Grinnell College Visit Report by momonthehill

Visit Activities:

Information Session: Yes - Talk given by Asst. Dean of Admissions, covered basic info regarding: Grinnell & its campus culture, application process, financial aid, etc.

Campus Tour: Yes - We were lucky, IMO, to be the only family on the tour. Our tourguide was very informative, courteous and friendly and he really gave us a good sense of the student culture at Grinnell.

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Campus:

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It was summer, so there were hardly any students around, but the few that we did meet, including our tour guide, seemed pleasant and intelligent.

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The admissions staff were friendly and helpful. At my daughter's request, they located some past issues of various student publications to share with her.

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Other than some areas of construction (not surprising during the summer)the campus was attractive and well laid out. My D and I liked the mixture of classic and contemporary buildings.

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Some buildings had lost power due to a severe storm the night before(we weren't able to go inside the library) but they all looked clean and very well maintained.

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We toured both East Campus and South Campus. All had nicely sized rooms. East Campus was appealing, due to being newer and having a/c. N. & S. campus apeared to have a lot of history & char

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We were told that there is a campus escort service during the evening/nighttime. Our tour guide mentioned that, given the small town Iowa setting, students feel pretty safe on campus.

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Impressive campus buildings, the friendly atmosphere, and numerous signs around campus labeling Grinnell a "safe haven" from hate/intolerance, my D can really picture herself at Grinnell.

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Off-Campus:

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small midwestern town, business district

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Some gas stations, fast food places, motels & a Wal-Mart in the area. Small town Iowa may not be for eveyone, but after two weeks in the state, Iowa has really grown on my D.

Campus Visit Notes for Grinnell College

Visit Description:

We're just at the beginning of my D's college visits. Since she had been participating in a two week program @ U of Iowa, and Grinnell was a school of high interest to her, we decided to visit it while she was already in the state.
Due to a severe storm the previous night, the campus was partially out of power, giving us limited access to some buildings and preventing us from entering the library. In spite of that, we were very pleased with the campus tour and our tour guide: He really gave us a good sense of what Grinnell is like during the school year. The buildings were quite impressive and it was evident that Grinnell is putting their strong endowment to good use. Besides the campus, itself, my D was really impressed by the diversity and sense of inclusiveness in the student community, as well as the strong academic focus of Grinnel and its students. Also, she particularly appreciated the latitude that students are given in determining what courses they need to take, rather than being bound by a long list of distribution requirements. So, while she still has another year to go before her college admissions journey shifts into high gear, D definitely plans to apply to Grinnell.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

We actually stayed over in Iowa City(about 1+ hour away). The Hampton Inn was very good.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

Because we had to catch a flight shortly after our visit to Grinnell, we unfortunately didn't have enough time to eat on campus or in the area. (However, we did eat @ several good places in IC.)

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

Because of my D's participation in the UI program, we flew out of Cedar Rapids airport. I've been told it would be easier to fly in/out of Des Moines and that's probably what we'l