<p>lol, I think OP was referring to the colleges in themselves. I agree that Trinity College is beautiful; Hartford, eww.</p>
<p>@theanaconda : If you look at places like Harvard and Princeton, they don’t actually make it that easy for pre-meds to get good grades. The standard is to curve the science courses to a solid B which is a pretty common practice among selective schools (many still stick to a B- in many courses though. Several southern schools like Emory, Vanderbilt, and even Duke stick stick to this norm. I believe Penn, Chicago, WashU, and JHU also do this), however the courses at these schools are actually very tough content wise (as in far more difficult than most schools) and assessment wise (like chem 27 and chem 30 exams at Harvard are VERY difficult. LifeScience 1a/1b is far more challenging than a normal gen. biology courses at almost every other school as well. The same could be said for Yale and Princeton’s gen. biology sequences. Chicago and WashU are tough as well). Now, where you’re right is perhaps about pre-law and pre-business/finance track folks. Typically grade inflation is rampant in the humanities and social sciences at most top national U’s. So called “grade deflated” universities typically become that way when the standards are higher in the social sciences and humanities than normal. I suppose this can adversely affect pre-meds as well because it makes it harder to plan schedules that involve “buffer” courses (courses that will guarantee an A grade in case something goes awry with the science course). I think this is the issue with Princeton’s method of curbing inflation.</p>
<p>Reed is actually one of the most romantic schools Ive seen.
That is if inspiring a passion of learning is romantic, & I think it is.
<a href=“Physics Majors Build Musical Staircase | Sallyportal | Reed Magazine”>http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/sallyportal/posts/2014/physics-majors-build-musical-staircase.html</a></p>
<p>Reed is actually one of the most romantic schools Ive seen.
That is if inspiring a passion of learning is romantic, & I think it is.
<a href=“Physics Majors Build Musical Staircase | Sallyportal | Reed Magazine”>http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/sallyportal/posts/2014/physics-majors-build-musical-staircase.html</a></p>
<p>As I told my daughter, no second guessing your college decision. Recycle the brochures, lose the bookmarks for the other colleges, and enjoy the heck out of Reed College.</p>
<p>College is what YOU make of it. No matter which college you attend it will be very memorable. Many, many schools will require you to work hard. Look forward, not at any what ifs, should haves… You researched colleges, applied, got accepted and made a choice among your options. Trust yourself- you made a good decision. The Pacific northwest is a fantastic place to spend four years- enjoy not only your school but the whole region.</p>
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<p>Of the three schools above, the only one which fits the “Artsy activist” vibe is Vassar. </p>
<p>Carleton may have activists, but doesn’t seem artsy from what I’ve observed about its students or from what I’ve heard from its alums. </p>
<p>As for Kenyon, they have a well-renowned English lit department, but the campus culture from what I’ve heard isn’t very artsy nor is it activist. </p>
<p>In many ways, Reed has more of an artsy vibe than both…and much more of an political activist culture than Kenyon. </p>
<p>Only Vassar has more…and much of that is on the artsy vibe as Reedies can be arguably just as politically activist, if not more so than Vassar. </p>
<p>BTW, I am an alum of another college known for its slightly artsy and very political activisty vibe…Oberlin. </p>
<p>I know that at 18, we all want to be something different, but as a politically-liberal STEM major who chose to live in the fine arts dorm in college because I wanted something different, I can tell you that after a year or two living among theatre majors, I really appreciated the company of bright tech geeks.</p>
<p>In any case, it seems like what you’re really worried about is the workload, as Reed is definitely on the artsy-activist (or at least activist) end of the spectrum among LACs.</p>
<p>To which I say: Relax. Don’t worry about whether you’ll be happy or not in the future. Just focus on doing good work. Plus, it’s not as if the other LACs aren’t academically demanding. College (and life) really <em>is</em> what you make of it, and furthermore, while I didn’t understand it well when I was younger, what you get out of something really <em>does</em> depend on what you put in. The harder you work at something, the more you’ll get out of it.</p>
<p>OP: I was going through videos of Reed (of which there are surprisingly few), and stumbled upon this - <a href=“Reed College B-Roll Sizzle Reel on Vimeo”>http://vimeo.com/68662899</a> If this isn’t romantic, I don’t know what is.</p>
<p>I also think that Reed’s romanticism is in its history (check out the centennial archives if you haven’t) and its commitment to the “life of the mind” and intellectual inquiry.</p>
<p>Seriously, I have never before seen a video where physics seemed romantic. Physics was BRUTAL for me in high school – and yet, I can appreciate why people love it.</p>
<p>OP, I really think you will be fine. It is natural to pine for something you wanted and didn’t get, and also to have cold feet when you are about to make a big change. I personally think your story exhibits perfectly the inconsistency of college admissions (in at Swat, but not at Vassar or Kenyon??). I think you will like Reed a lot – schools like Reed and Swat would not let you in if they didn’t think you would fit and do well there. </p>