There are several threads about DCUM Reed that OP should search out.

My sense is that it attracts (or embraces?) a higher than average proportion of troubled kids. That is based upon the experience of a friend's DC...so anecdotal, admittedly.

I recently visit W&M, it is a beautiful campus and the kids seems focused and happy (it consistently scores among the top ten happiest students in the country).

Both are strong academically. Read up on UNIGO to see what students say about drug use at each school. Good luck to your child.

Reed and W&M are very different schools and this is an example where "fit" and visit is important.

Reed got hit hard when they decided not to participate in data collection for US News - it will be interesting to see what happens to schools that are stepping up and doing it now (Colorado College example)

I believe (someone on DCUM will correct me) that Reed also has the highest enrollment of children of professors in the country. I am stumbling with this metric - but it is the college that enrolls the most kids of professors.

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Anonymous wrote:I know a lot of Reed grads. Relatively smart, but definitely not brilliant or anything. All come from wealthy families and were able to go into public interest -type jobs because of that. The school is pretty, but very small.

Steve Jobs went to Reed so there are some unusually smart people who went there.

He left after 1 semester

Yes to start apple

So hard to credit the education had a huge influence on his development.

He claims it did, he just didn't think he was working hard enough to ask his parents to pay for it. He was enrolled for a semester, but stuck around for two years and sat on more esoteric classes, than the core requirements: https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/in-memoriam/obituaries/december2011/steve-jobs-1976.html

Ah, interesting. Thanks for sharing. I do miss those days when students mainly were interested in learning for purposes they couldn't fully map out in a linear way. It helped our country be inventive.

That's kind of what Reed is about.

They don't show grades unless you ask. There's no emphasis on them, or class rank. It's not a "competitive" school, except by debate. Most classes are conference style discussions of the reading assignments, most exams (that I remember) were open-book analyses of the course material, most classes had averages of about 50-100 pages of reading a night, etc.

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Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Reed had a stereotype of being full of smart kids who were oddball wierdos in some way. Like, let's drop LSD and then read communist poetry while doing yoga headstands, or whatever. You get the point.

Don't know what else to tell you. The campus looked pretty from a distance. My family would never let me go near it.

Reed alum here, married to another Reed alum. We both have very successful careers, spouse has a PhD, and know many other happy and successful alumni. Spare us the stereotypes and exaggerations if you have no direct experience with the school.

OP, I have a teen who’s interested in both Reed and W&M. Reed’s lack of any organized athletics is what gives my kid pause; and it’s quite small. But the education is fantastic, the campus is beautiful, and the students are smart and engaged.

+1

Reed is known for being rigorous, kind of in the style of Swarthmore or UChicago, but with no sports and a little more quirky personality. It produces a lot of graduates who go on to get PhDs.

Although Reed has no sports, it does have a Phys Ed requirement for all students, which is somewhat of a joke, but needed for graduation. It has fairly strict core requirements across the board, including a year-long senior thesis that must be presented and approved before graduation.

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Anonymous wrote:I know a lot of Reed grads. Relatively smart, but definitely not brilliant or anything. All come from wealthy families and were able to go into public interest -type jobs because of that. The school is pretty, but very small.

Steve Jobs went to Reed so there are some unusually smart people who went there.

He left after 1 semester

Yes to start apple

So hard to credit the education had a huge influence on his development.

He claims it did, he just didn't think he was working hard enough to ask his parents to pay for it. He was enrolled for a semester, but stuck around for two years and sat on more esoteric classes, than the core requirements: https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/in-memoriam/obituaries/december2011/steve-jobs-1976.html

Ah, interesting. Thanks for sharing. I do miss those days when students mainly were interested in learning for purposes they couldn't fully map out in a linear way. It helped our country be inventive.

I think he got the idea for idea for proportional fonts from a calligraphy class at Reed.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a lot of Reed grads. Relatively smart, but definitely not brilliant or anything. All come from wealthy families and were able to go into public interest -type jobs because of that. The school is pretty, but very small.

Steve Jobs went to Reed so there are some unusually smart people who went there.

He left after 1 semester

Yes to start apple

So hard to credit the education had a huge influence on his development.

He claims it did, he just didn't think he was working hard enough to ask his parents to pay for it. He was enrolled for a semester, but stuck around for two years and sat on more esoteric classes, than the core requirements: https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/in-memoriam/obituaries/december2011/steve-jobs-1976.html

Ah, interesting. Thanks for sharing. I do miss those days when students mainly were interested in learning for purposes they couldn't fully map out in a linear way. It helped our country be inventive.

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Anonymous wrote:I know a lot of Reed grads. Relatively smart, but definitely not brilliant or anything. All come from wealthy families and were able to go into public interest -type jobs because of that. The school is pretty, but very small.

Steve Jobs went to Reed so there are some unusually smart people who went there.

He left after 1 semester

Yes to start apple

So hard to credit the education had a huge influence on his development.

He claims it did, he just didn't think he was working hard enough to ask his parents to pay for it. He was enrolled for a semester, but stuck around for two years and sat on more esoteric classes, than the core requirements: https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/in-memoriam/obituaries/december2011/steve-jobs-1976.html

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Anonymous wrote:+1 Reed is more rigorous. W+M in state is much more affordable, of course.

In what way is Reed more rigorous?

There's a qualifying exam and undergraduate thesis for all students.

There are other liberal arts colleges that do that but it doesn't mean they are necessarily more rigorous--it depends on how challenging the exams are and the level of expectation for the thesis. W&M students all do capstone projects in their majors.

Wooster requires this too. Still would choose Wooster over WM on academic rigor.

-1 Not me. And I like Wooster.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a lot of Reed grads. Relatively smart, but definitely not brilliant or anything. All come from wealthy families and were able to go into public interest -type jobs because of that. The school is pretty, but very small.

Steve Jobs went to Reed so there are some unusually smart people who went there.

He left after 1 semester

Yes to start apple

So hard to credit the education had a huge influence on his development.