I’m sure like many of your children, my daughter had some really nice options. She was a little caught up in the whole “Cornell? no Grinnell” thing, especially as she was passing up what others considered more “name brand” institutions, but in the end was won over by her visit to the campus and her independent research on all the school has to offer that matches her interests. I of course wanted this for her from the beginning, but you do need to let them work through the process on their own (not easy for me!). I would love to know where people recommend for lodging in Grinnell, I assume we’ll stay the night when we drop her off in August . . .
I stayed at the Comfort Inn during admitted students weekend last month and thought it was fine. We’ll be staying there again for drop off.
Comfort Inn was fine for us as well and we are staying there in August again. Best Western and Country Inn next door both looked fine too. For family weekend 2016, we have reservations at the Carriage House B&B. Was maybe $20/night more, but is closer to the campus and looks like it might be interesting staying there.
We stayed at Spaulding Guest House which is almost on campus. Nice to go back and forth easily. Nice altogether.
I always stayed at one of the B&B’s - Spaulding Inn and Carriage House were great! Close to campus - could leave car and walk back and forth, clean, reasonable, and both have great food. Make B&B grad reservations early - I made mine when my D was a freshman!
The few B&Bs seem to fill up quickly. We got the last room at one for Family Weekend and another had already filled up. I imagine you really want to think ahead for something like graduation weekend.
Yeah, @porcupine98 S and @ChicagoMom62 D! So happy to read your kids will be joining the Grinnell class of 2020 along w my S and @lexluthor5 D. @LuvMomN8ur S is attending too. It might be fun to arrange to meet up, during move-in days, to say “Hello” in-person!!
Thank you very much for the link to the parents web page, @thinmints! I will be joining too!
I have yet to see an email from the parents group – can folks chime in the next time they get one so I can tell if it’s a problem on my end?
And I’d love to meet up. Still debating which parent is going to get to accompany the kid on move-in day, but I plan to be there on family weekend for sure.
I’ve really enjoyed this forum, it has been informative but also a great source of comfort to share this crazy process called College Admissions with all of you, and to hear such honest and helpful first-hand accounts from parents of current and former Grinnell students. My D is so happy with her decision right now - she heard back from a waitlist school yesterday and completely forgot she was even on any waitlists - she is 100% confident that Grinnell is where she belongs. It’s like all the angst and stress of the past few months has melted away. Definitely looking forward to Family Weekend and meeting all of you.
@morningside95 – good to “see” you on here…haven’t seen you for awhile! Welcome to all of the class of 2020!
@chicagomom62 Couldn’t agree with your more on all points. Our D, most importantly, and the rest of our family couldn’t be more happy/confident in the result of the college admissions process. We are excited to see Grinnell live up to everything we expect it will be for her.
CC has been invaluable to our search and I only hope that I helped a few people out in return as well.
@porcupine98 - the listserv hasn’t had any traffic recently. There was a flurry about graduation and move out issues and a delightful little thread about birthday cakes…apparently a local church will bake and deliver a custom cake (your recipe) to your kid’s dorm room!
Maybe I’ll try to work up the courage to ask a question on the list. I definitely have questions but was waiting till we get through with AP exams, senior project, and graduation before thinking too much about next fall. The downside of my kid being so happy about Grinnell is a sudden and severe outbreak of senioritis that needs to be contained.
I’d like in on a meetup too!
The cake discussion was interesting. With the listserv, there’s unfortunately no history. Why are they using 1990 technology for this? There are so many better ways. Wonder if there’s someone to suggest that to.
Here are some links to the cake service.
http://hbugrinnell.org/
http://stpaulsgrinnell.■■■■■■■■■■/buy-a-cake-for-a-student.html
There was some discussion this past year about changing the parent listserve to a more user-friendly (modern) system, like Facebook. However, this idea faced some resistance and the administrators decided to keep it as it is, for better or worse. Maybe you new batch of forst-year parents will be more successful…
We could just start our own… 
Heads-up for those of you who joined the listserv recently: I just got a message - two actually but it looks like a double post. So if you didn’t get this, you might want to subscribe again or contact an admin (have no idea how to do that though).
I know the listserv technology is ancient but modern systems can take a lot of administrative overhead. Over the years I’ve set up websites, mailing lists, etc for moms’ groups, PTAs, music groups, and sports teams. With a constant turnover of membership, maintenance and upkeep is a huge issue. Also, newer technologies constantly need software updates and security patches. Listserv is old and unfriendly, I’m pretty sure it predates the mouse, but it’s also incredibly stable and has almost no administrative overhead (none of this new-fangled javascript that the young-uns are always talkin’ about).
The best modern alternative would be to use hosted service like a “secret” or closed Facebook group. I like the stark simplicity of listserv but that may just be showing my age.
I did get my first message from the listserv, and while I don’t mind plodding along with old technology, it looks as if there aren’t even any digest or read online features with this one. Just straight up messages sprayed to an entire group? (If I’m wrong, guidance welcome.) Admittedly my experience with this is exactly one day long, but it seems that might have an inhibiting effect.
I realize not everyone’s on Facebook, but it is a different – and somewhat more social/personal – interface that has some value. Any interest in having something like that run in parallel? If just half a dozen parents it would be silly, but with a little critical mass it seems as if it could be helpful.
Happy Summer to new Grinnell families, @porcupine98, @ChicagoMom62, @lexluthor5 and @LuvMomN8ur! We are getting our duck in a row, now that they’ve finally giving out some info about room assignments, etc. and hope to see you all during move-in weekend! My DS was assigned to the 3rd floor of Clark Hall, how about your kids? He is an introvert, and wrote that he wanted to be paired with a more extroverted roommate, so we’ll see how it goes! If you hear of any tips on things to bring, let me know. I know there is a page of “what to bring” on the Grinnell website. I also found this on the Grinnell Pintrest page: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/40532465367330338/
Hope to meet you next month!
@morningside95 Are you on the parent listserve? Although I preferred the idea of Facebook I’m actually finding it exceptionally helpful. And yes, I’d very much enjoy a meetup if we can pull it off. I’ll PM you info later.