Grinnell vs Colby vs Colgate

M_s_Mom
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:51:37 +0000

Back when we scouted LACs, we visited Colby. We liked the 4-1-4 plan they offered (which means 4 months for one semester, a one month ‘January Plan’, and 4 months for the second semester). Lots of cool short courses-or else you can do an internship or travel. A great outdooring program if you’re into that. And, the museum had recently received a large and significant bequest of artwork, which is great for their art and art history students.

But there were some significant town/gown issues at the time-Colby has a reputation for some heavy drinking that had the local police force cracking down. Not that Grinnell has no drinkers, but the school makes a huge effort to keep student drinking from getting out of hand both on and off campus, and keeping town/gown relations cordial by investing in local businesses and inviting local residents to use the facilities and participate in events on campus free of charge. Finally, Colby was preppier than S would have preferred and the facilities, while nice, were not as impressive as Grinnell’s.