Thanks much. Yes with SAT he is certainly not in the top quartile in most places.
One related question incase anyone knows the answer:
He is doing is Cambridge curriculum where his A2 subjects are considered to be same level of rigor as AP courses. He is likely to have A*(bio), A*(math), A(Physics), A(Biology), A(English) as his predicted grades and eventually actual final grades. Will he get similar benefit for that vis-a-vis AP folks?
This thread seems to be quite useful. Reed seems to be worthwhile for someone with an academic bend of mind, no varsity level sports interests and also from international diversity perspective. Gloomy atmosphere but no snow so take some and give some in terms of weather I would say. They seem to have strong Bio and Math. Their EDs will not have any athlete seats one would imagine?
As an aspect to consider, you may encounter what appears, in certain cases, to be an inverse relationship between PhD production and early career earnings. Recent Bowdoin grads earn 19% more than those from Grinnell, for example, based on information in U.S. News. These may not be the best examples because of regional economic differences, but this information may be worth seeking for all the colleges on your sonâs potential list.
I havenât read the whole thread, but it seems Bates has not been mentioned yet. Itâs certainly on par with nearly all the schools listed here and is a leading proponent of the test optional movement. If NESCAC schools are being considered Bates is worth investigating.
Regarding research, a student at any college mentioned in this thread will find ample research opportunities. Thereâs a big misconception that LACs make it harder for students to do research. Iâd actually say that student at LACs have an easy time finding research opportunities. My Bates grad and her friends had no issues at all getting research positions.
I believe Reed does not offer any varsity athletic programs. Also, with respect to academics, Reedâs SAT range (1320â1500, similar to that of some NESCACs) probably reflects its level more than its rank in U.S. News. In ways that matter, Reedâs attributes place it as a top-18 LAC, in my opinion. In terms of international admission, Reed, by mathematical inference, accepts about 25 applicants annually from, for example, India alone.
Will take a look at Bates Biology program. I do agree that opportunities for research will be more at LACs than Research Universities since you are not competing with graduate students.
Reed is looking quite attractive and fits in the SAT range for my son for being an achievable Reach school. It offers ED as well as EA that is also an advantage.
Itâs great to see Reed in the hunt.
This cuts both ways. Less competition- great. Fewer huge projects which can absorb dozens of students- less great.
There is no right answer. My kids were at research universities and there was zero competition with grad students. The grad students were already assigned to a lab and a particular professor and one or more grants. The undergrads had their pick of assignments, and on large projects, there was ALWAYS budget and space for another student.
That is quite an interesting experience. I was a graduate student at Berkeley in Engineering (non CS) and there very few if any undergraduates in any of the labs. Certainly no one who got any face time with professors directly. May be a mid sized private research university can get you best of both worlds?
Yeah. Things are fluid and I guess they will be till November 15th by when ED and EAs will be all done. But yes I am glad we are looking at Reed. My initial short list included Us News Ranking as a parameter and that ended up missing Reed!
My âresearch intensiveâ kid was at MIT and the process there is pretty much âwalk onâ. All research projects are posted on a website- accessible to every student-- and my kid had a choice every time between âcash or creditsâ. So credits during the term if you wanted a very time intensive experience, cash during the summers, or cash during the semester when you wanted an 8-10 hour a week commitment but not sleeping at the lab (like some of the grad students did). And ALL projects had face time with the professors. So yes- mid-size. But MIT is âall inâ on the undergraduate experience, contrary to the popular view.
Yes thought so that it must be one of the mid sized top notch private research powerhouse! In Berkeley most of the times even the grad students didnât get much face time with professors especially with the large research labs with 20-25+ PhDs 
This is the case at Wesleyan where basically nothing is off-limits to undergraduates. The doctoral candidates are just older students so far as they are concerned.
I think it depends on what you are studying. Out of the many Cal undergrad and grad students that I have known over the years, the students in smaller departments seemed to be getting plenty of faculty time and research opportunities. Biology, not so much, though.
Biology may also be more competitive with premeds wanting to add âresearchâ to their premed credentials.
Absolutely true. Goes for the pre-vets and pre-dental folks as wellâŠbio runs wide!
For what itâs worth, Iâm not a big fan of Niche. I have concerns about their methodology. Among other things, I find the lack of transparency frustrating (eg, what makes a good campus score, and why is it that when one looks for student reviews of campuses the most recent are from seven years ago even for some of the most reviewed schools?), sense that it is over-determined by low numbers of student survey responses (which becomes more obvious if you watch how dramatically a particular schoolâs rank can changes over a short period of time with in some cases only a single digit number of new student reviews), and canât help but conclude thereâs a bias that favors universities with more size and marketing over LACs when the latter focus on undergraduate education and the former focus on graduate (first LAC doesnât appear until 17th on their overall rank).
The guide publications that have been doing it the longest are the ones I would recommend most: US News, Fiske, and Princeton Review. Theyâve had decades to improve their methodology and, in the case of USNWR, are the ones most likely to be used by the colleges themselves in evaluating their own performance.
Of the newer publications, I would recommend âColleges Worth Your Moneyâ (Belasco et al) and âThe College Finderâ (Antonoff.)
I have a very high opinion of Reed. Perhaps more than any other US college, itâs undergraduate curriculum is designed like a mini doctorate program, with both qualifying exams and a thesis required for all students. It is no accident it always does so well with grad school placement.
It is less selective than many of its peers, though I think itâs fair to say the applicant pool is probably among the most self-selecting.
However, for an international student who doesnât know much about Reed or hasnât visited, I think it needs to be said that the culture is very distinctive. âCulture shockâ is probably more likely there than at other schools this thread has touched on. It has the reputation of being hyper-liberal with a high degree of activism. I have known more than a few (liberal) students who thought it was a great match on paper but concluded it might be a bit too extreme after visiting. An incredible school that fills a need; the world is a better place with Reed in it! But is so unlike other schools that I would strongly recommend visiting before committing to attend.
I was happy to see this particular link shared as some of the USNWR more granular rankings, like this one, can be even more relevant than their overall rankings.
I will just add that this particular list included both LACs and universities, so one can get a sense of how the two compare in terms of undergraduate research opportunities. Universities will obviously be better known for research, but 10 LACs in the top 25 for undergrad research seems like a solid showing on the part of LACs.
However, when USNWR came up with their rankings for best undergraduate teaching, they separated universities from LACs. My guess is this is mostly because the undergraduate teaching focus of LACs wouldâve been a bit hard for all but a few universities to compare favorably with.
Not that LACs are best for everyone!