Grinnell College Top Questions

Intellectually curious and awesome people.

They are different, but also engaged and interested.

Grinnell student body is primarily white, followed by internationals and then african americans. There is no social segregation based on income or finanical status

Grinnell's student body is incredibly diverse. Coming from a large city on the west coast, I learned so many things from people all over the country and all over the world. Many of these people are still my closest friends. No student would feel out of place in this open, caring environment where everyone feels comfortable to speak their mind in a casual setting.

The best thing about Grinnell is the people. For the most part, Grinnell students are remarkably kind and caring, and there really is a strong sense of community amongst Grinnellians. In the wake of recent events on campus that targeted gay students, there was an outpouring of support for the gay community that took the form of parades, a button wearing campaign, etc. And the students are also awesomely weird: you never know what you might see students doing. I've seen groups of guys singing the backstreet boys in the middle of the dining hall to their friend and another guy walking around in a penguin suit with flowers.

Although most students may be mainly left-wingers, there is a mix of everthing on campus including race, religion, and socio-economic. Possibly due to growing up very poor, I notice the large portion of student who's parents are doctor's and other professionals and thus have a much higher socio-economic background than I. This can sometimes create feelings of rich white kids attending a cushy liberal arts school, but honestly there is a mix of everything and everything is accepted within the student body.

Although the majority of the student body is "white", there is still a feeling of immense diversity. Grinnellians support the concept of being an individual. You may find yourself forming friendships with unexpected people. People are open-minded, considerate, and responsible. Parties are open to all students; there are no frats, which is a good thing.

The diversity at Grinnell is not as high as colleges at, say, Las Angeles or in D.C., but for a liberal arts college in the middle of Iowa, there is quite a bit of diversity. Our LGBT(etc) group on campus is huge, and consists of both LGBT and allies. There are other programs too based around ethnicity (Asian American Coalition, Society Of Latinos/as), but the best part is that Grinnellians are curious to understand people of all races, types, and classes. Clothing-wise, well, that is the least of our worries when it comes to mid-sems or finals week, after we studied until 3am and then proceeded to bake cookies with the roommate. Economic class is practically unknown while you are on campus - the school is highly egalitarian, even with professors. We also have a unique governing principal we call "Self-Government", which has been successful since its implementation a few decades back. In this, students are responsible for themselves, and are expected to be responsible for their own actions. Also, other students are expected to be able to go directly to a student to solve a problem (first), before going to an academic or student life leader. This has caused a great student community, and far less disciplinary instances, except for in extreme cases.

The large endowment brings a number of students to Grinnell who otherwise would not have been able to afford such a costly education. This adds socio-economic diversity to the campus, as well as geographical diversity. There seems to be a large group of "different" students who enjoy the sport DAG, and appear to many as socially awkward and strange. Most athletes do not fall into this category, which creates a divide between athletes and others. For the most part you have athletes, hippies, and weirdos (this is an incredible over-generalization). Almost every student is liberal, so much so that it would be strange to find someone who has strong conservative views. Most students aren't as power hungry as I would have orginally expected. Although they are ambitious in their careers, very few students discuss how rich they will be in 30 years. The best thing about the student body is the variety of interests they have. I find so many people who have unique skills and talents every day.

Grinnell students are from all over the place -- all 50 US states and something like 12 foreign countries. I'm not sure what financial backgrounds are prevalent -- we don't really talk about it, though I'm sure most students' families are at least lower middle class. While Grinnell is great about financial aid and merit awards, it's still pretty pricy. I do know that several students who come from wealthier families try to play down that wealth. I've never heard anyone bragging about how much money they have. Most students are politically aware, and most lean left. Students who lean right might feel out of place at Grinnell. I don't know anyone who seriously talks about how much they'll earn one day -- conversations about money tend toward "so, when you make your millions, will you give me a loan?" And I know maybe two people who as of now seem on track to earning lots of money. That's not really what Grinnell is about. We're social service/non-profit kind of people. For example, we have the highest per-capita rate of graduates joining the Peace Corps of any American college or university.