<p>My son went to a high school of about 1,200 students, large for VT, but the diversity was almost non-existent. Grinnell, as of 2011, had 13% international students from about 80 countries and students from (usually) 50 states, 22% of them students of color. So for this small school in the middle of Iowa, I’d call it pretty diverse. I wouldn’t be surprised to see even more diversity in the incoming class.</p>
<p>And in addition to ethnic diversity, Grinnell just attracts interesting thinkers. Not your average bears. Can you visit campus? I’d really suggest you visit as many of your potential campuses as you can. Attend classes, maybe stay in a dorm. We can’t tell you what school fits best for you.</p>
<p>chicago26, congratulations on your acceptance. My son is a Grinnell grad and I believe he would say, yes, at times the small size of the student body can feel a little socially restrictive. It’s hard to be anonymous, even for a little while, the way you can be at a large university. But I think that this is also part of the wonderful educational experience at Grinnell: You learn to live with people with whom you might not normally associate, and to work out problems rather than walk away from them, because those people are going to be crossing your path for the next four years.</p>
<p>Even though it’s a small school, surprises can happen: My son met his girlfriend senior year. Different majors and different dorms put them in totally different spheres for the first three and a half years.</p>
<p>Re the small size: Even with 1,600 students, 400 graduate every May and 400 matriculate every August, so there’s plenty of turnover. </p>
<p>The factbook provides a lot more information on diversity and other aspects of the school:</p>
<p><a href=“https://itwebforms.grinnell.edu/factbook/pdfs/factbook2011.pdf[/url]”>https://itwebforms.grinnell.edu/factbook/pdfs/factbook2011.pdf</a></p>
<p>Anyone know about gluten free options for food on campus? I have celiac disease as well as being a vegetarian with limited amounts of dairy. Do you think they could accommodate this? A weird question to ask, but food does matter for 4 years of your life!</p>
<p>Also, I saw on here that the varsity athletics are non-cut? Is this true? </p>
<p>How are the science programs that prepare for medical school?</p>
<p>There are gluten free and vegan options at every meal, and food with nuts or other allergens are marked clearly. Even food events outside the dining hall will usually have a vegan option, since there are so many students that need it. The dining hall is great about accommodating student needs.</p>
<p>Sports at Grinnell are no-cut. I don’t know any details, but if you want to play sports, you can play sports, no questions asked.</p>
<p>Science programs are excellent. Grinnell is one of the LACs with the highest proportions of STEM majors and one of the best schools in the country for placement into graduate study. The facilities here are really amazing, too. If you can visit, you should check out the Noyce science center.</p>
<p>Hey third planet. I think your questions where made for me.</p>
<p>As a vegetarian I never had a problem at Grinnell. There is always a vegan bar with gluten free options and the staff works with students with allergies or dietary restrictions. The food is generally really good but like almost any school the food gets a bit repetitive at times.</p>
<p>The varsity sports teams are no cut but playing time is not. Certain sports like swimming or cross country generally find ways to get everyone to compete (swim team this year was over 100 people). Coaches are great and understand the balance between work and school.</p>
<p>Overall I think Grinnell prepared me well for the MCAT and does very well getting students into med school. PM me if you want specific details on the HPAC committee, med school application advice specific to Grinnell, or any further details about my experience.</p>
<p>How is the food (in general) at Grinnell? Are there multiple dining options on campus?</p>
<p>The food is really quite good. There is one dining hall that has multiple stations, like salad bar, soups, stir fry, etc. There is also a Grill where food can be purchased when the dining hall isn’t open. As at all colleges, the food can seem repetitive but they do seem to make an effort. I’m a parent though. You’d get better info from a student.</p>
<p>The food is really good for a college dining hall. The sandwich station, stir fry bar, and pasta station are typically open at every meal and can allow you to customize your meal if you get creative. Generally between the grill station, the vegan station, salad bar, and plat du jour you can find something you like. The desserts are really good and they always have cereals, bagels, and fruit at every meal as well. In the last few years the dhall has made an effort to include theme nights and has done some truly great meals.</p>
<p>The grill offers outtakes (bagged meals if you do not have time to stop at the dhall). Some are great and others are not, but you learn fairly quickly which days to get an outtakes.</p>
<p>Other than that there are a couple of good cheap restraints in town if you need a break from the dhall.</p>
<p>
Gooey butter cake today. Maybe it doesn’t sound like it would be good, but it is.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m an international students from Vietnam and just been accepted to Grinnell and Macalester. I plan on majoring in Math and Science and the departments at these two schools are both fantastic. The 2 schools offer me the same financial aid package and I’m having a hard time deciding which school to attend. Right now, I prefer Grinnell a bit more. I love playing sports, especially soccer, and I don’t like shopping or the big city life. Also, as I read on one collegeconfidential topic, I shouldn’t overvalue the twin cities since most of Macalester students don’t have the time nor money to enjoy the cities. In addition, I don’t like arts that much so all the theaters in the cities are not that useful. I prefer playing sports</p>
