been good
[ *]Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides) n/a
[ *]Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please) i heard Grinnell likes siblings and my brother just graduated last fall...?
[ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location:Wisconsin
[ *]High School Type: average public
[ *]Ethnicity:white
[ *]Gender: male
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: (just yes or no)no
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars:4 years varsity tennis, other varsity sports, president of service club, forensics, NHS, other clubs
[ *]Awards: a few(but not major ones)
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:I'm a little surprised that I got in considering the competition this year...but I'm very excited [ /list]</p>

7

<p>I got a phone call from DHL office and they told me they had a delivery for me.
If that's from grinnell, can it be other than an acceptance ?</p>

8

<p>never mind... Got my decision on the pioneerweb
Accepted
International, applied for FA
posting stats later</p>

9

<p>

**
Accepted!!!
**

</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2190 (800CR, 740W, 650M)
[</em>]SAT II: 750, 730, 700
[<em>]GPA: school doesn't use GPAs. Get mostly 6s and 7s in the IB program
[</em>]Rank: school doesn't rank
[li]Other Tests: IB diploma candidate, predicted 40+ points</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: very good, especially the "why grinnell". This is probably my strongetst point.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: were almost only about academics; one really good and one generic (but positive)
[li]Counselor Rec: really nice</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Europe (but US citizen)
[</em>]High School Type: public
[<em>]Ethnicity: white
[</em>]Gender: female
[li]Applied for Financial Aid: yes. but isn't Grinnell needs-blind anyway?</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: nothing spectacular. Some leadership, some slightly unique, I guess.
[</em>]Awards: none.
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] I love Grinnell? Gave me a fantastic aid package, so I'll most likely be going...</p>

10

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats
SAT: 2170
SAT II: 750 bio (E), 710 lit
GPA: 3.4/4.3
Rank: 68/425
Other Tests: 7 AP’s range 3-5</p>

<p>Essays: Unique, risky but demonstrated social awareness
Teacher Recs: never saw, assume were good
Counselor Rec: never saw, assume was good
Supplementary Material: none, just a “Hi Grinnell” update
Hook: don’t know, not recruited for sports other than a letter last summer, 4X varsity letter in swimming, 2 letters XC, leader in local Youth Symphony, decent community service</p>

<p>Personal
Location: NC
High School Type: large public, sends 1/5 of grads to schools of Grinnell’s caliber
Ethnicity: euro-american
Gender: female
Applied for Financial Aid: yes</p>

<p>Other
Extracurricular: lots of community music involvement, coaching and tutoring to musicians, summer league swim coach
Awards: won merit scholarships to national summer music festivals 3X, national merit commended, national latin awards, 3X, chosen for concerto performance in youth symphony, attended Governor’s School
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: amazed and honored to be accepted; focus on only doing EC’s that you really love, I think that helped me</p>

11

<p>

*Accepted
*

Stats:[ul]</p>

<pre><code>* SAT: 2100 (610CR, 690W, 800M)
* SAT II: 800 Math IIC 760 Physics 730 French
* GPA: 10/10
* Rank: 2/90
* Other Tests: No
</code></pre>

<p>[/ul]Subjective[ul]</p>

<pre><code>* Essays: very good, the "why grinnell" essay was really good
* Teacher Recs: Dunno, but i guess they were good
* Counselor Rec: exceptional
</code></pre>

<p>[/ul]Personal[ul]</p>

<pre><code>* Location: Eastern Europe
* High School Type: private
* Ethnicity: white
* Gender: male
* Applied for Financial Aid: sure
</code></pre>

<p>[/ul]Other</p>

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars: not really special, some community service, sports, math/science club
* Awards: Lots. IJSO silver medalist, World Physics Symposium, several times Math National Olymp. medalist etc.
* Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:
</code></pre>

<p>Very glad to be one of the few internationals accepted. I was awarded a really nice FA package and i'm extremely happy.</p>

12

<p>Congratulations.</p>

13

<p>

**
Accepted
**

</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: N/A
[</em>]SAT II: N/A
[<em>]ACT: 31 (35 Eng., 31 Read., 31 Sci., 27 Math)
[</em>]GPA: 92.59 (upward trend- went to three schools. midyear report 96.55)
[<em>]Rank: School does not rank
[</em>]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) - APUSH (3), AP Eng. Lang. (4)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I liked them. Then again, I wrote them.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: No idea, hopefully good.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: No idea, hopefully good.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides) - I submitted nothing like that at all.
[<em>]Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please) - I had an excellent interview. Grinnell was an obvious fit. [/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Missouri
[<em>]High School Type: Small, private
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Female
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Yes[/ul][ b]Other*[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Newspaper (Editor-in-Chief), Literary Magazine (Editor-in-Chief), Mock Trial, National Honor Society (Secretary)
[</em>]Awards: High Honors, Departmental Awards (APUSH, Spanish), Straight A's Award, a few random other ones. Nothing national. Most of the awards I've actually won were in senior year so not listed :(
[]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I don't really know- my biggest advice to next year's prospies is VISIT! While you visit, definitely have an interview. [/ul]</p>

