<p>I'm very interested in Grinnell for the overall quality of education (afaik Grinnell is normally ranked in the top 15 nationally amongst LACs, and that's with an anti-ranking stance), but I have to admit that I worry about the location when it comes to the strength of the economics department and job/internship placement.</p>
<p>While I generally think rankings are worthless as anything but a very generalized guideline, I've never heard anything about Grinnell's economics department. Amongst LACs the most I hear anything about are Amherst, Colby, Macalester, Hamilton, Claremont/Pomona, Vasssar, Williams and Wesleyan. I understand the pitfalls of rankings and 'word of mouth' recommendations, but it's nice to have something to go by- and I've really never heard anything, positive or negative, about Grinnell's economics department. I was hoping someone could shed some light on it.</p>
<p>My other question is about career services/development. Even though the school has a massive endowment and it's well-known doesn't necessarily guarantee a great department when it comes to placement. I've looked through the database of past internships and while it looks very solid for economics majors (you see the regulars like UBS, Goldman-Sachs, etc) I'd really like to try and come out of school with a full year of work experience. The location of Grinnell I would think makes it difficult to work in a field like finance or banking during the year, and just like a big endowment doesn't equal a great career office great internships don't equal great post-graduation work placement.</p>
<p>If anyone has any experience with either of these topics (either at Grinnell or if you're just knowledgeable about the topic), I'd really appreciate it if you could chime in and give me greater insight into these topics.</p>
<p>From an academic perspective, Grinnell is very strong in economics.</p>
<p>Below are the baccalaureate origins (undergraduates sources) in the US of PhDs in Economics from 1996-2003, normalized for institution size. The number represents PhDs per 1,000 graduates.</p>
<p>Swarthmore College 15.12
Agnes Scott College 9.08
Grinnell College 9.04
Carleton College 7.04
Williams College 6.96
Harvard University 6.88
Macalester College 6.49
Princeton University 4.78
Trinity University (TX) 4.55
MIT 4.46
Stanford University 4.40
Yale University 4.28
Wabash College 3.92
Bowdoin College 3.91
University of Chicago 3.77
Oberlin College 3.77
Wellesley College 3.66
Earlham College 3.53
Kalamazoo College 3.48
Beloit College 3.27
Pomona College 3.21
Illinois Wesleyan University 3.16
College of William and Mary 3.09
Amherst College 3.09
Columbia University 3.02
Rice University 2.93</p>
<p>This data is taken directly from a recent working paper, The Undergraduate Origins of Ph.D. Economists by John Siegfried of Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>EconPapers: The Undergraduate Origins of Ph.D. Economists</p>
<p>As to the issue of starting out in careers like I-Banking and Management Consulting, Grinnell will always lag the top NE LACs such as Williams and Amherst due to location, history, tradition, etc.</p>
<p>What don't you contact some of the economics professors or someone in the career services office?</p>
<p>I don't know anything about the economics dept, but I do know that Grinnell is strong in the areas of internships and career development. Their alumni network offers internships all over the country and internationally and the college finds money to fund unpaid internships. I thinks lots of these are done in the summer. I don't have direct experience with this yet, but my son is a first year and this is what we have heard consistently. He is loving the school.</p>
<p>@BalletGirl</p>
<p>Those are surprisingly high numbers, and I'm amazed Pomona is on that list but Claremont-McKenna isn't. I can't personally see myself going past a masters in the field of economics, but it's nice to know there's some pedigree there. I'm also pleased to see Beloit is on the list, as that's one of my safeties (as are Knox and Lawrence, apparently I have a thing for LACs in the Midwest).</p>
<p>The financial aid situation at Grinnell (capping loans at 3k/yr for lower income families) offsets the potential benefit of getting slightly better job placement from another school where I'd have to take on more debt. I accept that elite schools in the Northeast will generally have better overall job placement in fields that are prevalent in the tristate area- it's to be expected. I'm just trying to avoid some huge difference.</p>
<p>I'm talking to someone in admissions about this now, and if I get accepted I think I'd take the time then to directly get in contact with professors and people in the career office.</p>
<p>@bethievt</p>
<p>Funding unpaid internships would definitely make the location situation less of a problem, as I fully expect I'd have to go to either coast during the breaks to get the internships I want. That's good to know assuming there's nothing I could do that would be up my alley during the year in Iowa City or Des Moines.</p>