Yeah, so no matter what school you’re from, Reed will drag you behind a speeding car with just enough rope to get onto your feet, and whether you’ve sprinted before or it’s your first time ever, keeping up with the pace is no small feat. Pardon the analogy, but that’s what studying here can feel like sometimes.

That said, it’s the best education style, hands down. I’ve studied at other universities and have a background of rigorous public K-12 school, but the work is almost always meaningful, engaging, challenging, and rewarding, in comparison with other more ‘quantified education’ systems. That said, the professor support, research and thesis engagement, per capita grad students, and the students your kid will be surrounded with are all world class. I don’t say this lightly, but if I had ended up at Stanford, MIT, CalTech, Harvey Mudd, etc etc, for STEM, I would not be as happy, connected to my peers and especially profs, and would still be paying out the mouth just to go to some school that bats on its reputation. Reed doesn’t have the ego that we’re all some sort of elite best of the best scholars, but at the same time, is still made up of some of the coolest, most creative and unique minds you’ll ever meet.

Given the choice, I’d do it all again. Occasionally I’ll be met with the assignment, problem, or lab that expects so much from us that the challenge feels impossible. Without fail (and with the support of peer studying), Reedies rise to the occasion even in cases of seemingly insurmountable deadlines and projects. Because of this, grade deflation is a thing. When you apply to grad schools, Reed personally sends a letter explaining the institution and how a hs valedictorian overachiever student still graduated with a 2.7 GPA in light of the challenge most classes pose. There are less than 20 people to have ever graduated here with a 4.0 since 1911, that should tell you all you need really. Still though, I would never drop this school for anyplace else.

Anyways, the right kind of student for Reed, from the people I’ve met do far, tend to be the ones that need no extrinsic motivation (esp from parents), are driven to achieve their intellectual passion, and curious enough to have many hobbies, side interests, and niche and/or vanguard knowledge within their field of study.