14

<p>Accepted!</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 2060 (720M, 680CR, 660W)
SAT II: 710 Bio M, 690 Lit
ACT: 34
GPA: 3.9ish UW
Rank: doesn't rank
Other Tests: taken a bunch of APs, but didn't send them any</p>

<p>Subjective
Essays: good, i wrote about one of my unusual talents, and the grinnell specific essay showed my family foots to Iowa (we built a load of barns there back in the day)
Teacher Recs: we're don't get to see them at my school, so i can't say for sure, but probably very good
Counselor Rec: once again, probably good</p>

<p>Personal
Location: FL
High School Type: parochial
Ethnicity: white
Gender:male
Applied for Financial Aid: chyea</p>

<p>Other
Extracurriculars: champion level irish dancer (wrote my essay about it), honor societies, tennis captain, blah, blah, blah
Awards: minor ones
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: i actually received an early write with a $60,000 scholarship (i didn't post anything until now) and I was totally set on going there, until...i received my fin aid package. the early write letter made it seem as though they don't consider the scholarship when determining fin aid, but if you have need, and the scholarship "satisfies" it, they don't offer you anymore. so i was very disappointed by this, because i figured grinnell would be very affordable, and it ended up being the 2nd most expensive school i've heard back from (behind UChicago). </p>

<p>congrats to all those accepted!</p>

<p>post.script. i'm proof that mediocre scores don't seal the deal. i'm 4 for 5 (4 accepts, 1 waitlist) so don't get discouraged.</p>

15

<p>I'm just going to point out that a 2060 SAT and a 34 ACT with a 3.9 unweighted GPA are not mediocre scores</p>

16

<p>the ACT saved my butt, but all I've been told about me SAT is generally along the lines of "good luck." <--at least for schools this competitive</p>

17

<p>(I don't know how to use the text formatting thing. I'm an idiot.)</p>

<p>ACCEPTED!</p>

<p>SATI: 760CR 680M 650W (DOH!)
SATII: 690USH 710MATHI
GPA: (really really low, but grades at my school are hardcore. Average GPA is like 3.0) 3.7 weighted(I'm not sure though. I know its weird. I never saw my transcript, but based on the honor roll and report cards, this is what I'm estimating.).
Ranking: School doesn't rank, but I think something like top 15% or 10%. </p>

<p>Essays: I think it was pretty good. Nothing special, wrote about my dad, and how he dealt with culture clash and how that has always been an inspiration for me.
Teacher+Counselor recs: Don't know...I didn't read them but I hope they were good!</p>

<p>Location: Europe
School: Private International
Ethnicity: Asian (aaaawwww yeeeah)
Gender: Male
Applied for FA: Nope. I think this is why I got in. The UN is generous with providing their employees with education for their children, so my family is pretty happy about that.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:Nothing too fancy. 4 years of MUN with a huge number of conferences. Bass, both upright and guitar for 10 years (my band released a CD, which sold 5 copies so far (yay!), but Grinnell doesn't know about this). International Honor Jazz Band with tenor saxophone (I started 8 years ago). Speech and Debate. Internship at a UN conference. Volunteer work (don't remember the exact number of hours, but I never kept track. After that point in time where it gets really fun, you forget to record :D)
Awards: None :( My school doesn't give awards.
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I'm actually really surprised I got in, because I have mediocre scores at best, and I don't think I showed a lot of interest. I showed more interest at Carleton and Colgate, but was rejected and waitlisted, respectively. Got accepted here, and Macalester and GWU (ESIA), which was completely unexpected. College of Wooster is my safety. Looking back, I wish I focused more on keeping my scores up, because I spent way too much time focusing on my social life (booze is legal here from age 16 so....)</p>

<p>Congratulations to everybody who got in and I hope to see you at Grinnell!</p>

<p>Oh, one question though. Do you think Grinnell might take their acceptance back? My 2nd semester grades are getting really low really fast. I have like 3 Cs out of 7 classes (C's are all in APs). Granted, AP Bio was a C+ 1st semester anyways. Hehe, after saying I regretted not focusing enough on keeping my grades up, its coming back to kick me in the butt in the 2nd semester too. I suck:D.</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
Applied for FA: Nope. I think this is why I got in.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Grinnell is need blind. Just thought I would point that out.</p>

<p>Oh, and I don't think you would get rescinded for Cs...but three is pushing it. I think what they do is send you a letter saying that they are disappointed with you and that they hope you won't continue this trend at Grinnell. Try to get at least one of your Cs up to a B, though, to be safe.</p>

19

<p>booboo</p>

<p>I'm a parent. Pull it together. Grinnell is a great school and there are kids crying their eyes out at being waitlisted or rejected. I think you can do a better job with your grades.</p>

20

<p>
[quote]
I'm a parent. Pull it together. Grinnell is a great school and there are kids crying their eyes out at being waitlisted or rejected. I think you can do a better job with your grades.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>yeah, i hate reading all these results threads and seeing people getting accepted with stats technically lower than mine, haha.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I'm actually really surprised I got in, because I have mediocre scores at best, and I don't think I showed a lot of interest.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>UGHHGHFdjsafoufashfiuowaehkdsahi. i hate reading stuff like this.</p>

<p>/end complaining.</p>