Discussion based Curriculum?

<p>I'm a junior in high school and am intrigued by Reed. I am very interested in colleges that emphasize discussion based classes, socratic method, etc. I am curious, how much of reed's classes are actually discussion based. My reason for asking is that my top school at this time is St. Johns College because I find the Great Books program particularly intriguing and all of their classes are discussion based. However, St Johns doesn't offer all the extracurriculars that I am interested in such as debate, model UN, music performance. I would welcome any comparisons from people who know about both colleges. I just want to go to a college that allows students and professors to interact easily, emphasizes discussion based classes, and has a variety of extracurricular activities. Recommendations are welcome.</p>

<p>It depends on your major. Math and physics classes, for example, aren't discussion based at all (although they are small enough to accommodate some back-and-forth between the professor and students). On the other hand, the other classes I've taken (sociology and humanities) are almost entirely discussion-based. Sometimes these classes will have a lecture component, but the emphasis has always been overwhelmingly on the conference portion.</p>

<p>Reed definitely allows students and professors to interact easily, and this one includes math/physics professors. All my professors know me, and if I ever want to talk about something with one of them, I can usually just walk into his/her office -- the door will be open. Students take advantage of this all the time. It helps that everyone's on a first-name basis here, which is pretty neat.</p>