My son was accepted into Grinnell with a presidential scholarship and while I was over the moon Grinnell is not his first choice and he has not received enough financial support from his first choice to make it a viable option for my son. Too be honest I don’t know much about Grinnell and looking to get some insights on why it might be a good fit for my son who is coming from a small private all boys boarding school in the southeast. I am reading all the threads but would love to hear from other members of the class of 2020 why Grinnell was the right choice for you.
Hi! I’m a member of class 2020 and got in EDII. To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m the most suited person for answering your question, because I got in EDII and basically did not have to choose between several colleges, but I’ll try to do my best.
I’m sure that you’re already reading different threads and are getting to know all the general advantages of Grinnell, such as the awesome academics, the great endowment, political activism, etc. So, I know that you know these stuff and won’t bother to mention them again. Instead, I want to focus on the specifics I’ve found out about Grinnell and Grinnellians in the past two months.
About two weeks ago, I decided to make a telegram (it’s an app) group chat so that the class of 2020 could get to know each other better. So far, we have had 60 members, I’ve got to know most of them personally, and I can tell you that I love all them. At first, I thought that most people would want to talk about college and similar stuff, but that’s only a portion of the stuff we have discussed. We have had meme wars, talked about Bernie (a lot), discussed US and international history(the international kids are awesome), talked about different religions, and many other things I just cannot recall at the moment. The discussions we have had had all been super informative and insightful. Even more, they have been understanding and have not been offended because of my poor English social skills. (I’m an international, so sometimes I say things that are not very common in US, basic cultural clash) To conclude, I must that they are not just your normal college-mates, they are the people you’d want to live with for four or even more years. This was something that I valued highly during my application process and it’s one of the reasons I chose to apply ED. I can assure you that I have not been disappointed. Your son can find the link to the telegram group in FB group and join us to see how if feels to talk to a few Grinnellians.
Another thing I have discovered is the massive support and opportunities you get at Grinnell. I know that this is one of the general things, but even I was not prepared for this level of support and opportunity . My friends and I have talked to several of the upperclassmen and have asked them specific questions about their life as a Grinnellian and their majors. The things I read have made me more excited about Grinnell. I asked a few questions about CS from a junior and found out the she had done a research one summer at Grinnell and then had interned at Google the next summer, how awesome is that? And this is just a fraction of what I’ve found out. Your son can do the same, too. Just ask him to post his questions about a major or life at Grinnell in the FB group and I assure you that people will answer.
There are many reasons for choosing Grinnell, and these were some of the important personal reasons I chose Grinnell and so far, I’ve not been disappointed.
I’ll add more if something occurs to me. Also I think the ‘Why Grinnell’ is awesome. It helped me a lot. I’m sure that it will help you too.
thank you so much for your response
I also posted in your other thread. Again, getting the President’s Scholarship is phenonmenal. It’s $50,000 a year. That’s free tuition essentially, correct? If it had been my D, she would not have hesitated. An institution of this caliber rarely gives out that much merit aid.
Which leaves me to believe that perhaps this isn’t the best fit for your S. He was more wanting a city enviornment?
What did he decide?