Reply to Why apply to an Oberlin/Kenyon/Grinnell

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Grinnell is frickin loaded. They support kids with a lot of opportunities during their 4 years.[/quote]

Sure, but all that money can’t change the location. Our DC visited and concluded, despite our efforts, it would be depressing to go there based on the tiny town, isolated location, difficulty with flights (so fewer friends would visit and easier to get stuck in a random connecting airport during a storm, which almost happened during visit), Trump signs on the drive in, multiple gun shops in town (stands out more when there’s so little else), and small/boring (in their view) campus. The academics are, however, first rate, and they are known for their merit aid. Facilities are very good. An alum we know was very positive on their experience from decades ago. Would recommend visiting if possible cause not everyone will react the same way.  Some athletes might prefer schools with shorter commutes for league games, as only one other school is in the same state. Did not visit Oberlin or Kenyon. [/quote]

Umm, I visit there every few months and there are no more Trump signs than what I see driving out to the DMV shore. Heck, there are Trumpers living in DC, MoCo, NoVA, so whatever.

I grew up in a rural part of a blue county (also blue) and there are more gun shops there than Grinnell, which is the county seat.

Yes, the location factors make it a challenge, but neither DC picked a college based on ability of HS friends to visit - that's what school breaks are for. [/quote]

Breaks at schools don't necessarily coincide. Which is how one student on break can travel to another; both of our kids have done so, and both of them have been visited multiple times. Families and grandparents also visit and want easy access. Students, friends, or families can get stuck in airports, more often if using connecting regional flights on small planes during winter. We have heard from more than a few Grinnell families about travel issues and I think they were more upset than my words of caution would suggest. I am truly happy if your experience has been different.

Incidentally, the airport issue wasn't a dealbreaker for us. There was a combination of things. The endless flat cornfields came off as less interesting for our kid than areas one can hike or ski or swim or boat in. And the town was the smallest and had the least to do of any college town we saw. That could be more easily offset if the student body (1750) or campus (120 acres) were larger. And if you are an athlete who prefers studying at an actual desk, then having only one other in-state league school can be a nontrivial challenge. There was some hesitation about the academics as well. The department our child was most interested was smaller than at other schools. I'm sure it was good but there's a critical mass of profs for certain subjects and we felt Grinnell was a little thin in terms of headcount.

All that said, there are students that will love the campus and town, it has a great reputation, great facilities, and great aid. It's also great there are so many internationals, imo. I think it's a fantastic option for some. For prospective families, just do your research, even if the occasional poster on here tells you its overkill to think about what makes up fit for you.
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The fact that you think there are “endless flat cornfields” indicates you spent no time driving around the outlying area of Grinnell. There are more rolling hills around the town than there are driving from DC to Rehoboth. And yes, no downhill skiing, but you are wrong on the other counts. I also never saw Grinnell hawking itself as a ski school.

Regarding a “thin” department, that happens at large and small schools. It’s the nature of tenure, retirements, and sundry other factors. Good to know in advance if that is your DC’s area of interest.

Yes, it’s great when folks can visit yet neither of my kids nor any of their friends selected colleges based on the ease of their HS friends visiting them. True, breaks don’t always align but there is nearly always overlap at winter break.

Weather and the related travel challenges can happen to a student  anywhere, whether it’s the West coast, Midwest, the South, etc. There are daily direct flights from Des Moines to the East coast. The flight may be a little longer but the overall logistics seem no more challenging than they are to reach Amherst, Bates, Colby, or Williams.

Again, just seems odd to harbor such a negative level of detail for a school your kids don’t attend. 
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Such a negative level of detail? I don't know what that means, but the post you replied included this:

"All that said, there are students that will love the campus and town, it has a great reputation, great facilities, and great aid. It's also great there are so many internationals, imo. I think it's a fantastic option for some. For prospective families, just do your research, even if the occasional poster on here tells you its overkill to think about what makes up fit for you."

What seems to be hard for you to accept is that beyond the above praise we had some criticisms. I'm sorry you feel our take wasn't positive enough, but that happens with colleges, and I think the more you (and others?) dismiss our impressions about the school by spinning statements out of context the more I explain how we came to our conclusions, which probably just frustrates you more, which isn't my objective. I genuinely hope the right students find Grinnell. If people just want to hear the positives, they should go to a college website. If they want to hear a broader range of perspectives, they come to forums like this. We spent a weekend there so it wasn't like we just passed through for a quick tour. We had a great offer so it wasn't like we didn't want to like it. We actually usually very fond of small towns in rural areas. But a town of 7,000 was small even for us, the campus didn't have the kinds of spaces to explore other colleges we preferred did, the surrounding area seemed worse for multiple reasons, travel time to out-of-state colleges is a factor for an athlete who puts academics first and doesn't want to study in a bus, we had a hard time with flight connections in and out just in our visit in a month that supposedly was one of the tamest weather wise, and we have heard first hand from many Grinnell parents they and their students have ongoing travel grievances. I can simultaneously think Grinnell is one of the great colleges in the country and also think it has real problems that people should know about. I think everyone, even Grinnell, is better off with good matches. A transfer rate double its peers tells us we aren't alone in our assessment. Maybe the college should focus less on growing applications and more on ensuring good matches, but, hey that's just my take and reasonable people can disagree.   [/quote]

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