The old “Why Grinnell” thread (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/438138-why-grinnell-p1.html) is closed. It was a treasure trove that ran from 2007 to 2016, and in my opinion is an essential and still relevant read for anyone considering the school. It was helpful to my family in narrowing down an overwhelming array of options, and the kindness of the posters there beautifully captures the spirit of the school.
I wondered if it was time to start a new thread where people could post why they or their kids choose Grinnell, and other general info to help prospects narrow their choices. I’ll start. Here is a working link to 82 photographs of the campus by former student David Kennedy: http://www.lightsedgestudios.com/a-portrait-of-grinnell/ . The link in the old thread was dead.
But even if there is nothing new to add, it seemed worth posting a link to the old thread before it got buried forever.
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I also hope people will chime in. I have a feeling that Grinnell is perfect for our S19 and I love seeing more and more reasons that prove it!
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@MatzoBall I agree that the original Why Grinnell thread is an excellent resource. I hope it remains accessible as it delivers a comprehensive view of the school from numerous perspectives over many years. If you want to learn more about Grinnell (and can access the original thread), I strongly encourage you to do so. Given that the thread was so helpful in assisting my S17 with his college search last year, I want to share what I can offer on the new version.
My perspectives come from both attending Grinnell myself, albeit many years ago, and from my son’s recent college search with visits to Grinnell and many other schools. While I definitely encouraged my son to attend a LAC, I was surprised when he applied there ED1. He’ll be a freshman in August. The same Grinnell vibe that attracted me remains in place and attracted my son. Last summer I attended my 25 year Grinnell reunion and intentionally spent a fair amount of time with fellow alumni at their 50 year reunion. The stories they told of Grinnell reflected my impressions and my son’s and taught me that college vibes endure over time.
What do I like about Grinnell?
- Students who are unpretentious, friendly, hard working and open minded. Many students are quirky, but all students appear to feel comfortable with who they are, are valued for their uniqueness and under no pressure to be someone else. Students support each other rather than compete with each other. Of the 10 or so schools we visited, Grinnell stood out with respect to students saying hello, asking if we needed help finding anything or simply asking if we had any questions.
- Non-exclusive. No frats. No sororities. Most sports are open to all comers. No fees to attend the numerous on campus events.
- International flavor. Grinnell has a much stronger international presence than the other top LACs we visited. It's resources allow it to bring in unique students from around the globe, many of whom could never afford education abroad without assistance.
- Focus on teaching. Classes are tiny. Profs are dedicated to teaching. Everyone has a story of dinner at their profs house or of profs going out of the way to help them.
- Resources. Grinnell's endowment ranks in the top 10 nationally in terms of endowment per student (includes LACs and Universities). The endowment is two to three times the level of many competing LACs and translates into:
- Excellent need based aid. Grinnell is need blind and meets full financial need.
- Merit aid. Grinnell is one of the few top schools with significant merit aid.
- Incredible facilities. Grinnell's facilities are hard to beat and always being improved. Check out the virtual tour if you cannot visit.
- Financial security. Grinnell is more likely to survive a market downturn with a student's aid in tact and the character of the school in tact.
- Mentored Advanced Projects. Research opportunities with travel as an undergrad.
- Internship support. Want to volunteer over the summer but you can't afford it? The college will pay you for that volunteer work.
- Activities. The college brings an amazing amount of culture and entertainment to campus. All free to students.
Have an idea for a club or activity? You'll receive funds to get it going.
- Location. The most frequent Grinnell criticism is its location. Yes it is in a small Iowa town (around 10,000 population). Yes that town is less photogenic than comparable sized towns like Northfield or Middlebury. Yes the town is surrounded by cornfields. Still, Grinnell's location is much of what makes it special to me. You'll likely never be around a more interesting, diverse, intelligent group of people in your life. You want to spend time with them rather than have them go out in different directions throughout a surrounding city in small groups. Many students grow up in large cities and will spend their entire careers in large cities. College may be their one chance to experience small town charms (friendly people, fresh air, seeing the Milky Way at night, riding bike in the wide open countryside). If Grinnell were magically transported to California or the Northeast, I'm sure the number of applications would skyrocket but much of what makes Grinnell special would be lost.
- Fun. After handling a heavy workload, Grinnellians are good at having fun. Many of the all-campus theme parties are legendary and have continued over the decades (read those stories if you can find them). A new tradition is Nerf@Noyce, where the Science Building turns into an all campus Nerf war arena once per week.
- Self governance.
- Open curriculum.
- Excellent track record with graduate and professional schools.
As with any school, the best way to learn about Grinnell is to visit. Stay overnight. Meet as many students and profs as you can. Eat in the dining halls (visitors receive free food!). Go to multiple classes.
I’ll add a few items to Andrew’s great list:
- Quirky, creative, brainy students
- A top Ph.D. feeder school
- "Learning for the sake of learning"
- Very strong in the sciences with hands-on emphasis
- Observatory
- Students remarkably welcoming ("come as you are"), inclusive but outspoken, willing to challenge own and others' beliefs
- High socioeconomic diversity
- School walks the walk of commitment to social responsibility
- Borrowed from previous thread: unencumbered by "junior grad school" baggage; work load is heavy, very rigorous, but students have time for frivolity on weekends
- Midwest nice but too unconventional to be boring; doesn't have exclusionary feel of some East Coast schools
- Semester system
- Happy students, and alumni effusive about positive experiences
- Noteworthy humility and lack of pretension for such a strong school; a good place to shape a young adult's character
@agentaquastar I think this post may be helpful to you. 
