Grinnell vs Kenyon

[Anonymous]

It would be nice to be at a school that was a top three pick for most enrolled students. A yield of 18% is low.

For comparison, and because I like Minnesota, Carleton's yield was 37%, Macalester's 23% and St. Olaf's 28%. All better locations than Gambier, OH, so maybe it's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be nice to be at a school that was a top three pick for most enrolled students. A yield of 18% is low.

For comparison, and because I like Minnesota, Carleton's yield was 37%, Macalester's 23% and St. Olaf's 28%. All better locations than Gambier, OH, so maybe it's that.

Well, if half the kids are attending ED, it in fact is the top pick for half the class. In any event, yield is a pretty dumb way to choose a school. It's mostly a function of how well the college plays the yield management game as well as financial aid generosity. Kenyon's endowment is lower, so financial aid isn't quite as good, and they lose students, most often to Grinnell and Carleton in fact, per their website. There is no question Grinnell has more money and is more difficult to get in. If that is why a kid likes about the school, just that it's fairly hard to get in, then he or she should attend that school. But it's like marrying a girl or boy just because a lot of other people seem to be interested in her/him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be nice to be at a school that was a top three pick for most enrolled students. A yield of 18% is low.

For comparison, and because I like Minnesota, Carleton's yield was 37%, Macalester's 23% and St. Olaf's 28%. All better locations than Gambier, OH, so maybe it's that.

Well, if half the kids are attending ED, it in fact is the top pick for half the class. In any event, yield is a pretty dumb way to choose a school. It's mostly a function of how well the college plays the yield management game as well as financial aid generosity. Kenyon's endowment is lower, so financial aid isn't quite as good, and they lose students, most often to Grinnell and Carleton in fact, per their website. There is no question Grinnell has more money and is more difficult to get in. If that is why a kid likes about the school, just that it's fairly hard to get in, then he or she should attend that school. But it's like marrying a girl or boy just because a lot of other people seem to be interested in her/him.

While the correlation isn’t perfect because some schools really ARE self-selecting, yield is a good barometer for where a given school stands in the pecking order of school desirability. It’s also a factor taken into account by the credit rating agencies like Moody’s and (along with its lower endowment) is one of the reasons why its credit ratings are lower than Grinnell and other top liberal arts colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be nice to be at a school that was a top three pick for most enrolled students. A yield of 18% is low.

For comparison, and because I like Minnesota, Carleton's yield was 37%, Macalester's 23% and St. Olaf's 28%. All better locations than Gambier, OH, so maybe it's that.

Well, if half the kids are attending ED, it in fact is the top pick for half the class. In any event, yield is a pretty dumb way to choose a school. It's mostly a function of how well the college plays the yield management game as well as financial aid generosity. Kenyon's endowment is lower, so financial aid isn't quite as good, and they lose students, most often to Grinnell and Carleton in fact, per their website. There is no question Grinnell has more money and is more difficult to get in. If that is why a kid likes about the school, just that it's fairly hard to get in, then he or she should attend that school. But it's like marrying a girl or boy just because a lot of other people seem to be interested in her/him.

While the correlation isn’t perfect because some schools really ARE self-selecting, yield is a good barometer for where a given school stands in the pecking order of school desirability. It’s also a factor taken into account by the credit rating agencies like Moody’s and (along with its lower endowment) is one of the reasons why its credit ratings are lower than Grinnell and other top liberal arts colleges.

Grinnell is a school that stumbled into an enormously large endowment thanks to a small number of donors and people who made a few very savvy investments. Good on them. But neither school has any financial challenges. Kenyon operates without debt, has seen its endowment essentially double in just a few years thanks to a successful campaign, and also just received a $100 million gift to build new dorms. So long as students continue to have positive experiences, both schools should continue to thrive. Rather than think of themselves as competitors, and of course they are, and it’s healthy, the top Midwest lacs should also be seen as a well-positioned subset. The ability to bring in students with merit money is going to continue to be a big leg up on the Nescac and other northeast schools who are slowly going to run out of families willing or able to pony up. They also benefit from a lot of local talent as Midwest kids don’t necessarily want to be too far from home, like kids everywhere. These are some of the best schools across the region So they get some of the best students from their region, whereas second and third tier East coast lacs are getting those who didn’t make the cut for Ivy either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon is a much easier admit than Grinnell and doesn’t have nearly the money or prestige. Grinnell has even surpassed Carleton in selectivity. It’s the most selective liberal arts college in the greater Midwest and is nearly as selective as the top liberal arts colleges in the northeast. I wouldn’t label it a target for anyone not applying ED.

