<p>DS' best friend is madly in love with Reed, but admission is not a slam dunk : 3.5 unweighted/3.9 weighted with 2010 SAT (single sitting). She is an extremely bright girl who loves to learn and screams liberal arts, but has a very complicated family life which definitely contributed to her imperfect transcript. Frankly, I think she will absolutely thrive in the right college setting, away from family distractions. Finances are apparently not an issue. </p>
<p>I am looking for suggestions for back up schools in case Reed doesn't pan out. She is open to all geographic areas, but really wants a Reed-type learning environment. Thanks!</p>
<p>What parts of the Reed learning environment are most important to your D’s friend?</p>
<p>If it is the grading system of issuing narrative evaluations instead of letter grades, then the friend should look at the following schools:</p>
<p>Hampshire College
Bennington College
Sarah Lawrence College
Marlboro College College
College of the Atlantic
Evergreen State College (public)</p>
<p>If it’s the culture of the campus more so than learning environment than the above schools plus the following:</p>
<p>Smith College
Goucher College
Austin College
Southwestern College
Beloit College
Knox College
Earlham College
Hendrix College
Kalamazoo College
Oberlin College (many students with 3.5 GPAs accepted)
Grinnell College( again, students w/ 3.5 GPA accepted)
UC-Santa Cruz (public–not sure if part of WUE for non-Californian)
St. Olaf (a liberal campus with a focus on academics)</p>
<p>Reed is kind of unique and difficult to duplicate, but there may be a few that she could try.</p>
<p>Swarthmore (even more difficult to get into)
Wesleyen
Scripps or Pitzer at the Claremont Consortium
Macalester
Sarah Lawrence
New College of Florida</p>
<p>“What parts of the Reed learning environment are most important to your D’s friend?”</p>
<p>This is the key. Reed is distinctive in many ways; without knowing the specific points of attraction, it is difficult to make specific recommendations.</p>
<p>Wesleyan, Vassar (2 other reaches) and Oberlin (less of a reach) come to mind immediately. Somewhat less competitive, she can also consider Bard, Sarah Lawrence, Skidmore and perhaps some of the women’s colleges (Smith, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke to name a few).</p>
<p>She likes the highly intellectual atmosphere, and the idea of a strong science program in a liberal arts environment (loves that Reed has a nuclear reactor, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to replicate that at another LA school). She is extremely independent, and does not like to be coddled. She loved her campus visit at Reed, but didn’t love Lewis & Clark.</p>
<p>The kids we know who went to Reed had stats in the same ball park as your D’s friend. I think what sealed the deal for both of them was that Reed was a perfect fit, and their essays & recs made that very clear. Reed wants students that are well-suited for the school’s unique environment.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions. She is already a senior and just got her SAT results yesterday, so really needs to get a move on! I will be sure to share this information.</p>
<p>Hello–If it’s not too late, definitely add Shimer College to the list. It’s similar to Reed in many ways, but smaller (really). No more than 13 students per class, and 25% of their graduates go on to get doctoral degrees–highest in the country behind two technical colleges. My oldest daughter graduated from Reed; it was a mixed experience for her. the academics were outstanding, but drug use was rampant, and not “normal” drug use; the students living next door to her during her senior year were all heroin addicts, and one died of a drug overdose when she was there. There is a tendency at Reed to push the envelope, sometimes a bit too far. My oldest daughter wishes she had gone to Shimer (my youngest daughter is there now), as does my son, who graduated from Stanford. Think about it, maybe check them out.</p>
<p>Would love for you to post more about Shimer. Came across it when I was researching for my son but not a good fit for him. What was is it that your D loves there?</p>