Grinnell College

Pros: powerful, sombre atmosphere
Cons: difficult to dine alone

Part of what makes Grinnell College such a great place is that it's such a little place. With just under 1300 students, everyone gets to know everyone and there's opportunity to interact with people in all kinds of different ways. One of the greatest...

Pros: laid-back and casual
Cons: hard to play in the snow

At so many universities and colleges, intramural sports becomes a competitive, angry activity for show-offs. Not at Grinnell College. At Grinnell, the best sports are intra-mural, and the best intra-mural sport is Ultimate Frisbee. (For those of you...

Pros: Well-endowed college, interesting boards and an investor with patience and vision: Jack F. Rosenfield
Cons: What to say other than most small colleges could learn a few things from this college?

When I was going to the small private college from which I graduated, I heard so many people talk about Grinnell. To a certain extent, some of the leaders wanted or just wished our college had known the success that Grinnell has known for so many years....

Pros: great academics and peers, chance to be very visible within small school
Cons: Somewhat isolated, small town and small school combine to force you to create your own diversions and entertain yourself

Coming out of high school in Colorado, I knew two things (ok, I thought I knew a lot more, but hindsight had dispelled that myth). First, I very much wanted to try living in a new part of the country, spend a few years walking the streets, hearing the...

Pros: Great Academics, Personal Atmosphere
Cons: Location (Could be a Pro to Some.)

Last year, as a senior in high school, I searched for the ideal college. During this search, I came upon, and almost chose, Grinnell College. Grinnell College has a unique combination of characteristics that made it stand out among the many colleges I...

Pros: no pros, only amateurs
Cons: there's no freeze tag intramurals

Football takes a downstage role

Now don't get me wrong: there is a lot of sports going on at Grinnell College. The difference between Grinnell and most other colleges is that the sports that takes place focuses on student needs instead...

Pros: The best financial endowment per student in the USA!
Cons: only 1300 students can come to this heaven each year!

The endowment of Grinnell College is world famous. As a recent profile in the June 2000 issue of Money magazine states, the endowment is the largest per student of any private liberal arts college in the United States. Joseph Rosenfield, the man who...

Pros: Small classes, excellent teaching, friendly squirrels.
Cons: Isolated location. Institutional identity crisis?

Grinnell is an excellent small college, a proverbial diamond in the rough, often overlooked due to its isolated location. My brother and I attended Grinnell more than 20 years ago. Neither of us got degrees from the College, but I still read the alumni ...

Pros: almost every service is personal
Cons: anonymity is impossible

Grinnell College is in all things personal. If you want to be anonymous, Grinnell is not the place for you. If, on the other hand, you're interested in finding a place where you can settle down and get comfortable for four years, Grinnell is the place...

Pros: Personal, clean campus, friendly people
Cons: Might be a too small for some, isolated

I came home from a movie early on my spring break, and my parents just told me I was going to visit Grinnell College with them later in the week. I was happy, as Grinnell was one of the places high on my list of prospective colleges.

The...

Pros: Personal attention
Cons: College is in Iowa

I am currently a student at Philadelphia University (I wrote an epinion on that too, go read it), but during high school I looked into attending Grinnell College. Most people may wonder why I would want to go to college in Iowa, but if you received the...

Pros: Academics
Cons: Isolation

I attended Grinnell College from 1990 to 1994, graduating with a B.A. in Religious Studies. My years at Grinnell were some of the most difficult times of my life. As derogatory as that may sound, I actually mean it as a compliment -- the difficulty of...

Pros: lots of liberal people
Cons: hard to get into good classes

While there are some very interesting people at Grinnell, it is a place where it is impossible to do well in classes and also lead a balanced life. Many students are unhappy. Expect four years of exhaustion. Worse, the college policies do not favor...

Pros: great learning, social atmosphere
Cons: small rooms, buildings

In my search for a college, I have singled out Grinnell as one of the institutions I'd like to attend. I visited the school recently, and I found it to be a very unique place. The town is similar to the one I live in, and the college is somewhat...

Pros: top-notch academics, laid-back, friendly people...the list goes on
Cons: Iowa

I have never heard of Grinnell until my senior year when I was looking for my ideal school. Before then I had my mind set on the Ivies. It was a big surprise when I came across the school during my college search. How could it possible that this tiny...