It’s probably more selective but I don’t know, would the student’s experience be better? Is the faculty better? Is the student body materially more impressive? Are career outcomes really better? I hear a lot of meh things vis a vis Grinnell and so much gushing praise from families associated with Kenyon. If I were 17, I’d choose Kenyon.

Well, considering that Grinnell gets more application than Kenyon, accepts fewer, and has a higher yield, most 17 year olds are not hearing the same “meh” things that you have been.

If one gets more apps then of course they accept fewer… that’s how it works with a fixed number of spots. Also, the difference in outcomes is negligible for certain majors. Also if you accept more than the majority of the class through ED then yield will be automatically higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon is a much easier admit than Grinnell and doesn’t have nearly the money or prestige. Grinnell has even surpassed Carleton in selectivity. It’s the most selective liberal arts college in the greater Midwest and is nearly as selective as the top liberal arts colleges in the northeast. I wouldn’t label it a target for anyone not applying ED.

It’s probably more selective but I don’t know, would the student’s experience be better? Is the faculty better? Is the student body materially more impressive? Are career outcomes really better? I hear a lot of meh things vis a vis Grinnell and so much gushing praise from families associated with Kenyon. If I were 17, I’d choose Kenyon.

Well, considering that Grinnell gets more application than Kenyon, accepts fewer, and has a higher yield, most 17 year olds are not hearing the same “meh” things that you have been.

If one gets more apps then of course they accept fewer… that’s how it works with a fixed number of spots. Also, the difference in outcomes is negligible for certain majors. Also if you accept more than the majority of the class through ED then yield will be automatically higher.

Grinnell has a lot of money which allows it to be very competitive with merit aid. The East coast schools don’t play the merit game aid giving Grinnell an important edge. All ED admits automatically get merit aid now. It’s smart what they are doing.

[Anonymous]

Kenyon still requires the COVID booster in 2024.

Grinnell does not require a COVID vaccine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon is rarely a student’s first choice. Its yield is 19 percent, which is terrible. Grinnell’s yield is over 40 percent. There’s little doubt which school is considered more desirable.

I conceded it was more selective. Acceptance rate and yield are both mathematical indicators of that. My point was, it doesn’t actually seem better in that the schools are quite comparable in terms of objective attributes. Begs the question, how much of a school’s selectivity is simply a result of its selectivity? In other words, kids want to go simply because it’s hard to get in.

Grinnell’s wealth also helps. I’m sure some of the interest is tied to the possibility of getting an appealing aid package.

Yep. Grinnell is loaded and need blind. If I were a kid with need, it would be a safer play ED. And for RD, the aid/merit package for top students will probably always be better at Grinnell. Hence, more apps and higher yield.

Starting this application cycle, Grinnell guarantees a minimum merit scholarship (NOT depending on financial need) of $20,000 a year for all four years to any student admitted ED. That’s huge. I’m surprised no one has mentioned this yet.

https://www.grinnell.edu/admission/financial-aid/types-aid/scholarships

Wow. That is actually huge. Smart move. Takes the problem of comparing merit awards off the table, which prevents some applicants from going ED. In essence they just cut their cost of attendance by 25 percent or so. It’s like a free year. I think a lot of families will be interested in this considering there is not a whole heck of a lot of difference when you compare one SLAC versus another. Applications will soar. Smart way for Grinnell to use its endowment. Honestly, why choose Swat if Grinnell is 25 percent cheaper? Unless you have money to burn.

Maybe but it wuld still be 70K/ year, so still really really $$ compared to a STate U

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon still requires the COVID booster in 2024.

Grinnell does not require a COVID vaccine.

The anti vax troll strikes again! hilarious and sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon still requires the COVID booster in 2024.

Grinnell does not require a COVID vaccine.

DS attends Kenyon. Has not been boosted. Will not be boosted. The policy may or may not still exist but it does not seem to be mandated.