Student Profile
Joanna
- Class: Sophomore
- Major: Physics
- Gender: F
- High School: City High School
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
I love Grinnell! It is such a strange phenomenon. Everyone here is really talented. Everyone here is smart, and it is so different from my high school... the student population is so diverse considering that we're in the middle of Iowa. Something I will never forget is when I came to Grinnell for the first time, and I saw a student riding a campus bike to class without shoes, and dreadlocks down to his butt... I was hooked! Not everyone is that extreme, but the opportunity to be extreme is there... and acceptance is everywhere!
Academic Life
Academics kick your butt here... it's really hard... students study a lot, but we have free time, or at least we schedule it for fun things. My professors all call me by my first name, even professors I don't have... and I call them by their first names. Most of the professors here will get together outside of class to talk about anything, even to meet in the campus pub for a department even! Even though the academics are really tough, Grinnell's students aren't competitive, and everyone seems really excited just to learn.... that is especially evident when I'm in the dining hall, and I have conversations with my friends about current events, or their reading for class they found particularly interesting.
Student Body
There is a wide variety of people campus. People are usually openly religious here, but there has been a change lately towards spirituality. Because everything here is free after the initial fees (including popcorn and pop at the movies) you can't really tell who is from what socioeconomic class... There is a really strong LGBT community on campus... everyone is welcome! Students are definitely politically active! There is an entire student run activism center on campus! If you are going to college just to get a degree to make a lot of money, don't recycle, or are extremely conservative... you won't get along here.
The Best Things
The people are accepting and supportive
The Worst Things
It's expensive.
