Grinnell - what is it really like?

[Anonymous]

I hope some Grinnell parents read this thread and can give input.

My junior daughter has Grinnell on her list. What is it really like? I see each kid has three advisors - how helpful are they especially the career advisor? Is it easy to get DC area internships? Do the students end up with good jobs after or good grad programs? What type of investments do they make in the students? Are drugs a problem? Anything else?

[Anonymous]

Remote. So incredibly remote.

[Anonymous]

According to a Grinnell professor, drug & alcohol use & abuse is quite rampant. Lots of trips to the ER. Several years ago, he posted a detailed letter on his blog which was deleted after it received a lot of publicity beyond the campus community.

Grinnell is a small, wealthy school in Iowa. Attractive campus although it is isolated.

[Anonymous]

They are very student focused and lots of money to support the student experience. eg they have classes where they study rome for three weeks and then take everyone to rome for the last week. You have to visit though for your child to see if they would like to go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remote. So incredibly remote.

My kid will start in the fall so I only know surface stuff through a visit. Grinnell is no more remote than some other small liberal arts colleges he looked at. The college provides shuttles to/from the airport during breaks and semester starts and ends. There is also a weekly bus into Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.

Grinnell is not the right college for the following students:

A student who cannot survive without a particular Starbucks drink. There are coffee shops but no Starbucks. The same goes for somebody who can't live without Chik-Fil-A, Panera, Chipotle, or some other particular restaurant.

A student who likes to go clubbing or attend large Greek parties.

A student who wants to be invisible in the classroom.

A student who loves pep rallies.

A student who loves lots of in-person upscale shopping options or likes to do Target runs more than once per week.

A student who wants to receive a lot of AP credit and shorten the college experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remote. So incredibly remote.

My kid will start in the fall so I only know surface stuff through a visit. Grinnell is no more remote than some other small liberal arts colleges he looked at. The college provides shuttles to/from the airport during breaks and semester starts and ends. There is also a weekly bus into Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.

Grinnell is not the right college for the following students:

A student who cannot survive without a particular Starbucks drink. There are coffee shops but no Starbucks. The same goes for somebody who can't live without Chik-Fil-A, Panera, Chipotle, or some other particular restaurant.

A student who likes to go clubbing or attend large Greek parties.

A student who wants to be invisible in the classroom.

A student who loves pep rallies.

A student who loves lots of in-person upscale shopping options or likes to do Target runs more than once per week.

A student who wants to receive a lot of AP credit and shorten the college experience.

I would say it’s also not for a kid who wants to be able to get home to the east coast easily, based on flight options for Cedar Rapids or Des Moines. Chicago is almost 5 hrs away. I think there are east coast schools that are equally remote in terms of small town locations, but they are more accessible by car.

[Anonymous]

American has a Des Moines to DC direct flight, 3x a day. Flight is listed as 2 hour, 28 min, but it's usually about 2 hour, 15 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Grinnell ended up being my Arlington kid's second choice in 2020. A few things that were very attractive: (1) they seem to have a very pro-active career center, which reaches out to students and (tries to) make(s) sure that they are doing what's necessary for summer and post-grad employment. My kid would have benefited from that kind of system; (2) they have a ton of money, and offer significant merit aid (I think my kid was offered $28K per year). This is very, very rare at top notch institutions like Grinnell; (3) the campus is very nice, and has a very human scale.

The biggest downside, of course, is that its not easy to get there. As someone mentioned above, its about a 5 hour drive to Chicago, and 4 hour drive from Minneapolis, and while Des Moines is (relatively) close (maybe an hour or so by car), flying to Des Moines from the DMV isn't easy or convenient.

A great option, in my opinion, for the right student, but a bad one for someone who wants much (anything?) in the way of off-campus activities and/or entertainment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:American has a Des Moines to DC direct flight, 3x a day. Flight is listed as 2 hour, 28 min, but it's usually about 2 hour, 15 minutes.

I'm the poster who just said that getting to Des Moines isn't easy by air from the DMV. Apparently things have changed in the last few years. That definitely makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

My information is limited and second hand, but -- a friend's son went to Grinnell his freshman year before transferring to a Big Ten School.

It wasn't for him because it was small, remote, and more liberal than he was. I think he'd picked the place because it had good academics and it was small enough that he could get on one of the sports teams. A big university in a midwestern town where he would just play intramurals ended up being more his speed.

[Anonymous]

Grinnell's overlap schools:

Macalester
St. Olaf
Kenyon
Carleton
Colorado College
Beloit
Oberlin
Vassar

"Grinnell was the first college West of the Mississippi River to admit Black students and women" according to the Fiske Guide To Colleges.

[Anonymous]

Like Cornell, but with a smile.

[Anonymous]

The endowment is $3 billion thanks to some historical association with Warren Buffett. It’s among the largest of the SLACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remote. So incredibly remote.

What’s your connection to the school other than Mapquest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remote. So incredibly remote.

What’s your connection to the school other than Mapquest?

Mapquest!!!! Friend’s kid is there. Unhappy, but I don’t know her well enough to know how much it is due to Grinnell. Friend has *driven* out to visit.