Grinnell College Website Summary and Analysis

Jude Jonker

Professor Weaver 

03/0902022

 

Summary 

 

Grinnell College is a small liberal arts college located in Grinnell Iowa. Grinnell College was founded in 1846 and is a liberal arts and sciences college. The town Grinnell is located in is also called Grinnell and is the home of roughly 9,000 people and about 1,700 students are enrolled at Grinnell(Grinnell College). Grinnell prides itself in being an ethnically diverse institution. Grinnell claims that “ 20% of its students are international, 26% of students identify as POC, they represent 50 states and 40+ countries, and that 15% of students are first generation college students(Grinnell College)”.  From this information a potential student can see that Grinnell is looking to help educate students that are first generation students, students that statistically speaking don’t always go to college,  and students that aren’t from the United States. Grinnell also has “ 0 fraternities or sororities.(Grinnell College). This helps potential students understand that Grinnell isn’t a “party school” or a place for students interested in Greek life. ” On the main page of the website there are two quotes in bold. The first quote says “ Grinnellians ask hard questions and question easy answers”( Grinnell College) and the second states “ Curiosity can take you anywhere”( Grinnell College) Both of the quotes provide evidence that they are looking for students who are curious and want to really understand the major or pathway that interests them.

 

Analysis 

 

Grinnell College’s website is constructed so that students can easily find information about the college. One thing that Grinnell does to help captivate students is that they don’t just say what’s great about the school themselves,they have data that supports it and they have atriles where current students and students that graduated give testimonials about their time and work at Grinnell. 

One of these ways is by the use of case studies. When a potential student clicks on the after Grinnell tab on the website they see a series of options. One of these options is Graduate outcomes, when a potential student clicks on this they will be presented with a series of charts and graphs labeled employment, graduate schools, service, and fellowships. These graphs are full of all sorts of information. For instance in the employment graph potential students can see who graduates are employed by and what positions the graduate obtained. In the graduate schools graph a potential student can see what schools the graduates went to, what degree they have obtained and what field of study the graduate is in. This is very interactive and helps a potential student visualize what they could be up to after their time at Grinnell is over. 

Another example is located at the bottom of the website’s main page there is a small slideshow called Grinellian stories. These stories allow potential students to see what graduates and current students are doing at Grinnell. These stories help show how what students learn at Grinnell doesn’t just help them with exams and projects it can also help the community. One of these Grinnellian stories is called “Collecting Seeds, Growing Healthy Ecosystems and Communities”. This could motivate a student that is interested in biology or agriculture to really consider enrolling at Grinnell. In the article the names of students involved are detailed and what they’re goal is with this project. This helps potential students find out how much projects like this can benefit them and the ecosystem.  Another Grinellian story that stands out is called “How Grinnell College and Neolth Partnered to Increase Access to Mental Health Support for Students” this story helps the college show to potential students that Grinnell is invested in them and cares about the mental health of students that they partnered with Neolth a company dedicated to the mental health of students. Not only does Grinnell tell potential students this in the article they also talk about how Neolth is used at Grinnell. The article states “Within a month of introducing Neolth to the entire student body, 9% of Grinnell students were using the app to support their mental health. “In my work with Grinnell, I saw firsthand that Grinnell College is dedicated to student services, especially student mental health,” says Grill.(Grinnell College)”. This quote helps potential students see that Grinnell thinks student services are important especially for student mental health. This is important because if a college doesn’t recognize how hard student life is it could  be difficult for students to be successful and graduate.

 

Response 

 

I personally would not enroll or attend Grinnell College. While it has many attributes and traits that I find interesting and desirable I feel like it wouldn’t be a good fit for me. I want to own a business one day and that is not one of the majors that Grinnell offers to its students. I also have noticed from the website  that this college is very unstructured with its approach to learning for its students. The website states “In a place where the humanities, social sciences, and STEM converge, your intellectual journey is bound to be far from linear.(Grinnell University)” While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I don’t believe it’s a good thing for me. Accountability is something I pride myself in having, I feel that if I went to Grinnell I wouldn’t hold myself accountable for the academic mistakes I may make while attending.  I can get off track very easily and I sometimes need a person to reign myself in. Another reason that I wouldn’t want to attend this university is the fact that it is located in a small town. I grew up in Decatur which is also a small town and I want to see more of the world than just a small American town. 

 

Works Cited 

“Grinnellians Ask Hard Questions and Question Easy Answers.” Grinnell College | Grinnell College, https://www.grinnell.edu/.  

“Collecting Seeds, Growing Healthy Ecosystems and Communities.” Grinnell College, https://www.grinnell.edu/news/collecting-seeds-growing-healthy-ecosystems-and-communities. 

“How Grinnell College and Neolth Partnered to Increase Access to Mental Health Support for Students.” Grinnell College, https://www.grinnell.edu/news/how-grinnell-college-and-neolth-partnered-increase-access-mental-health-support-students. 

“Graduate Outcomes – All Majors.” Grinnell College, https://www.grinnell.edu/after-grinnell/graduate-outcomes. 

 

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