As a current student who LOVES Grinnell but was initially a little wary of the school, I’d be more than happy to talk to anyone who is interested. Feel free to reply with questions!
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread.
I’m from SoCal (West LA area), and I was wondering if you knew anyone I could talk to about the experience and the change in culture.
Why were you wary at first and what changed it?
To add an additional viewpoint, I’m a student who will be leaving Grinnell after this term, because I dislike the school. I’m willing to answer any questions too! There are some great things about Grinnell, but it’s not meant for everyone.
@mochese why wasn’t the school for you? was it a social aspect or academic? what is the social/academic scene like? sorry for so many questions! I’m on the waitlist and wanna know if I should enthusiastically pursue getting off of it :).
Hello Mochese, What don’t you like the most? Is Physics department good compare to Carleton or Macalester College?
splitmanovich, I am a current student who is also from the LA area. While I do love Grinnell, there is definitely a huge huge change in culture. To be honest I did not really notice until about Thanksgiving (I only went home for winter break) and then it starts getting cold and you really want some delicious Mexican food and you’re like why did I come to Iowa? I would definitely view the cornfields and weather as negative changes, but usually you are too busy with other things to really think about it. Also there is definitely something special about watching the leaves change color, seeing it snow, and being able to see the stars.
@jct2015 I have NO academic problems with Grinnell. If you are looking for a truly academic experience with no real worry about social life, then Grinnell is great for you! There is a reason that Grinnell breeds a lot of PhDs per capita; it’s a really great environment if you passionately love a subject and want to pursue that subject in graduate school.
Unfortunately, the social scene at Grinnell is, in my opinion, very bad. Weekends revolve around two parties (Harris, Gardner) and occasionally some parties on High Street. There are no substance free activities besides [weekend], which is a group that runs the substance free weekend activities (like the name suggests). These activities are usually gym games, board games (yahtzee, monopoly, taboo), or cookie/food decorating. As a college age student, these activities aren’t very fun. They can be alright, but they get old very quickly. The attendance is also probably only 12-20 people from across the entire campus. That’s pretty bad, considering it’s the only substance free event. Occasionally you have karaoke or something of the sort, but not incredibly often. Most of my friends are substance friendly, but they even get tired of no real options other than partying. It’s very much a “work hard, play hard” environment. In town, there is the strand (a local theater) that is fine, but it’s also pretty sad to have to go to the strand every weekend to keep yourself entertained. Shuttles to Des Moines and Iowa City are not well advertised and are about once a month, so you can’t leave town very often if you don’t have a car. In addition, most ECs are dedicated to hobbies (breakdancing, cooking, baking, etc…) and there are very few pre-professional/career exploration/volunteer ECs. Community Meal and tutoring are the only volunteer ECs I can recall. Many clubs are kept relatively secret, so friends can just share/use the campus funding to explore the club interests of their friend group. If they aren’t kept secret, they are usually poorly advertised. FMs come around every week and tear down posters, so groups without high levels of motivation stop putting posters up. During the week, you might find a random guest lecturer or two, which can be fun to go to, but there isn’t much to do beyond that. You can find a hobby-esque club or two to attend, but there isn’t much else to do other than homework. In a way, the social scene is very binary and claustrophobic. I came to college wanting to be very active on campus, but I just can’t find many groups that really give me a high level of fulfillment, since most of them are hobby groups. There are also a lot of social justice groups on campus. They mostly sit and talk about social justice more than they actually practice social justice. This is partially due to youth culture and the isolation of the campus.
@GwOnEn Unfortunately, I have minimal experience in the physics department, but I have enjoyed the introductory courses! What I don’t like the most is definitely the weekend scene. My roomate, friends, and I (about 10+ people) always struggle to get out and do things, since a lot of us don’t like to party often. It usually ends with us sitting in the lounge playing card games, which can be a blast, but it’s also a really sad way to spend almost every weekend. Sometimes we go and watch one of the 3 movies that the local movie theater has or eat at one of the 5-6 local restaurants, but you run out of new options pretty quickly.
