<p>Thought I'd foist yet one more of these threads on the UC forum. I'm going for philosophy and then med school. I'm not in-state for Berkeley. I would incur no debt paying for Reed, about 5,000 per year at chicago or berkeley. I'd pick Reed if prestige and career goals weren't an issue.</p>
<p>i thought i'd read somewhere that you had already accepted reed</p>
<p>I change my mind a lot</p>
<p>well, reading your post... don't pick stuff because of prestige and such, because research has conclusive proven that it does nothing but satisfy one's personal ego... go where you think you'd be most happy. period.</p>
<p>On an accepted students tour of Reed we asked, "For students who transfer from Reed, where are the students likely to go?" The answer from the tour guide (where he got the information I don't know) was the University of Chicago. It also appears that Chicago is one of the top graduate school destinations for Reedies. Kindred spirits it appears. Reed has a notoriously low average GPA, around 2.8, which may be a consideration for med school, but perhaps med schools take that into account. One reason my S did not choose Reed was the amount of smoking on campus and the pervasive political correctness. He really liked the faculty he met and the academics at Reed, however.</p>
<p>idad, I almost applied to Reed because it seemed so much like UChicago. The drug scene, though, was what dissuaded me from applying. I am pretty conservative, so PCness and students smoking pot neither appealed to me nor to my parents. And, living on the UChicago campus, I am very comfortable with the school. I know it is not conservative (in fact, it tends to lean toward the left), but I know I will be happy here.</p>
<p>I was referring to cigarette smoking, it seemed to be pervasive.</p>
<p>I thought briefly about applying to Reed, but I wanted to have diversity in thinking on campus. It seemed like the vast majority of kids at Reed were quite far left, and I thought that a school with varied opinions would be more fun, more interesting, and more educational. I like the core. Chicago is also, of course, very well respected among those in academia.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Thought I'd foist yet one more of these threads on the UC forum. I'm going for philosophy and then med school. I'm not in-state for Berkeley. I would incur no debt paying for Reed, about 5,000 per year at chicago or berkeley. I'd pick Reed if prestige and career goals weren't an issue.
[/quote]
I live in Oregon (high school student) and take math at Reed, and I really love the faculty. They are smart, very nice, and very focused on teaching. The students I've met are nice, but there are definitely far-left overtones to life around campus. It's a very rigorous education, too - great for preparing for grad school.</p>
<p>But I'm afraid that if you're a premed, it would probably be a very bad idea to go there. As idad mentioned, the average GPA at Reed is about 2.8. Med schools, overwhelmed with applications, often have a "first cut" based solely on GPA and MCAT scores. Anything in the neighborhood on 2.8 is placed automatically on the reject pile. Once you get to the later stages of the med school process, they'll be more thoughtful, and consider that Reed's GPA is so deflated. But it's hard to get there.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Once you get to the later stages of the med school process, they'll be more thoughtful, and consider that Reed's GPA is so deflated.
[/quote]
Actually, on second thought, even this might be wishful thinking. I wonder if med schools get enough applicants from Reed to even know much about it.</p>
<p>The Princeton Review website provides these statistics about Reed:
Students Going to Law School Upon Graduation: 6%
Students Going to Medical School Upon Graduation: 5%
Students Going to Business School Upon Graduation: 4%
Students Going to Graduate School Upon Graduation: 65%</p>
<p>Reed was my second choice and I got in to all three. Sweet god DO NOT GO TO BERKELEY. Courses outside of your major are very hard to spend any time in/on, classes are huge and the atmosphere is solidly of competitiveness in the colleges. I live in SF and know plenty of berkeleyites. The two towns are not bad, but neh.</p>
<p>Reed was close. Smaller, but for philosophy you are definitely covered, and I liked the atmosphere similarly. Locationwise, Portland feels like suburbia compared to chicago, and though Reed campus is beutiful, Chicago is more so. Weather? Chicago is violent, Reed is depressing.</p>
<p>Chicago?</p>
<p>Yeah, I got into all three as well. I know several people at Reed who love it there, including a conservative libertarian. I'm pretty much set on Chicago at this point, but I am overnighting at Reed before I visit Chicago to be sure. </p>
<p>If you would pick Reed if career goals weren't an issue, then pick Reed.</p>
<p>Because of the likelihood of undergrads changing majors, changing perspectives, and changing goals, you're better off following your gut and going where you feel comfortable.</p>
<p>And yeah, idad, my tour guide when I visited Reed last year pointed out the clusters of humanities and social science professors who were Chicago Ph.Ds. Apparently it's quite common for Reed to hire Chicago grads, and they apparently stick together? </p>
<p>There are so many factors and you should follow your heart. Me, I've already turned down Berkeley for many of the reasons Kodama described.</p>