<p>I don’t like party and drinking. Grinnell seems to have a lot of sub-free events on the weekend.</p>
<p>I’d like to stay in the US during the summer. It seems like I can find an internship much easier at Macalester since the school is in a metropolitan area. However, because I major in Math and Science, doing research seems to be more relevant and both schools offer lots of opportunities for summer research. </p>
<p>Any comments, suggestion for where I should go or why Macalester is better?</p>
<p>They are both wonderful schools that highly value international students. My son applied to both and was accepted to both. He chose Grinnell, but I know he’d have been happy at either. My niece graduated from Mac and loved it. At Grinnell, you’d have a host family from the community who would give you a bit of a home base off campus. The science facilities are amazing and they keep the class sizes small. Every student can get a job on campus and there are lots of research opportunities. You can’t go wrong with your choices between these two schools. I think Grinnell is probably rated a bit higher on math and science, but get other opinions. Both schools have weekend parties. I know Grinnell makes an effort to have sub-free activities. I’ll bet Mac does too, but I know Grinnell better.</p>
<p>There is a great soccer scene at Grinnell. There are pickup soccer games almost everyday and indoor soccer when the weather gets bad. Also there is a spring indoor soccer class you can take for credit.</p>
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<p>It sounds like you prefer Grinnell. I’d suggest you contact the school to learn what help or suggestions they provide international students who want to stay in the US for the summer if this seems to be the main sticking point for you. I know that Grinnell has a very active International Students association, too, so perhaps you can talk to some current students.</p>
<p>I know Grinnell is need blind and meets 100 percent of demonstrated need. I am just wondering how this need is calculated. My family’s efc is ~16k for this year for my sister who is a senior. Next year I would imagine it would be about the same. Would this mean Grinnell would pay for all of the fees except 8k? My family has a substantial amount put away as well as owning a house. I don’t know if this affects it. Although they meet 100 percent of “demonstrated” need, I am not sure what qualifies to them as demonstrated, if it different from the EFC. Thanks!</p>
<p>Are there soccer games on the weekend? From what I read on Grinnell events calendar, there’re intramural games only on Tuesday and Wednesday. Seems like they don’t put pick-up soccer games on the calendar. If it’s true that there’re pick-up soccer games everyday then I’d definitely attend Grinnell. I love playing soccer very much but afraid that I might not be good enough to make the team at Mac. Grinnell has a no cut policy so at least if I don’t make it to the team then at least, I could train with them. I make it to my high school team but since I’m an Asian, my height and stamina are not up there as those big, tall white guys.
Do you know where people play indoor soccer at Grinnell? I think people play in the field house in the Charles Benson Bear athletic center. However, the field house is used for tennis and indoor track and field. People remove the tennis net and play soccer on those courts? From looking pictures of the field house from many angles, I didn’t see any goal post.
In the winter, people still play indoor soccer, right?
You can take 4 classes/semester, is that include PE class?</p>
<p>Khoa, I take it you haven’t visited these schools? If soccer is that important to you, I’d pick Grinnell. In addition to the formal athletic fields, there is a gigantic green space on the campus as well as the amazing indoor facility. Mac’s campus is pretty small, and IIRC does not offer a space for pickup games that is right in the middle of things as Grinnell’s open space is. (I think this open space is called Mac Field?)</p>
<p>Anyway, I am pretty sure that you can take PE in addition to a full course load and also that you can take PE for noncredit. I assume you saw this, but if not:</p>
<p>[Activity</a> Courses - Physical Education | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/pe/activitycourses]Activity”>http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/pe/activitycourses)</p>
<p>I don’t know if you have posted on Grinnell’s 2016 Facebook page, but if not, I’d go there and get a sense of things from your classmates. I’d imagine that the pickup scene would vary a bit depending on the personal interests of the student body from year to year, but it does sound like soccer is popular there.</p>
<p>The International Soccer Club typically meets every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. When the weather is nice we play out on Mac field and when it is not we have futsol goals which we can set up in the aux gym or field house and play 5 on 5. Finally, there is also a fall and spring indoor intramural soccer tournament. Even if you decide not to play varsity soccer you can still play a high level of soccer practically every day (The varsity team every year scrimmages against ISC and last year the final score was 4-2).</p>
<p>Also you can take as many classes as you want as long as it is 18 credits or under. The soccer class in the spring is taught by Jaws (Coach Jaworski- the soccer coach) and meets MWF for 1 hr.</p>
<p>Hi, I am new to college confidential (this is my first post so I hope I am doing this right!) and was accepted to Grinnell’s class of 2016 ED II. I am going to be attending the admitted students weekend this weekend and had a couple of questions:</p>
<p>My parents were wondering if they stay with me for all the programs during the day or if they don’t attend the programs with me?</p>
<p>Secondly, I will be staying overnight and I am inevitably nervous… I’m not quite sure what to expect. Do I get a host, where do I stay, etc.? </p>
<p>thank you!</p>