@KAMmom Yes, I’ve already committed! But before the visit I was always hoping for I’d get off the waitlist, but now I want to be nowhere else but Grinnell.
Thanks for your report @chaoticpuppy! My D felt the same way when she visited. Upon our return from there we cancelled our subsequent trips to other Admitted Students Days (they were schools she had visited before) because she felt so at home at Grinnell. And we do not live in the Midwest, nor a small town (although funnily her grandfather grew up in Grinnell but that had zero to do with her decision).
@chaoticpuppy I just wanted to let you know that your tutorial is chosen before the rest of your schedule based on your list of rankings. Since all tutorials start at 8am on Tuesday and Thursday, they don’t usually conflict with other intro courses. Also, the level of difficulty depends on your tutorial professor. I chose a professor that had a reputation for being difficult and I learned a lot in the class. It really improved my writing and presentation skills. Some other students didn’t put a lot of thought into choosing tutorial professors and ended up with dance instructors or physics professors teaching them writing.
@flowsoar What’s the best way for finding out the scoop about the various professors before choosing the tutorial?
@citykid Current student here! Ratemyprofessor is the best way to check out potential professors. The second best option is typing their name in google followed by the world Grinnell or Grinnell College. After doing so, you can find a short bio about them hosted on the Grinnell College website.
@mango2015 I’m sorry for the late response. As we get close to finals, life gets especially hectic at Grinnell.
I am from the 2nd largest metro in Iowa (only smaller than Des Moines metro). It’s around 400,000 people. While it’s no Chicago, Nashville, Kansas City, or Boston, it has a lot more entertainment than Grinnell. I thought living in a small town would be really great, but you don’t really have time to socialize with the town folk, and most of the students seem to have some arbitrary negative notion towards “townies.” It’s part of what is called the Grinnell “bubble,” where the college is essentially separated from the town. There isn’t much to do in town, but the people you meet there will be very friendly. Grinnell is about the safest place I have ever been. I’ve never for a second felt in danger here. However, moving beyond friendliness and safety, the town gets pretty boring. You’ll get tired of the local eateries, since there are only about a dozen of them, and the movie theater is pretty awful.
As for substance abuse, you can physically avoid it, and you won’t be pressured into doing drugs or drinking, but you’ll feel the social pressure as most of the people around you engage in substance use (and abuse). You’ll have to work very hard to carve out a substance free friend group. Partying is normally the main option on the weekend. There are rarely substance free events that will catch your eye. However, there are occasionally decent substance free events. Drag show (wildly popular), titular head (an amateur “film” festival which usually has youtube quality “films”), and Holi can be fun. Fun substance free events happen, but they aren’t frequent.
Grinnell is a PERFECT fit for some students, but it just wasn’t for me. I often found that students LOVED or HATED Grinnell. It’s a very polarizing place.
Good luck on your choice!
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@chaoticpuppy
I had a similar experience when I went for my first visit. I was really impressed by the whole school, and I knew instantly that this was where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life. When you don’t have a mountain of homework to do, Grinnell is really a wonderful, idyllic sort of place in Iowa where you can just have a lot of fun and meet a lot of interesting people. I think the people here are really the best thing about the college, since Grinnellians aren’t nearly as preppy or stuck-up as the students I met at other, similar LACs.
Also, regarding tutorials, you will actually have 20-30 tutorials to choose from in your Freshman year, which definitely gives you a lot of options. Tutorial isn’t really an exciting class, but you’ll learn the basic skills for writing here at Grinnell (and most professors really do have high standards for writing, especially if you’re above the 100 level). The actual content of your tutorial course will vary depending on which professor you end up taking tutorial with, but you’ll learn the same basic things about writing either way; the essays you write will just have different topics depending on which tutorial it is. I wouldn’t really recommend picking a professor based on their reputation for being an easy or hard grader, though, because your tutorial professor is also your advisor until you declare your major at the end of your 2nd year. I recommend that you just take a tutorial which is taught by a professor in the area of study you’re interested in, because an English professor isn’t going to be able to give you much good advice if you’re planning on majoring in Computer Science (and this is a complete tangent, but Comp Sci here at Grinnell is a really good department even though we’re an LAC, so you Comp Sci people should definitely come to Grinnell).