D2 and I went to a “Best Colleges” fair in LA last fall. I felt sorry for the other colleges represented, as the Grinnell presenter was easily the most persuasive. He talked about how his daughter called him mid-visit to say that the search was over - Grinnell was the one - after she was enthusiastically embraced for her input in class, even as a high school student. She encouraged him to apply for his job when it opened up; there was not a dry eye in the house when he showed her graduation picture. She went on to win a prized fellowship in England after a professor steered her to a different major altogether.
But the story that I loved most was that of a basketball game. He said he was confused when Grinnell students cheered for the opposing team. When asked why, the Grinnell students said they were rooting for the excellent play, not for the team. I was blown away.
@Andrew2199 @MatzoBall Care to comment at all on career services at Grinnell? It hasn’t come up here. Our S19 really liked his visit and just interviewed with the rep. He is not interested in grad school and wants to work after undergrad. He’s undecided on major and has wide interests from math and physics to government and art. I’m trying to convince my husband that a liberal arts school will still set him up for job success and companies will certainly visit and interview kids from Grinnell. When we look at other schools’ career center websites (Carleton, MIdd, Bowdoin, Williams), they seem much more specific about how the schools help kids with internships and jobs after school.
Any thoughts on how Grinnell would compare when it comes to job placement? Do a large percent of kids go to grad school or off to something like the Peace Corp or TFA?
https://www.grinnell.edu/after-grinnell/cls This should answer your questions in detail. A quick call to them could directly answer any questions you have. Returned from New Student Orientation a week ago and was impressed at what services they provide students. Internships, externships, alumni networking etc.
Oddly, this thread has caused me to rethink recommending Grinnell to so many.
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Thanks @Cornellian88. I’ve looked through Grinnell’s website and even attended parent meetings there on careers while S19 was in a class. I definitely got the feeling that, while they offer the things above, it’s not a popular choice for students to go into business. Everyone we met seemed to be doing research, planning grad school, working at non-profits…all great but probably not what S19 will want to do. There’s a stark difference between Grinnell’s career info on their website and some of the schools’ websites I’ve mentioned. I’m hoping to find parents or students who have first hand knowledge of kids getting consulting or analyst jobs out of Grinnell. If Grinnell is primarily a feeder school for grad schools, I need to know that too.
@Publisher Care to elaborate?
@homerdog: Grinnell College is neither a target or semi-target school for IB & MC (and certainly not a core school).
Because these types of positions are typically taken by former interns–approximately 70%–Grinnell College would place one desiring such a career at a severe disadvantage.
Same line of thinking as “Methinks thou doest protest too much.” Trying too hard. Overselling. And the location would make securing employment more challenging than it needs to be. @homerdog
P.S. The most recent poll regarding IB placement revealed that location is key. Accordingly, NYU beat out Harvard. NYU & Columbia were among the top three or four for Wall Street IB placement.
@Publisher Right. No chance that S19 will want IB but maybe consulting or an analyst job at a Fortune 500. When we visited, there was one student who just interned at Deloitte and was offered a job after graduation. I thought that was good but now I’m wondering if that’s a very small percentage of kids and if she had some other connection to get that job.
Unfortunately, while I have substantial knowledge on the topic of Big 4 employment , it is off topic in this thread.
I find Grinnell College attractive for its generous financial aid policies & practices as well as for a high quality education among kind & conscientious peers.
P.S. I would suggest Grinnell College for those who see graduate school in their future.
@Publisher See, the thing is that S19 really did like it. His actual experience at school for those four years would be wonderful. But we are concerned about job placement and it will be a deal breaker once acceptances come in and he has to decide. He visited Carleton and Bowdoin and loved both. Also liked Davidson and I think he would like Hamilton. Kenyon now also gives me pause but he really liked it as well. Just starting to realize that some LACs are just better at the business career part than others. Of course, the ones that place the best are the hardest to get into!
I didn’t choose Grinnell, but if I were looking at midwestern LACs it would be near the top of my list:
- Very strong academics
- Friendly vibe (if a bit liberal for my own tastes; but then I'm 42 now, not 18-22...)
- Huge endowment per student, which means they have the ability to spend a lot of money on their students
- Quiet rural location within about an hour of Iowa's two largest cities and the hopping U of Iowa, and a couple hours from a rather large river.
If a kid doesn’t have to study on an ocean coast, at a large school, in a city, or major in some STEMy programs, Grinnell is a fine option.
@prezbucky See, that’s all terrific but he can get that at Bowdoin, Davidson, Carleton, Hamilton…and those schools also seem to get kids into jobs. I know it’s not up to the school and the student has to lead the charge but, certainly, the school’s connections matter. Only thing is that Grinnell gives merit which makes it in the running but I am now wondering if the extra $60-$80k at another school would be “worth” it. (We are full pay.)
@homerdog: I do not want this thread to get off topic, so I will send you a private message.
Those schools are all similar in academic rep and quality, probably. So I would differentiate them based on fit variables like location, weather, convenience to home/travel cost, and social vibe. If you want to rank them based on academics, look at available majors and courses, distribution requirements, faculty in areas of interest, academic calendar. They’ll all offer mostly small, intimate, interactive classroom environments.
But in terms of applying – you can apply anywhere. If multiple acceptances result, then you can visit if the decision is difficult. Visiting is also advised if an applicant is considering an ED application.
If he got into Grinnell with some merit, and Hamilton with no merit… unless Hamilton were simply a better fit, I’d choose Grinnell. That money could come in handy down the road, and for two products of similar quality – as Grinnell and Hamilton are, personal fit variables being equal – why pay five-figures more for one than the other?
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