LOLZ

So since Grinnell was one of the few colleges that released the supplement in early July, I have started on the "essay" questions.

Questions to discuss:

-Generic "how did you learn about X College" - In general, how would you normally approach these since many colleges ask this question? Are these supposed to be formal and drawn out, or just short and to the point (few sentences)
-Mascot Suggestion - also, I've started on this one but noticed that its not like other essays where it's about the applicant and why he wants to apply to X. It appears to me that they're trying to get a feel for how well we're acquainted with Grinnell. any thoughts?

Eidda

oooo Mascot suggestion? Thats interesting and different from last year.

M's Mom

S assumed this was a marketing question so he replied in just 2-3 sentences about where he first heard of Grinnell and the sources he used for further research.

rpo272

I also replied to the first question with just a few straight forward sentences, and the second we didn't have last year. Good luck!

LOLZ

Eidda: It asks us to recommend a mascot/nickname based on how we view the college's historoy, core principles, environment and etc as they plan to retire the Pioneers soon.

M's Mom: I was unsure what colleges were expecting, but thanks!

rpo272: Did Grinnell ask a second question on top of the first one? I read the application criteria and admissions breakdown and essays are in the 25% along with recommendations, extracurricular, etc.

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Does anyone know if it's acceptable to surpass 500 characters on the "Upload Document" questions? Because I recently uploaded a random Word doc with over 500 and it uploaded successfully, so I was just wondering! And would you recommend Upload or typing into the textbox on the Common App.

bethievt

The Unconventionals, is what I'd say. The first question, my son answered in a very straighforward way. He'd read about it in the Fiske Guide, liked what he saw, visited, etc.

Eidda

Last year's question was about what would you bring to the community.

sad that they are retiring the Pioneers soon....i liked that mascot.

AnagramPanda

I've heard from Grinnell literature that Grinnell's current unofficial mascot is the Squirrel, because of the unique personality and status of the squirrels on campus. It is too bad that they're retiring the Pioneers, that mascot fits them well and says a lot about the school's history.

Mrs Weasley

lolz, another alternative for you is to prepare the Word document and cut and paste it into the Common App after you have thoroughly proofread it. I wouldn't type directly into the textbox in case you introduce typos.

LOLZ

Does anyone know if colleges prefer one to another? (textbox vs. uploaded Word)

Also, does anyone know if its acceptable to exceed the _ _ _ available characters if uploading a Word document? (since it apparently uploads based on file size w/o regard to characters)

and BLAH I just realized it's 500 CHARACTERS not WORDS. I wrote about half of a freaking essay for the mascot prompt...I guess it's supposed to be like a paragraph

Dairy State K8

I don't think we can assume the "Pioneers" mascot is being retired, just based on an essay question.

PRJ

Hi. Lurking Grinnell alum here. I was so concerned about the possible retirement of the Pioneers that I checked with a friend in the Admissions office. I am happy to report that the Pioneers are here to stay - the question is hypothetical only!

Keilexandra

The mascot question has made me rethink applying to Grinnell, since this far in my research it's been a good "paper" fit but I can't really name what's distinctive about it (other than generic stuff like small classes). I can't for the life of me think of a good mascot, for any school, much less one I don't have a good grasp of yet.

bethievt

I think it's a hard question too, because I would characterize the students as intellectual, unpretentious and pleasantly unconventional in a way that doesn't always show on the surface. Is there a word for that? Pioneers might be as good as it gets.