@Kudryavka I’m actually interested in Comp Sci! I’ve never done any programming, but I just have an inkling I’d be very good at it. s/o to the open curriculum so I can dabble 
Thanks for the tutorial tips since I have heard that I ought to scope out the highly rated professors to be my tutorial, but I like your approach about interests better.
@Mochese you can participate in non sub free events even if you’re sub free. It sounds like you’re self isolating yourself from things at Grinnell. Gardner has concerts, not parties. You may not be comfortable with the available options, but the social scene at Grinnell is very welcoming/fun/inclusive. There are lots of other fun weekend night activities which you have neglected to mention.
I was just accepted as a transfer student to Grinnell.
How easy is it to get singles or substance-free housing at Grinnell? What is gender-neutral housing like, and how available is it?
Does Grinnell offer support in finding, securing, and funding internships and research?
How is disability services at Grinnell? How easy is it to see a psychiatrist and psychologist on campus?
Thank you for taking the time to answer questions. I may follow up with more.
I am a parent, but let me help you address some of your issues based on what i know.
If you have a documented medical condition, then you will get the housing you need. Otherwise, at least for singles (i’m not sure about sub-free), then it depends on your room draw to get what your prefer.
Yes, as to support and funding for internships and research. http://www.grinnell.edu/academics/research
http://www.grinnell.edu/about/offices-services/cls/internships
Disability services is very welcoming and supportive, and they recently expanded their staff. Not sure what your disability is, but there is an Academic Advising which has workshops on learning and time management skills, and also individualized attention. While the school uses peer tutors for subject help, it also has professionals on staff for skill development. The Writing Lab, for example, is staffed with professionals, which i think may be somewhat unique.
The mental health counseling is, unfortunately, a little more problematic because of issues the town and the school have had with maintaining the facility in town (there was a place that closed about two years ago) and with bringing mental health doctors to the area. A student can establish an ongoing long-term relationship with a therapist; i think the issue has been one of having therapists available more meeting immediate needs. The college is continuing to address this – and perhaps has already found some new solutions.
Congrats on your acceptance to Grinnell!
Singles are usually given only to third and fourth-year students and this year I think all third and fourth year students had the option to choose a single. In special circumstances (like a medical condition or if you are an especially pesky roommate) first and second-years can get singles. Substance-free housing is very available, especially if you are not a first-year. Gender-neutral housing is not that big of a deal. It just has gender-neutral bathrooms and a higher percentage of LGBTQ+ people. In my experience, it is also pretty available, you’ll probably get first priority if you need it. I am not a transfer student so all of this may be different in your case. We already finished room draw but I do know that there are still doubles available in James Hall 3rd floor (gender-neutral & sub-free) and James Hall 1st and 2nd floor (sub-free) that were not reserved for first-years.
Although I don’t have anything to compare it to, I do really enjoy Grinnell’s Careers, Life, and Service office. I go in there a lot for drop-in meetings and appointments and they have helped me with a lot. They’ve notified me about summer opportunities, edited my resume, helped me with my cover letters, etc. They have a database of internships, including ones that are affiliated with Grinnell alumni. From what I understand, everyone who applies for internship funding and meets the requirements receives it. Everyone getting funding is not a policy, it is just what seems to happen in the summer. Research is supported by the MAPs (Mentored Advanced Program). You can apply to stay the summer in Grinnell to work with a professor on a research project. This is a popular option to get research experience. I think this is how Grinnell students become competitive to apply for REU programs.
I do not get disability services at Grinnell but I know a lot of people who do and are very passionate about disability rights at Grinnell. A bunch of students recently published a magazine on perspectives on disability. I do know that there have recently been a lot of improvements on accommodations. They’ve streamlined the process so that you are supposed to talk to the people in the accommodations office and the people in the office will tell your professors what accommodations you need.
It is hard to see a psychiatrist/psychologist on campus due to a staffing shortage that is a serious problem. A lot of students are angry about this. There are professionals at the local hospital that the health center will drive you to. However, there is currently a shortage of mental health professionals.