Parent's often call with questions about their student's academic program or concerns about their student's progress. Here are some answers to the most commonly asked questions. We hope it will be helpful to you as you support your son or daughter at Grinnell.

The normal course load for most students is four 4-credit courses. A student's first semester typically consists of the First-Year Tutorial (a one-semester course required of all entering students), plus one course from each of our three academic divisions: Humanities, Social Studies and Science.

During the summer, your student will have the opportunity to select a First Year Tutorial. Your student's Tutorial professor will also become his/her adviser until the student declares a major.

We place high value on this advising relationship. The adviser is not just someone to sign a registration card. Through the tutorial, the adviser will get to know your student well -- his/her personality, academic and career goals, strengths and weaknesses as a student.

Academic planning during the first semester and in subsequent semesters is a negotiation process between the student and the faculty adviser, given the student's goals and the faculty member's advising agenda. Both the adviser and the student should expect (and have responsibility for creating) a productive advising relationship.

Encourage your student to read Academic Planning for First-Year Students this summer.

Grinnell has an individually-mentored curriculum. That means that we do not have general education or specific distribution requirements (for example, a certain number of credits or courses in Humanities, Social Studies, and Sciences). Still, we have requirements! In order to graduate students must complete 124 credits, including the First-Year Tutorial and a major (typically eight to ten courses, that is, 32 to 40 credits).

Students should plan to complete an academic program in conjunction with their advisor, which reflects both breadth and depth in the liberal arts. We encourage work in a variety of disciplines for the development of diverse skills -- linguistic, literary, quantitative, artistic, analytical. Some of the privileged experiences that Grinnell offers, such as off-campus study or double majors, necessitate a certain amount of breadth. Students work closely with their faculty adviser to create an individualized plan of study.

Your student should rely on Academic Planning for First-Year Students, the Grinnell College Academic Catalog and the Student Handbook for specific major requirements, course prerequisites and other academic policies.

Registration occurs the day before classes start. During the days preceding registration, your student will meet with his or her adviser to plan fall semester courses and complete a registration card.

Upon your student's arrival on campus, the Registrar will notify him or her of credit awarded for AP or IB scores. Generally, a score of four or five warrants credit, but rules vary by department, so it's important for your student to read the fine print on the Registrar's letter.

A word of caution -- if your student receives AP or IB credit for a course, he/she will lose AP/IB credit for repeating the same course here. Occasionally a student will decide to forgo the AP or IB credit in order to start over in an introductory level course here. This is especially true in the sciences. The best rule of thumb on these matters: have your student consult with the Registrar AND with his/her adviser!

Students must declare a major during their fourth semester. We don't encourage students to declare their major early, because we want them to explore as many fields as possible during their first two years at Grinnell.

We require it, so it's likely. If students want to graduate early or extend their academic program into a ninth semester, they must apply, in writing, to the Committee on Academic Standing (contact Gerry Adams, Registrar or visit the Registrar's web page).

Your student.

We strongly encourage students to talk with their faculty members outside of class if they are experiencing difficulty. This usually requires a change in thinking and habit, since many students did not seek out their teachers in high school. Faculty members are their best resource. We also urge students to contact their academic advisers for support and counsel.

In addition, the staff in the Academic Advising office spend much of their time working with students in academic difficulty. The Academic Advising office can help with study skills, time management strategies, interventions with faculty, and referrals to other academic resources (such as labs and tutors) and to counseling.

Most academic problems can be resolved if students seek help in a timely way.

In addition to engaging faculty members for academic support, all students may use the services of the Reading Lab, Writing Lab, Science Learning Center, Math Lab, and the Library Lab. These labs are staffed by professionals and offer students one-on-one assistance through one-credit courses, appointments, and walk-in visits. The labs are not remedial in nature, and no stigma is attached to visits there.


