<p>Interesting question, becasue I considered both and a third as well. First of all, I live in the midwest and was looking for an excellent LAC in the west or Northwest, so both schools were at the top of my list. My first visit was to Reed and I liked it alot. I was drawn to the liberal nature of the school and of course it's location in Portland. Academically, I knew I couldn't go wrong but my main concern with the school was the lack of any type of athletics. It's not that I am a big athlete but I think it's important to have teams to rally around and provide for some school spirit.</p>
<p>Last summer, between junior and senior year, I went to Colorado College and took a summer block course to see how I would like the block plan. From the moment I stepped foot on campus, Reed completely fell off my radar. The school was amazing! I loved the ability to immerse myself in a class w/o other distractions, the location near Pikes Peak and especially the sense that everyone I ran into, whether a student, administrator, or cafeteria worker...just loved being there. It meant alot to me. As for sports, they have a great amount of club and intramural sports that almost 80% of the student body participate in. Also have two competitive Div I teams (mens hockey and womens soccer).</p>
<p>After the time at CC, Whitman College flashed on my radar. I loved everything about it when I visited and it compared favorably to CC in every way but one...location. Walla Walla is four hours from Seattle and Portland and it literally took me a full day to get there. I would go so far as to say the campus is probably one of the prettiest and well kept I saw (looked at all the Eastern LAC's as well (parents insisted I see Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Middlebury, Colgate and Hamilton). I went to the open house in October at Whitman and other than it being so far away, it seemed too staged for me. </p>
<p>In the end, I only applied EDI to Colorado College and got in. Whitman would have been my second choice and Reed third. </p>
<p>CC has an excellent 10 min video you can watch on their website and as one student says, "CC will blow your mind, you have to coem here."</p>
<p>If you are considering these schools and need some safeties, I would also recommend Willamette and Lewis and Clark. You never know with how competitive this years admission process was. </p>
<p>As a junior, you are doing the right thing. Start narrowing your choices now. Don't be like many kids I know whao apply to ten schools and when the acceptances come, they have to start visiting them. April is a short month! making some visits now and getting a feeling of where you can see yourself, you can use the time between now and the appilication deadlines to develop some strong relationships with key folks at the schools you like. That's what I did at CC and Whitman and I think it helped. Take every opportunity if they are visiting your area to see them and let them know you are there. I was on a first name basis with the admissions people at both CC and Whitman, so you can bet when they read my file they knew who I was. In fact, when I wrote my essay about why I wanted to go to CC, I even said..."in some ways I already felt like a part of the community."</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>