<p>I'm a junior, so there's time to improve if you have any suggestions.</p>
<p>White female
Live in Ohio
Rural public school
3.984 UW GPA
33 ACT
227 PSAT (should be National Merit Semifinalist)</p>
<p>Thinking of majoring in math or double majoring in math and philosophy
Seven AP classes (three more than school offers)
Completed graduation requirements so I can take all dual enrollment classes next year
Will need a lot of financial aid
Parents didn't go to college but grandmother did</p>
<p>Science Club (11)
Science fair participant (10)
School musical ensemble (10)
Scholastic Bowl alternate (11)
Volunteering at Safety Town (10)
Founded library book club (10, 11)
Volunteering at library (9, 10, 11)
Working at McDonald's (11)
Piano (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
50-hour chemical engineering mentorship (11)</p>
<p>Reasons I want to go here:
1. Not submitting data for US News rankings is badass. I care about what people think of me a lot more than I should.
2. High Ph.D production. I job-shadowed a college professor and I think that's what I want to be.
3. I tend to get caught up in grades and numbers a lot, so I'm glad those are sort of kept hidden. I don't like competition to the point where everyone starts hating each other.
4. It's small. The idea of lecture halls with hundreds and hundreds of people is just scary.
5. Authenticity. It doesn't sounds like the kind of place where people BS their way through four years of assignments just to get a degree.
6. It's far, far away from Ohio.
7. I love class discussions/debates. Sometimes teachers call on me before I raise my hand. Reed sounds like a place where a lot of class discussions would happen. (Strangely, I'm also very shy.)
8. I love rain, and apparently it rains a lot in Portland. </p>
<p>Everyone says this stuff, though. I need to visit before I can write a good essay. Unfortunately, visiting would require convincing my parents that they need to fly thousands of miles across the country for a hypothetical. My parents are of the "don't visit until you get accepted" persuasion.</p>
<p>Since you are rural, find out if Reed is coming to your area, or maybe to a larger school so you can meet with a rep.
When you get a chance, you should read more about it, as well as similar schools.
Cool Colleges by Donald Asher is one book to try.</p>
<p>I’m just a prospie, but I’ve been steeped in the whole Reed affair for a while now what with applying and visiting and reading everything I could find online about the place. I also know a few people who go/went there. It sounds like you have a fairly good chance as long as you write an awesome Why Reed? essay. You also sound like the sort who’d do well there. Also you seem like someone I’d like to spend a day with. I hope you get in!</p>
<p>OP, something for your parents to consider is that you only have about 30 days from acceptances to the date your decision is due (May 1). And most students don’t have a lot of time off in April, AND plane tickets are horribly expensive on short notice like that. You are kind of close in now to get to Reed before the essays are do, but I am just saying that this philosophy backfires on a lot of students & parents in April.</p>
<p>If you’ll need a good amount of financial aid, there’s a chance Reed will invite you to a program called “Discover Reed” if you get in. They’ll pay for your trip out and you get to visit the college for a few days! Unfortunately, that doesn’t solve the problem of needing to visit before you write your essay. I had trouble writing mine at first too because I tried to focus too much on the school itself; it ended up sounding like a brochure for a visiting prospie The focus though should be on what <em>you</em>: what makes Reed a good fit for you, and how can Reed help you realize your dreams?</p>
<p>Edit: don’t worry so much about whether you’ll get in. You seem like a great candidate: almost perfect numbers, desire to learn and discuss, evident passion, and most importantly of all, a love for Reed and what it stands for.</p>
This summer I’m doing some local science camps and volunteering at an arboretum. And probably another science-related mentorship. But my ECs are pretty bad in general and I’m worried that will hurt me.
I won’t be able to visit. (Hopefully that means I would add geographic diversity or something.) An interview might be possible but they don’t seem to have any representatives coming to Ohio any time soon.</p>
<p>You have the numbers to get into Reed, and your ECs show focus and commitment; as long as your application shows you’re a good fit for the school, I think you should be fine.</p>
<p>Are you sure you wouldn’t get interviewed by a local Reed graduate? I didn’t get an interview either, so I’m not sure how it works, but I think Reed does alumni interviews as well.</p>
<p>They aren’t really out in force this time of year in the different regions (the admissions officers). That happens more in the fall. Find out who your admissions officer is on the website in the fall. Then email them to see if they will be in your area. My D was able to interview while the person was in town by arranging it ahead of time. But if that won’t work, you could ask about doing a Skype interview.</p>
<p>Will I have about the same chance applying RD as applying ED? (Sort of a moot question because I’m too poor to risk doing early decision, but still.)</p>
<p>If you’re applying ED to your by-far number one choice, the risk is that you might get more aid at a further down choice. If Reed’s ED aid is not enough to support attendance (you decide, not Reed), you decline the offer and apply elsewhere RD. Why do you feel that ED is a risk for you?</p>
<p>Because people on here are always saying the contract is hard to get out of and ED is a really bad idea if you need aid. Is it really that easy to get out of it?</p>
<p>Consider the alternative: You’re somehow compelled to attend, and are then expelled when you can’t pay the bill. What school would ever do this?</p>
<p>General question: is there a maximum length I should stick to for the “Why Reed?” essay?
I have an idea, but it’s really more of a short story than an essay and I can imagine it being well over 1000 words. Are they “weird” enough to like that kind of thing or do they have an implicit word limit?</p>
The focus though should be on what <em>you</em>: what makes Reed a good fit for you, and how can Reed help you realize your dreams?</p>