Creative Writing Options and Workload Trepidation

Colleges and Universities A-Z Reed College
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<p>I was recently accepted to Reed and I am wondering what current Reedies have to say about the Creative Writing program. I'm interested in CW but I also would like to keep my options open for something like English Literature or Anthropology. Is the CW program good? Is it compelling and will I get a lot out of it?</p>

<p>As for Reed itself, I'm still not sure I will attend. I was accepted to seven schools, but currently my favorites are Reed, NYU, and Johns Hopkins University. Out of the three, I've heard that Reed has the heaviest workload. I'm used to academic rigor, but the things I've heard about 300-page-a-night readings, marathon study sessions, suicide rates and Friday nights spent in the library make Reed seem a little intimidating. Can anyone confirm or deny my fears of a crushing workload?</p>

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<p>I recommend you ask on Reed’s livejournal site. Make sure you follow the proper prospie question guidelines. I asked about physics and got around 30 responses in a day (it took a while to get the post “approved”, though).</p>

<p>Here’s the link: [url=<a href=“http://community.livejournal.com/reedlj]Reedwatcher[/url”>Reed Community Posting Board — LiveJournal]Reedwatcher[/url</a>]</p>

<p>I was accepted to Reed as well, and am going to attend. From what I can tell from reading around and via my interviewer, the workload is as you described–but not constantly. Everyone seems to still have time from extracurriculars and everyone seems to be happy to be in an “isolated” bubble of academia. I think the presence of mutual academic masochism evokes some sort of primal happiness out of people. Or something like that. </p>

<p>The suicide snippet is obviously unfounded and the only reason I can think that it may be elevated at Reed is because troubled intellectuals are…well, troubled. Obviously if you were feeling that depressed from the workload alone, you’d simply leave Reed–and you shouldn’t feel depressed at all; you should enjoy it (that’s what Reed is all about!).</p>

<p>Can’t comment on English.</p>

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<p>AFAIK Reed hasn’t had a suicide for a couple decades. Cornell’s had a couple this year, Yale just had one… but even then, both those schools are well below the suicide rate for the general population. And I recall StudiousNutcase (current freshman at Reed) saying that the most strenuous workload will put you at 300 pages per week, if you feel like you need to do, say, Realist Russian Lit. and Hum110 and a second-year Religion course all in one semester. But that’s not really the the norm.</p>

<p>Your impression of Reed sounds… gloomy. Have you actually been to visit? What I think of when I think of Reed is more like the giant couch see-saw they used to have outside the student union building, or the comic book reading room, or the bouncy castle they rent leading up to exams. I’m a prospie too, but from what I can tell, yes, Reed is a lot of work, but it’s also a very whimsical and mischevious place.</p>

<p>Also, if you search through the Reed Magazine archives, there’s an article maybe a year back about Reedie authors and how they got through the publishing process. If that’s your bent, you might want to check that out.</p>

<p>Reed, JHU, and NYU are very, very different from one another. Do you have a good idea of what you want from college, or are you more going by gut reaction?</p>

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<p>I’m not really worried about suicide, and I can understand why my perspective of Reed seems gloomy. It’s not, really. On my visit I saw a bunch of very happy people. The reason I was focusing on the negatives is because the positives are so good. I read StudiousNutcase’s post, but it’s good to know that 300 pages a night is abnormally heavy. I went to a high school that is also very rigorous- academic masochism describes last spring nicely. Some of my friends who graduated last year have said that some colleges are ‘too easy.’ A notable example would be a girl who is looking to transfer from NYU’s CAS because she says that she’s bored. I like being challenged, and want to attend a rigorous school, so Reed seemed a good choice. I also like being in a community of intellectual people, despite the academic masochism that might bring- I think TelephoneInLife is right about the ‘primal happiness’ that it brings.</p>

<p>I’m still trying to figure out what I want from a college- I applied to 10 schools, rejected from Stanford, Yale, and Columbia, and accepted to 7 others. I have decided to cut out big schools- no UW or UC Berkeley for me. I also didn’t want what I saw as schools where it takes work to be challenged or have a good experience- I plan to turn down USF and Evergreen. </p>

<p>That leaves three schools to choose from:</p>

<p>NYU, in the big city, which I adore, with a slightly less rigorous academic load but incredible accessibility and great facilities. Students there are said to not really have a sense of ‘community,’ rather, they’re just loose in New York. A downside is that I could potentially see myself getting lost here. They want me to pay the most out of the three.</p>

<p>JHU, a cloistered campus in a city I am almost completely unfamiliar with. They seem too close to the government, and have close ties to the military-industrial complex, and the food-biochem conglomerates sending people to places like Lockheed Martin and ConAgra. at the same time, they seem to have an awesome writing program. They gave me wonderful aid, and the cost is on par with Reed. If I went here I could see myself loving the education but hating my life because I don’t fit in.</p>

<p>Reed seems like the best fit from what I know about the three and about myself. I like Portland, and it’s pretty close to home (6 hours drive), and I have family there. Reedies seem like awesome people in general, and it seems like a community I could be comfortable in and explore in. I want an atmosphere that’s more dynamic that my high school (tiny! at 75 students) and with a better dating pool, but not so big that it becomes isolating. Reed seems to be just the right size. I’m also a bit of a nature boy, and Reed is close to the river, the beach, and the slopes, something that NYU and JHU just can’t offer. The main thing I’m worried about is having a crushing academic workload. Right now my workload and the 1.5 hours of commuting I do every day mean I have no life. I want to have a life, or at least have company in not having one. Also, the nightlife in Portland isn’t great. But that might not even be a problem if I’m stuck in a book on the weekends.</p>

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<p>NYU is such an unchallenging, uninspiring place to study, besides of course having NYC to its credit. It’s exorbitant and I know someone from Gallatin who graduated with a 3.9, even though she hardly studied, and in one class she even made an “A” because the TA thought she was hot. I know NYC is such a brilliant place and NYU is too, for slackers who just want four years of NYC. I’m sorry this is just my opinion, but I feel NYU, apart from Tisch, is hugely overrated.</p>

<p>With JHU and Reed, you’ve got a real debate. Reed is a tiny Liberal Arts College which will give you focus on not only your area of interest, but a variety of other areas. JHU will probably give you a more depth-oriented focus. Also, JHU, is said to have a very cutthroat environment when it comes to grades, which wouldn’t be there at Reed at all. I’m interested in Creative Writing too, and I feel Reed’s offerings are actually pretty interesting with great faculty, but obviously they won’t be able to compare to somewhere like JHU. </p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

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<p>I picked Reed!</p>

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<p>Yay, Charras! I am sure you can do it! You know, my son was really stressed for part of the summer after he was admitted, because he was worried he wouldn’t be able to handle it. I used to tell him that they wouldn’t have admitted him if he didn’t have the potential to thrive at Reed. He’s now a rising senior, and doesn’t regret having challenged himself with the workload. :-)</p>