Grinnell College Top Questions

Grinnell makes you work hard. You study a lot at Grinnell and they don't just throw A's around. But studying pays off, a professor will give you an A if you try hard. There are a lot of class discussions and participation is really encouraged. But Grinnell really isn't a competitive school. Grades aren't really discussed; people just want their classmates to do well. There isn't any incentive to want other people to fail, everyone does their best to help others succeed. Grinnell doesn't have any general distribution requirements either, so people who aren't necessarily good in one area of study don't have to take classes in that area. The professors are all really nice too, and they encourage students to talk to them in their office hours or to email them especially if they are having trouble in class. Grinnell has just a really supportive atmosphere where everyone, other students and professors alike, want to see succeed.

Academics in Grinnell has its own unique flavor. With small classrooms and accessible professors, I feel more like a colleague in training than a student.

Anywhere around campus, whether walking down the loggia, eating lunch, doing laundry, you're likely to hear students discussing current topics. As I mentioned before, there are no requirements besides a freshmen tutorial which serves basically as an intro to college and make sure writing skills are up to par. This is one aspect of Grinnell that sold me as an incoming student. Students are able to take random classes that they are seriously interested in, but might not help towards a major. I'v been able to take course focused on natural hazards and disasters and another one on diseases in public health throughout European history. Both of these are topics I've always been interested in, but can't imagine being able to take elsewhere.

Academics can be stressful, but there are good resources for dealing with that stress. There are lots of options for students who are interested in any given subject. You can decalare an independent major. Students are not required to take classes that they don't want to take (for the most part). It is encouraged that we take a wide range of classes, but it in the end, our schedules are formed by our own decisions. All of the professors are very concerned about the students and very approachable. Discussion classes are favored by students and by professors.

At Grinnell, you had better be prepared to do your work. All of your professors will expect the utmost work out of you, and they are pretty good and deciphering when you could have done better. The homework load is known for being probably the largest in liberal arts colleges. Most classes are discussion based, and you are challenged not to repeat what you are told, but rather to question what you are told and give reasons why someone might decide to tell you that in the first place. The best part of learning at Grinnell is you are taught how to learn and question, as opposed to learning facts and rules.

All your professors will know your name there. With all the work we do, of course kids have intellectual conversations outside of class. Students really understand that it isn't a battle, though, and help each other understand the subjects we're studying. The people in class make most of the classes unique. I have had meetings with some of my professors out of class, but generally they are pretty busy too. At the end of the year, if you're lucky, you'll get to visit their house for a meal and good conversation. Though the education at Grinnell may be geared toward learning for its own sake, the education we get should prepare us to talk about these books with the outside world.

There is a very, very strong relationship between students and professors at Grinnell. I have been to almost every professor's office for additional help in every class. I do not go because I'm necessarily struggling, but because they help you improve every aspect of your classwork. Economics is a fairly good department at Grinnell, but I find it to be incredibly challenging. Luckily, requirements are very sparse at Grinnell, which allows me to take classes in a variety of subjects. This past semester I took German, Spanish, Macroeconomic Analysis, and Topics in American Music: Rock Music. Although Rock Music may seem like a cake-walk, we typically had a paper to do for every class, at least an hour of listening, and a large amount of reading. All classes are writing intensive. When I took Calculus I had to write math essays. Everyone says, no matter what you major in at Grinnell, you will come out a good writer. There are many places to go for assistance such as the writing lab, reading lab, and math lab. Sciences have senior "mentor's" who hold study sessions all the time (although most professors will hold their own study sessions, even on Sundays). The students will always be discussing the different things they recently learned in class, demonstrating the true love for learning that exists all around the campus. However, the Grinnell education is not geared toward any specific field, but attempts to teach students how to be well-read, academic, open-minded people for the rest of their lives.

In general, Grinnell academics are very strong. Like all schools, some classes/professors are hit or miss, but the majority of our professors are great. I can't be certain about this, but I'm pretty sure each of my professors has known my name -- at least, I can't remember any who haven't. I've spent time with several professors outside of class, and most of them have been kind, helpful, and interesting. It's nice to have professors treat you as an equal. Students study pretty much everyday, though I tend to spend time with the more academically inclined, so I might be misrepresenting a slice of the Grinnell population. Most students I know, at least by the time they reach their junior and senior years, think we're assigned too much work -- it can get pretty ridiculous, and triaging often becomes necessary if you want to sleep at all. Class participation is very common, and most professors expect it of all their students. I'm a fan of this system. As regards student competitiveness, this is one area that I think makes Grinnell pretty unique -- we're not very competitive (with each other). My education at Grinnell has been uniformly characterized by cooperation and assistance among my classmates and other students. When we're competitive, it's with ourselves. We're really driven, and often expect too much of ourselves. That's part of what makes Grinnell academics stressful. A Grinnell education isn't really geared towards getting a job -- we are, after all, a liberal arts college -- and learning for its own sake is definitely a part of our culture. I've had intellectual conversations outside of class with almost every student I know, and they're often very interesting, informative discussions. They're entertaining too -- Grinnellians are good at merging the intellectual with the ridiculous/humorous.

Education at Grinnell is definetly geared toward learning and not getting a job, which can be at times very frustrating. Yes profs know your know your name, the classes are small...but that is very similiar to other small, expensive liberal arts colleges. Whats cool about grinnell is that it seems like there's more social-economic diversity than other small liberal arts colleges, but the college has a lot of money and therefore seem to give more student financial aid.

A thirty-person class at Grinnell is huge; by contrast, one of my classes my first semester had 4 people, which gave us all a chance to learn directly. Teachers and students interact on a very individual level; they'll read drafts of your papers for you, but in return you'll need to make sure you participate! And don't be surprised if the participation extends outside the classroom--our dinner conversations often revolve around some interesting academic subject of the day. But to be upfront, it's a lot of work. I know a lot of people don't actually do the reading; I myself am not fond of skimping in homework, but do occasionally have to let a reading, if it's less important, slide. But that's all due to the ton of actual important stuff that you will have to do! Expect 15-page papers in 200-level social studies/humanities classes alongside of 140-200 page reading assignments per class, and hours of lab time if you're a science-y person. In my experience, my time outside of class is either spent on activities or homework; there's not much time for simple lounging (though I'm not totally typical in this respect). But the profs will be there with you and help you with anything you need--it's amazing. And many will have their classes over to dinner at the end of the semester; good cooks! The difficulty depends by department, of course; the history department is particularly tough, but boy will they teach you. The other factor that really helps you get through the work is that you can usually be in classes you want--there will be requirements for your major, but no inter-departmental requirements, so follow your passion! You'll be prepared to do almost anything you want once you've finished with Grinnell. A final curious factor which bears mentioning is that, while Grinnellians take pride in the work they do, it's not the results that you're allowed to tout--you can tell close friends about your grades, but really the point of pride comes in how hard/much you're working. We talk about effort, not end.