Reed college

[Anonymous]

University of Portland, private Catholic in Portland OR

[Anonymous]

Reed is like a proto-graduate school. Very academically intensive place.

[Anonymous]

We visited the PNW; loved Lewis & Clark. I recommend exploring, OP.

[Anonymous]

I was a smart but unenthusiastic learner at my huge public high school. Very high SATs and lowish grades. Reed was thrilling—incredible teachers, true honor system, very intellectual but supportive, no athlete nonsense. But it was a big challenge at first. The rigor was new to me. Drug culture was very easy to avoid and I never felt pressured to partake.

If your child attends, make sure they know to lean on their advisor and take fewer (not easier) classes the first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visited the PNW; loved Lewis & Clark. I recommend exploring, OP.

Yes, definitely worth a trip. I loved the northwest schools.

I'd encourage you to make the trek to Whitman while there. It is a haul from Portland but it's a very cool little school -- great education and resources, but in a friendly, chill vibe with strong, thoughtfully considered student supports. (and fyi as a student they could fly directly into Pasco, WA, so it's not like you'd have to make that trek every time). That one really hit the sweet spot for my kid, who sounds similar to yours.

[Anonymous]

I have no direct experience with reed but lived in eastmoreland for 8 years between 2014-2022, before moving here, and interacted with the students regularly in day to day life.

These are brilliant kids and very social and seem to be engaged in life. They tend to have a very counter culture vibe though. Lots of kids from the Bay Area and Seattle, whose parents might be lawyers for unions or work at the epa. In high school they probably followed their interests more, and read a lot, as opposed to grinding out high grades in ap classes they didn’t care about or taking a bunch of test prep courses to maximize an sat/act score. San Fran and Seattle are very different places than dc. If that sounds like your kid (naturally brilliant but likes to push back on the establishment) it could be a good fit.

Anyway, hope that helps. It’s a cool place with cool people. But probably not the right place if your kid is going to show up talking about their country club and feeling the pressure to get into a top law school so they can work at your friends firm.

[Anonymous]

Ps. They have a nuclear research reactor which is very cool!

[Anonymous]

Whitman
Williamete
Puget Sound
Lewis and Clark

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reed really is sui generis.

The academic rigor is no joke. It has an excellent reputation as a feeder to doctoral programs for a reason, and attracts serious students. However, those students are typically not super high stats to begin with and may struggle to adjust to such high expectations. This is especially the case when it comes to completing the mandatory senior thesis and qualifying exams for certain majors. The level of intensity is very, very high.

Culturally Reed has a counter-culture vibe and very open drug culture. Students may find that they do, or do not, adjust well to this as well.

Can you explain more? I would expect serious students to have been serious students in high school and therefore have high stats.

When standardized scoring represented a prominent aspect of college admission, Reed's profile was equivalent to those of some NESCACs, placing a bit below those of Hamilton and Wesleyan and a bit above that of Middlebury:

The 610 Smartest Colleges in America - Business Insider https://share.google/PtFT1KwA2X1oTbe54

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reed really is sui generis.

The academic rigor is no joke. It has an excellent reputation as a feeder to doctoral programs for a reason, and attracts serious students. However, those students are typically not super high stats to begin with and may struggle to adjust to such high expectations. This is especially the case when it comes to completing the mandatory senior thesis and qualifying exams for certain majors. The level of intensity is very, very high.

Culturally Reed has a counter-culture vibe and very open drug culture. Students may find that they do, or do not, adjust well to this as well.

Can you explain more? I would expect serious students to have been serious students in high school and therefore have high stats.

When standardized scoring represented a prominent aspect of college admission, Reed's profile was equivalent to those of some NESCACs, placing a bit below those of Hamilton and Wesleyan and a bit above that of Middlebury:

The 610 Smartest Colleges in America - Business Insider https://share.google/PtFT1KwA2X1oTbe54

Things have changed in the past decade. Going not just test-optional but test-blind was a telling choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reed is like a proto-graduate school. Very academically intensive place.

- for those who do not drop out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reed really is sui generis.

The academic rigor is no joke. It has an excellent reputation as a feeder to doctoral programs for a reason, and attracts serious students. However, those students are typically not super high stats to begin with and may struggle to adjust to such high expectations. This is especially the case when it comes to completing the mandatory senior thesis and qualifying exams for certain majors. The level of intensity is very, very high.

Culturally Reed has a counter-culture vibe and very open drug culture. Students may find that they do, or do not, adjust well to this as well.

Can you explain more? I would expect serious students to have been serious students in high school and therefore have high stats.

When standardized scoring represented a prominent aspect of college admission, Reed's profile was equivalent to those of some NESCACs, placing a bit below those of Hamilton and Wesleyan and a bit above that of Middlebury:

The 610 Smartest Colleges in America - Business Insider https://share.google/PtFT1KwA2X1oTbe54

Are you really posting articles from 2015? Like for real?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reed really is sui generis.

The academic rigor is no joke. It has an excellent reputation as a feeder to doctoral programs for a reason, and attracts serious students. However, those students are typically not super high stats to begin with and may struggle to adjust to such high expectations. This is especially the case when it comes to completing the mandatory senior thesis and qualifying exams for certain majors. The level of intensity is very, very high.

Culturally Reed has a counter-culture vibe and very open drug culture. Students may find that they do, or do not, adjust well to this as well.

Can you explain more? I would expect serious students to have been serious students in high school and therefore have high stats.

When standardized scoring represented a prominent aspect of college admission, Reed's profile was equivalent to those of some NESCACs, placing a bit below those of Hamilton and Wesleyan and a bit above that of Middlebury:

The 610 Smartest Colleges in America - Business Insider https://share.google/PtFT1KwA2X1oTbe54

Are you really posting articles from 2015? Like for real?

Such information was intended for those who may believe that older information might establish a more reliable baseline for Reed than information from the test optional era. Even those who don't agree with this should understand the intent of the post.

[Anonymous]

Drug heavy culture. VERY very woke. But also graduates the most students going on to get their PhD. The contradiction of Reed College.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drug heavy culture. VERY very woke. But also graduates the most students going on to get their PhD. The contradiction of Reed College.

It's great for a student who loves learning, doesn't mind reading assignments over fifty-100 pages/night (in each of four or five classes), likes open book exams, and learning how to think more than what to think. It used to be extremely Lord of the Flies; now it is less so, I hear. Reed went through a very nasty woke phase in the 2010s, but it sounds like logic has prevailed again and people aren't canceling other people for having hoop earrings or braids anymore. Probably. But it is small and intense and sometimes very silly.