<p>Basically the title says it all. I'm heavily considering Grinnell right now, but I wondered about it's location. I'm used to living in a large city, and I think adjusting to Grinnell at first would be really difficult. How long does it take to get to Des Moines or Iowa? Are there any bus shuttles? Is there a lot do on campus?</p>
<p>Someone else can tell you about shuttles. My son is so happy and busy on campus he feels no need to go to the cites. They bring in loads of music, speakers and other performances. The St. Petersburg Ballet, the Beijing Opera, Winton Marsalis, etc. This year they had a whole spekers series on Islam. The parties are really fun and there are loads of student clubs and organizations.</p>
<p>But you are right that the town itself is tiny and sleepy. What this does is make a tighter, more cohesive campus community. But if you really need a city, Grinnell isn’t that. They do have a very diverse student body out there in the cornfield, young people from all over the world and from all different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.</p>
<p>oH, and they have interesting alt break activities funded by the college. So far, my son has gone to New Orleans to help with rebuilding and Milwaukee, WI to work on an inner city organic farm.</p>
<p>What other schools are you considering?</p>
<p>Des Moines is about an hour away, as is Iowa City (U of Iowa). They mentioned something about bus shuttles to des moines when i visited, but i was under the impression that there’s no reason to take these shuttles as there’s a lot to do on campus.</p>
<p>There is so much to do on campus that if you wanted to do it all, you couldn’t. There is frequently a shuttle provided by the school on Saturdays, though not necessarily every Saturday, that will alternate between Des Moines and Iowa City, and occasionally to an outlet mall towards Iowa City. The shuttle to Des Moines drops off at the mall in W. Des Moines which takes about 1 hour 10 min. The shuttle to Iowa City drops off at both the Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville (4 miles from Iowa City) and then downtown across from the U. of Iowa. It takes roughly about the same amount of time. Our son who is from a large city had no problem adjusting to the small town, but there are times that it can get to you. Most of the students like being there. As bethievt said, it makes for a tighter, more cohesive community on campus. While people go into town to eat or see a movie, etc., life is focused on the campus and what the college provides. It is the smallness of Grinnell that adds that something special to the college. If you must absolutely have a large city, then Grinnell is not for you.</p>
<p>Go to the school’s website and find the calendar tab at the bottom of the page: You can see what’s happening on campus for any given day. And campus is where the action is. </p>
<p>There is little or nothing going on in the town of Grinnell. S has been to Des Moines once with friends and isn’t in a hurry to go back. (It’s his first year.) The school was talking about arranging trips to Minneapolis, Chicago and other metro areas, but I’m not sure if that’s still going to happen (or whether there is sufficient demand on the part of the students). S says he’s too busy with school and ECs as is.</p>
<p>We are from a large metro area so S gets his city-fix when he’s home. He has never been bored, although he says more restaurants off campus would be nice. Of course, he’s very into sports and music of which there is a lot on campus. By junior year, he’ll probably be ready to study abroad for a change of scenery but then again, maybe not…</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my son has a car at Grinnell and could easily go to Des Moines, Iowa Cities or even to Minneapolis for the weekend (he has lots of friends who attend school there.) He is always too busy. There is a lot going on all the time.</p>
<p>THanks for your replies. Basically Grinnell is the only school that I consider, because I only got accepted by one other school, but didn’t get sufficient aid there(I don’t even know if I can attend Grinnel atm, although I got gread financial aid). I understand that Grinnell has a cohesive community. How is that? I mean do you know everyone by soph year? I can’t really imagine how it might be.</p>
<p>I doubt my son knows everyone on campus, but he has way more close friends at Grinnell than he’s ever had in his life.</p>
<p>Absolutely Nothing, definitely DO NOT go to Grinnell! It is a boring school and there is nothing AT ALL TO DO</p>
<p>Nice try SmallColleges! I’m sure you know that Beloit is a very good school too. Good luck!</p>
<p>my daughter just had 3 free concerts this week. that is just for music…much else going on for other areas! however if you want fancy stores for shopping it might not be for you. Think about what your priorities are!</p>
<p>Thanks.Looks like the only thing that is keeping me from attending Grinnell now, is my financial aid award. Hope I can do something about that.</p>