Grinnell College students are intellectually curious, fiercely liberal, and anti-mainstream. One junior describes the typical Grinnellian as “
liberal and idealistic as can be, ever protesting and petitioning, rabid environmentalist, studying like crazy, beyond over-involved in extracurricular and loving it, always supportive, loving, accepting, questioning the world as we know it, wanting to learn more, and wearing jeans and sneakers because you never know when it'll be warm enough to lay out on the field or climb a tree!" There’s an active LGBTQ community on campus, and students avidly and vocally support people of all sexualities—as well as all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Grinnell students work hard—fitting, because they cite a huge workload—and are passionate about their studies."
The great thing about Grinnell students is that each one of them is a closet-dork. When you talk to them they seem really laid back and chill, but then when you touch on that one subject that really interests them, they suddenly jump out with enthusiasm and impressive intelligence," writes a senior majoring in Spanish.
Grinnell is a small school of fewer than 1,600 students, which allows for a lot of individualized academic attention. Students report that the workload is intense—“
studying takes up almost all of your time during the weekdays and most of the weekends,” a freshman writes—but professors’ commitment to their students keeps them engaged. Professor-student relationships extend outside of the classroom, too, to office hours, research projects, and even dinner at professors’ houses. Classes are built around conversation and questioning, rather than lectures. “
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,” writes a junior majoring in anthropology. Students’ courses of study are largely up to them. The only required class, the Freshman Tutorial—meant to prepare students for the rest of their education at Grinnell, with papers and in-class presentations—offers several topics from which freshmen can choose.
Grinnellians control not only their academic schedules, but also their disciplinary system. “
Students at Grinnell interact and operate under a policy of self governance. Simplified, this means that students resolve student issues, we communicate with each other and to facilitate this, the college has instituted both a number of safe-guards and non-mandatory reporters,” says one junior. The self-governance policy—which places so much trust in students that the school doesn’t even have RAs—benefits students’ relationship with their administration. “
Grinnell’s administration works diligently to treat its students like the adults that we are, and for that I couldn't be more grateful. Grinnell’s unique system of self-governance means that administrators don't discipline students but instead trust them to be responsible for their own actions. For this reason, there is a lot less tension between administrators and students than there is at other colleges,” writes a junior.
Despite Grinnell’s location in rural Iowa (most students’ biggest complaint), undergrads love being on campus and are thrilled to have found such a supportive, welcoming home. “Pride” at Grinnell, like most things, isn’t defined along typical lines: it’s not about athletic spirit or school chants, but happiness to be there. “
School pride is an interesting question. Most of us love Grinnell, but no one walks around painted red and black, and most people only follow the sports that their friends happen to play. There are no frats and sororities. On any given weekend you can find a dozen wild parties if you want that, and you can find a dozen substance-free gatherings if you don’t,” writes a senior. Grinnell offers a ton of free activities to offset the rural Iowa surroundings. “
Grinnell is in the middle of Iowa, so the number of things to do in the town of Grinnell is sort of limited. However, every weekend there is a party at the Harris concert hall that is free and open to all students. The college also does a really good job of bringing musicians, lecturers, etc to campus so that even though Grinnell is in the middle of nowhere, there are still a lot of interesting things to do and see on campus, and all of it is free,” writes a junior.
Grinnell’s social scene and extracurricular options are designed to accommodate students’ varied interests. There are annual parties—like Block Party (end-of-year bash), Disco (70s-themed) and Waltz (formal dances)—and, in lieu of frats and sororities, project houses where students can choose to live. These are themed to students’ interests and range from the Soccer House to the Spanish House. There are clubs to suit most students’ needs, but it’s also easy to form your own student group: “
you just need two people interested, and you go sign up,” writes a junior whose extracurriculars include belly dancing, the Gamers’ Guild, harp, and Dag (Dagorhir, or dark age-style sword fighting). The perfect representation of Grinnell: diverse, all-inclusive, and open to off-kilter ideas.
