<p>Getting back to the initial question, what is Grinnell distinguished in academically?, the simple answer is many things. Grinnell’s ratio of producing PhDs is in the top ten in the U.S. Sciences seem particularly strong, but also strong is history and languages. My son was a math and history major with an East Asian concentration. He received Master’s Degree fellowship offers from Oregon, Stanford, and Yale (he accepted Yale) and PhD offers from U of Michigan and Harvard (he accepted Harvard). The school prepares students to think critically; grad schools recognize the quality of the Grinnell experience.</p>
<p>SDonCC: I completely understand what you mean by attempting to broaden your area of study by choosing a professor in a department different from the one you want to major in. That’s actually why I chose the tutorial I did. I know that sometimes this works out well: for example, a sophomore on my floor just declared biochem, but was advised by a history prof for her first two years. But for me, this didn’t go well.</p>
<p>Ending up in a tutorial based on interest, not professor subject area, is also okay if you go talk to the department professors you want to major in. That’s what I did, and it is a good way of building relationships. However, if you know for sure what you want to major in, and know that this isn’t likely to change, I do think it’s wise to try to get a professor as your first advisor who is part of the department already. This just saves time, confusion, and some serious stress. Professors within a department can push you towards other areas of study too. My Intro Poli Sci prof suggested far more varied classes then my advisor. A good advisor can come from any field of study, and if they know your interests and care about their freshmen students, they can be awesome.</p>
<p>M’s Mom: My experience has been that many of the kids I know do get drunk on a regular basis. My tutorial was far more open and comfortable when our professor was not in the room. That’s just my personal situation: I’m sure it’s different for many people, including your son’s.</p>
<p>I think the science students and social life question has a pretty random answer. The science building includes a lot of casual study spaces, making it a hub for science majors of the sort that other majors just don’t have, but I don’t know how much this facilitates bonding. It often seems to be pretty random to me. I know students who have no science major friends, only science major friends, and everything in between.</p>
<p>My son also deliberately picked a tutorial led by a prof in an area he wasn’t going to pursue It was a physics prof but the tutorial was on the historical development of science and history was, and is, a major interest. He wanted a scientist’s perspective on history, as I recall. That advising relationship worked out fine, but I doubt my son needed much advising.</p>
<p>wow, do I keep stumbling across some amazing information on the Grinnell website! Turns out that the Writing Lab has professionals in the center; most schools, as far as I can tell, staff their writing resource centers with students. Check out the bios of these people! So impressive!! And it’s all for free! (well, plus tuition…). The Writing Lab is part of the Academic Resource Center.</p>
<p>[Writing</a> Lab - Writing Lab | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/writinglab]Writing”>http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/writinglab)</p>
<p>Here are examples of some workshops they host:
<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/arc/arcworkshopsstu[/url]”>http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/arc/arcworkshopsstu</a></p>
<p>I’m sure there’s plenty of students who never need to step foot in these resource centers, but boy do they offer the support for everyone to succeed at Grinnell – and to grow if they need just to improve!!</p>
<p>Hi Sarucane,</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your Grinnell posts. If you don’t mind, I wonder if you could respond in more detail re your experience studying Arabic at Grinnell. My D will graduate high school with 4 years of Arabic language study, and is interested in continuing in college–not necessarily to major in it, but to deepen her proficiency. She is very interested in Grinnell, and already has emailed Professor Youssef, who could not have been more gracious and responsive; she basically said that if the student is willing to put in the work, Grinnell will find a way to meet her needs. However, my D most likely is already at or above the level of proficiency in Grinnell’s most advanced Arabic class in the catalogue. She very much wants a LAC, but the research universities have the depth of curriculum and faculty in Arabic–you see the problem. Any thoughts? Thanks again–
kzoo75</p>
<p>Many, many schools have professionals in their writing centers. The community college I teach at is staffed with professionals on full faculty lines. Same was true at the State U where I did my PhD.</p>
<p>This is not to take anything away from the other amazing things said about Grinnell.</p>
<p>It definitely depends on the strength of her Arabic programm. Professor Youssef is a very good teacher and especially the Intermediate classes in Arabic are very intense (think 2+ hours of class work or more). Sadly there are no higher level classes in Arabic as of yet, and no classes in a dialect either. I am taking Arabic right now and I feel that there is definite an interest for a higher level Arabic/dialect class. Maybe if the students continue to push there might be more classes in Arabic; possibly the language assistant could teach a dialect class?
The problem with Arabic is that even the Intro class is fairly intense so that a lot of people drop out and by the end of the 4th semester maybe 8 students (from an initial 30+) are left who want to take Arabic.</p>
<p>kzoo75: I think that your D should do fine in increasing her proficiency. I know of at least one student who did an independent study after getting through the first two years of Arabic, and there are many study abroad programs to pick from as well. An independent study would be difficult in her first year, but not impossible, if she is past the 200 level (which, after 4 years, sounds like a good bet). It’d be easier to reach a higher level at a big research school, with easy access to higher level classes, but at a liberal arts school like Grinnell, your D would get much more personal attention from Prof Youssef, and be able to design her own curriculum at the higher levels. I’d imagine this would actually result in a far more through learning process than one she would get at a research uni, where the classes would have set syllabi and she’d get less individual attention. Having made it through this year of crazy college Arabic, I have to say, I have no idea how I would have survived without the small class size and easy access to Professor Youssef and the TA. I think it’d be harder for your D to advance in Arabic at Grinnell, but far from impossible and potentially far more rewarding.</p>