In addition, free student tutoring in every subject is available through the Academic Advising office (with the exception of math and science tutors, who are secured through the Science Learning Center and Math Lab). Upper-class students are nominated as tutors by their major departments and are paid by the college. A student doesn't need to be failing a course to use a tutor. Some students use tutors to move from a B to an A!

Your student may make the necessary adjustments to college with no difficulty, but if you sense that is not the case, advise your student to go directly to the Reading Lab, where Director Joan Mohan offers excellent study skills help, or to the Academic Advising office.

Realistic expectations help. We expect students to study at least three hours outside of class for every hour they are in class. After all, being a student is their full-time job.

No, Academic Advising will contact your student and we will notify his/her adviser. Students we admit have the ability to graduate from Grinnell College. When students fall into difficulty, the reasons are as diverse as the students. We do everything we can to help students identify problems, accept responsibility for them and solve them.

However, if you have a particular concern about your student, we do welcome your call.

It happens, unfortunately. Sometimes life becomes difficult and students need time to resolve crises without dropping out of school.

If your student is having a personal or family problem, please urge him/her to contact the Academic Advising office. We try very hard to create a safety net so that students' grades don't suffer unduly while they are trying to resolve a personal difficulty.

Sometimes a student is well advised to take a leave of absence from school to address a major problem. Students may contact the Academic Advising office to discuss personal or emergency leaves of absence.

A student's grades are posted online for individual student access at the end of each semester. Your student may request that you receive a copy of his/her grades by mail by contacting the Registrar's Office.

Grinnell does not have a summer program, so students who choose to take courses during the summer may do so at another accredited institution. Students may earn a maximum of 9 credits per summer for up to two summers. Most liberal arts courses are transferable if the student receives a C or better. But, matriculated students must complete a Transfer Course Approval Form from the Registrar's Office before they enroll in the summer course. One caveat -- students must receive permission of the department if they wish to use a summer school course to complete a major requirement. Generally, departments want major requirements to be completed at Grinnell. A second caveat  students may not repeat a course in summer school in which they received a D or F at Grinnell.


When in doubt, your student should contact the Registrar's Office.

Students who plan to study abroad take an academic leave (off-campus study), but two other types of leaves of absence are available to students.

Students experiencing medical difficulties may apply for an emergency leave of absence by contacting the Director of Academic Advising. Medical documentation is required for the leave and again before the student returns to school.

Some students benefit a great deal from taking a semester or two of personal leave sometime during college. They may suffer from a lack of motivation, they may be uncertain of their career goals and want a semester or two to explore them, they may have a unique opportunity to work or travel, or they may just want to be home for awhile. A student may apply for a personal leave by contacting Academic Advising. Students on a personal leave do not have to reapply for admission. A personal leave reserves their place at the college for one or two semesters.

Students with a 2.75 cumulative grade point average may apply for permission to study off-campus during their third or fourth year. Students must apply both to the Off-Campus Study Board (applications are due the February prior to the academic year involved) and to the specific program in which they wish to participate (application deadlines vary).

Off-campus study requires early and careful planning with the student's academic adviser. Students may direct questions to Off-Campus Study Director, Richard Bright.

Yes, it's certainly appropriate. If you would like to talk with someone at the college about your student's academic situation, feel free to call Academic Advising. Or you may call the student's adviser.

However, we do believe that your most important source of information about your student's progress is your student, and we hope that you will foster open and honest communication with your son or daughter about his/her academic work.

Nope. Sorry! But savvy students take full advantage of our excellent Office of Service, Employment, and Career Development during their four years here, to help them sort through their many talents and interests, to develop career and life goals and plans.

We hope that your student will ask questions of everyone on campus. People resources abound at Grinnell.

In addition, three important written sources of information regarding academic policies are the Academic Planning for First-Year Students, which will arrive this summer, the Student Handbook and the Grinnell College Catalog, both of which your student will receive on arrival. These books are not exactly exciting bedtime reading, but your student is responsible for knowing their content. Judicious use of their indexes should lead students to answers to most academic questions.