Grinnell College Top Questions

My professors know my name and care about how I'm doing in class and in life with only a few exceptions. I've found that classes I don't enjoy are taught by professors new to teaching and new to Grinnell. My tutorial professor, my current academic advisor, is always helpful and willing to offer suggestions or just a listening ear. Professors often invite classes to dinner at their homes or come to the dining hall to eat with students, and many of them make themselves available for chats over coffee in town. Many classes here are discussion based, and professors do a pretty good job guiding discussions without taking them over completely or babying students through them. High-quality discussions happen outside the classroom, too, especially when it comes to politics--that's not to say that students here don't talk nonsense with each other on a regular basis. We are all still college kids. It's really nice that the first-year tutorial is the only required class here. It feels like I've got endless options. The only students I've heard who feel differently are the pre-med kids, but I think even they have more freedom here than they would at other schools. Students are competitive, but they're not assholes to each other. There are always people willing to help others out.

I enjoy the fact that the largest class I have ever been in had about 31 students. I love it that I feel comfortable enough to ask a question in class because its such a small class. Unlike, take for instance USC which I visited, there was 157 students in an auditorium, I don't know about you but I would feel very uncomfortable asking a question and interrupting the Professors lecture in front of 156 students. Students here are not competitive with each other. We do not care what you got on your SAT, or who has the highest GPA in our class. Sure we all strive to excel, but we're not sabotaging each other or not helping each other just to get a higher grade than our peer. This is not a party school! You will most likely, actually probably never, find a party occurring every day of the week. Sure people like to have fun and party, but 98{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body likes to limit that to solely Friday and Saturday because you will probably find yourself doing school work 6 or 7 days a week. Sure you can have one full slack off day, maybe even two, but why not just do something light like a 20pg reading or something to that nature.

When I was younger, I would base my expectations for college on TV and movies, so I kind of expected my classes to be in huge lecture halls with hundreds of students, but at Grinnell the class sizes are actually smaller than my high school. For the most part it is easy to develop a close relationship with the professors, and to get help. From what I've seen, students work very hard, but not neccessarily to compete with others.

I'm not sure I've ever gone through a class without the prof learning my name, my year, and my interests. If you don't show up and don't email the prof, s/he will contact you to ask what's wrong. Class discussions vary, of course, but generally students are truly engaged, and intellectual life is just as vibrant at the lunch table or on the quad as it is in the classroom. I'm friends with most of the profs in my department. Open curriculum is really nice: there are ridiculously liberal limits to the number of courses you can take in one department or division (most people never have to worry about hitting them), and each major has its own requirements, but you have a great deal of flexibility to follow your academic passions.

Grinnell's academics is extremely rigorous; unnecessarily so. The professors are primarily interested in inflicting the most pain upon their students as they can, mainly in the form of piles and piles of mostly unnecessary homework.

Professors here know everyone's name. Some even become my good friends outside of class. And they are mostly very supportive. (Most of them) My least favorite classes: Accounting and Corporate Finance. I actually thought of killing myself three times during the semester I took those courses. I'm not exaggerating; every night I dreamed of blood and murders because I was so stressed. Why was I so stretched out? Because the professor hardly taught me anything but his exams were as difficult as those in MBA Program. Actually, he gave us the same exams as in MBA.

Professors always know your name. And there is a lot of student discussion. My favorite class so far is African American history. We pretty much have discussions every class, and there are very different viewpoints on some issues, which is to be expected at a very diverse school. Students are ALWAYS having intellectual conversations outside of class, although I admittedly try to avoid them most of the time. Students are very worried about grades, but their is not much "competition" between students to be the best. I am an Economics major with a History concentration. The econ department is very smart, and very helpful. There is a group who I have taken many classes with, and we all feel like we are in it together. It is nice to have others to talk about econ with. Grinnell's academic requirements are a bit ridiculous, but I have gotten used to them now, and getting along ok. Grinnell is definitely geared towards learning, but supposedly a Grinnell degree makes getting a job a lot easier.

Classes at Grinnell are small, your professors will know your name, expect you to go to class, meet with you in their office, call on you by name during discussions and have a personal relationship with you. While not every professor will be your favorite, overall they are easy to get along with and cooperate well with student needs. Professors that I have experienced will do their best to make accomodations for sports teams and absences that you know of in advance, so that you will not get behind or loose ground in the course. They appreciate a proactive approach.

Students spend a large portion of their time studying or partying. Class sizes typically are around 12 to 25, and students usually help each other out in order to understand the material. Most people are not super competitive, we just want to understand what is going on in our classes. I have had dinner with professors at their homes multiple times, and they hold office hours each week to meet with students. Also, professors will conduct independent study courses or directed research with students, such as a scientific glassblowing course I am currently taking. You get hands on experience with all of the high tech. equipment and perform advanced measurements that is typically taught in graduate school. Grinnell's academic requirements are very and far between. I love science and I have had many semesters where I only took science courses. You just have to be able to negotiate with your adviser and you can basically take whatever course you want.