The other day I learned Bryn Mawr actually runs its own loan program for Internationals:
I am now wondering if more colleges do this and I just didn’t know about it.
2 Likes
Try to get pre-reads at each school that you are considering, or at least try their net price calculators. Since it looks like cost is important, you need to know how they compare before making an ED commitment.
Grinnell wants two teacher evaluations. If one of those teachers is ALSO a coach that is fine. But the point of these letters is that among other stakeholders in the process are Grinnell’s faculty, and they are interested in Admissions selecting kids who are good to have as students, and your teachers can speak to what you were like to have as a student.
He’s a coach but also a PE teacher at school, and we have lessons once a week. Would that be enough for a teacher evaluation since he has written a really good letter of recommendation for my other applications?
I would try to find two from core academic teachers. Hopefully this will not matter, but as a recruited athlete if they have any concerns, it won’t be about what you are like in any sort of physical training context. Instead, you need to make sure they believe that despite being a recruited athlete, you will also thrive in Grinnell’s academic classes. And I am concerned a PE teacher will not really be able to speak to that no matter how positive they would be.
3 Likes
All right. I’ll do my best to get one from an academic teacher, then. This is just a worst-case option for me since I’m not sure if, by asking another teacher now, I’ll be able to source a letter of recommendation before Nov. 15. How long is the window after the deadline to submit LORs? I’ve heard it’s about a week. Is this true?
Thanks a lot for this breakdown. I was quite concerned about both their reputations in the U.S. since I’ve never visited and am unfamiliar with how things work there. Over here, they have zero name recognition, but then again, neither do schools like WashU or Notre Dame, so that’s not surprising.
Do you mean during the school year? Your student visa (assuming F-1) will have work limitations, see here:
Realistically speaking, as a student-athlete that will also limit your ability to work because of the combined academic and athletic demands.
2 Likes
I don’t know if Grinnell has a formal grace period policy. Obviously by the deadline is preferable, but I would not be concerned if it was a few days after if necessary. Obviously it isn’t great to rush a teacher, but two weeks should ordinarily be enough, and definitely three. Just be diplomatic about approaching them, but hopefully they are excited for you.
By the way, in the course of trying to see if they had an official grace period policy, I came across their page for International applicants:
https://www.grinnell.edu/admission/apply/international
And they say:
7. Two Academic Teacher Recommendations
- You will provide the Common Application system with the email address of two teachers which will allow them to submit recommendation letters online on your behalf. You should choose teachers from an academic subject area (English, math, social studies, science, or language).
I didn’t know that at the time I was writing the above, but that seems pretty definitive.
Do you have a good academic teacher to write a recommendation in a week? I would never consider PE teacher recommendation for top LAC. You are selected for athletic skills, but you need to be a competitive student at one of the top schools. You need to demonstrate it by strong rec from an academic teacher.
2 Likes
Oberlin has been co-ed since the 19th century.
2 Likes
Harvard tends to be extremely generous on fin aid.
Not sure why you replied to me. Yes, Harvard is extremely generous with financial aid, but it’s also a huge reach for an international student and given it’s October 31st, impossible to try getting recruited for an REA application.
2 Likes
True. I did not know if they were a senior or jr.
As one source of information, this analysis, which includes LACs and research universities, placed Grinnell 43rd and Oberlin 88th nationally.
Of course, the problem with wallethub (and many other toe-to-toe ranking systems that combine research universities and LACs) is they do not filter for the inclusion of engineering majors which skew in favor of higher paying entry-level jobs immediately after graduation. LACs, for the most part, don’t have engineering schools:
“In general, universities tend to rank higher than colleges due to their inclusion of graduate-level programs, greater on-campus opportunities and higher earnings for students post-graduation. In fact, the top 10 places for higher education in the U.S. are all universities. There are still tons of high-ranking colleges, though, which offer their own advantages like smaller class sizes, more personalized learning and often safer campuses.”
College & University Rankings in 2025 (■■■■■■■■■■■■■)
2 Likes
I concur that analyses such as WalletHub’s arrive with significant limitations, the greatest of which may be that the final ranking may not align with a particular student’s interests, preferences and circumstances. Still, Grinnell placed between the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia, so not a bad showing for a student with an inquiry about such a comparison.
There’s a ranking out there for every “interest”:
50 Best Colleges & Universities for 2024 – Rankings (collegeconsensus.com)
1 Like
I definitely think you should ED to Grinnell. For two important reasons: the school’s wealth means you will have MANY more resources available to you, beyond more generous financial aid and zero loans (so no debt on graduation). You might get a travel grant, or a paid research position, or help with Greek dues, or travel to distant conferences paid for completely, etc. This is NOT a small thing.
On top of that, it is more prestigious. Many here don’t value that, but I do.
6 Likes
You really don’t have too many choices for ED1 or ED2. Assuming you’ve already made a decision, your question about LACs in the RD round deserves some attention. In general, Americans who apply to LACs aren’t seeking name recognition. They tend to be second and third generation college educated; they tend to earn above average salaries; they tend to look for places that give a lot of personal attention.
It’s also highly likely that there are only one or two degrees of separation between themselves and someone who attended one of these colleges. In other words, they tend to already be fairly well-connected. There was recently a discussion pertaining to these colleges on the “NESCAC Spoken Here” thread:
I made the following observation about which there was further discussion:
And there’s this sub-thread regarding location and selectivity:
1 Like