My d visited this past weekend and had a great time. She noticed a weird smell while she was there, particularly near south campus. I’m assuming this was from the ginkgo trees. Is this a seasonal thing? Odd question I know.
@KAMmom – LOL, I’m fairly certain that was fertilizer (aka manure). We smelled it too. My D enrolled last night – very excited!
@dawnpaige, congrats to your d! Lol, did they say they were fertilizing? Because those trees smell like manure (at least when they drop their seeds, which maybe isn’t this time of year). 
Thanks @KAMmom! It didn’t smell like ginkgo to me. I just assumed manure given the surrounding farms. Lol! Is your D planning on attending?
Let’s hope it doesn’t always smell that way! My d really liked Grinnell, but isn’t quite ready to decide.
@KAMmom best of luck to your D! My D liked Grinnell so much we cancelled our trip to other Admitted Students days. I was relieved as I thought this process would never end. Lol. But it’s nice to have options and I’m sure your D will be happy wherever she goes!
Lol i’m sure there will be lots of ‘interesting’ smells when I visit on 4/20…
@chaoticpuppy, would love to hear about your visit. My d has one more visit this weekend, and then she will decide.
Yeah @chaoticpuppy, please do report back with your activities on your 4/20 visit…
@Mochese May I ask, where are you from? I’m from Kansas City and am trying to decided between Grinnell and Macalester. I’m used to being next to many forms of entertainment, which I enjoy very much. However, I thought that living in a town as small as Grinnell might be good for me to experience. But your post makes me a bit wary. I’m not into substance use or partying.
@KAMmom @ormdad My visit was amazing. Everyone was truly a “character”-interesting, poignant, intelligent, yet unintimidating, and very personable. The campus is so gorgeous, I love the brickwork, and the newer buildings have SO many windows, and industrial vibe which I dig. the Dining hall is so tasty, and it’s almost all windows. The train is such a cute little aspect, it’ll be good for dramatic breakups. In regards to weed smell & 4/20 I didn’t smell any, but I wasn’t near the dorms so shrug. I loved the class I sat in, not necessarily because of the subject, the professor’s pacing was awesome, and wrote very legibly, and class size was very appealing (about 15). It was a lecture-based course, so it was larger than most I think, but I can’t truly say that as it as the only class I sat in. I can’t speak on the discussion based ones.
I chose to explore & get to know other prospies (prospective students) instead of going to things like the student panel, and wandered into the library. THE LITTLE STUDY JUNGLE GYM THINGS ARE SO COOL. Also, since I honestly applied to on a whim, I learned about the OPEN CURRICULUM and that there’s only ONE required course, and it’s called “tutorial” and it varies year by year what professors are available and teaching. It’s basically a class on ANYTHING and so you make a list of like five or so of the ones offered for the year and they’ll place you in wherever fits your schedule which kinda sucks. it’s supposed to intro you to the writing & reading intensiveness though I’ve heard it doesn’t really compare to actual courses shrug. People said Norris was the worst place, but I love it, it’s so cozy to me, and the community there seems strong. We went to an improv show which had me rolling it really showcased how sharp the students at Grinnell are. I didn’t go to the faculty fest since I had to catch a plane, but I figure I’m not missing too much. After this visit, I don’t really care about the schools I was waitlisted at (Pomona, Reed). I really like how I TRULY feel like I can start anyclub I want and receive funding, and that there are so many clubs I can get involved in (lookin forward to joining the newspaper, and doing theatre, maybe improv!).
THere are also SO many student jobs and opportunities for pay ie: working in the D-hall (dining hall), writing articles or taking pictures for the newspaper
Because I come from an extremely diverse school (people from 83 different countries!) I did notice the majority were white people, but I’d say like 35%, but I didn’t notice it at all while in the class I sat in, only in the D-hall and walking around, but there are many factors that goes into that…nevertheless, I believe Grinnell is a very diverse school, racially and economically. I think I’ll get involved in their Questbridge branch!
@chaoticpuppy, thanks so much for the visit report. My d is very big on the open curriculum (and she loved the study gym, too). Are you accepting?