Can you see yourself here?

When Brendan Hyatt ’21 began his college search, he knew that he was looking for a school with small classes and an open curriculum. Beyond that, where he would end up was anyone’s guess.

After touring several colleges, Brendan flew out to Iowa to visit Grinnell. Though he had lived in cities all his life, it didn’t take long for the New York and Washington, D.C. native to feel right at home.

“There was a warmth that emanated from the campus and the students who were here, I could see it in the way people were interacting,” he says.

“It just seemed like the kind of community that I really wanted to be a part of.”

Grinnell’s academics were another deciding factor. With just one required class, students have the freedom—and responsibility—to approach their curriculum with intention. Brendan was looking for a college where he could walk into any class and know that students were only there because they truly wanted to be there. He found it at Grinnell.

Convinced that Grinnell was the college for him, Brendan decided to apply Early Decision. One month into his first semester on campus, he is confident that he made the right choice.

“When I arrived on campus, I met so many different types of people. I really don’t think there is a Grinnell stereotype,” he says. “But they all seem so excited to be a part of this community. And I think I know why:

“It’s a self-selecting group of people who choose to come together in this smaller, warmer, intimate environment. Whether they came for the academics, the social life, or the culture, they made an intentional choice to be a Grinnellian. So when they get here, they fall in love.”

Just take it from Brendan:

“If a bunch of people are out here in the middle of Iowa, there must be a good reason. Find out what it is.”