<p>Hi,
I got a big booklet about Reed in the mail and I found out about Humanities 110, the required classics course. The book list is pretty intense (as I have heard all of Reed is).
Does have any opinons about this, like is it a good experience?</p>
<p>In general I have heard it is non stop studying at Reed- is this true and is it worth it to have all that stress? </p>
<p>(also considering Evergreen, Swathmore, UC Santa Cruz, UVM for probably environmental science)
HS Academics- Took the Sat once so far and got a 1900, 4.0 unweighted gpa, APs but worried about having a life in college?? any advice??
Thanks!</p>
<p>HUM110 is central to creating community at Reed. Because almost every student takes it (the only exceptions are some transfers), the experience creates a shared language and a common knowledge base to build on. If I asked my son, (I’m not going to call him because he’s writing final papers right now), he would probably say that sometimes there were bad HUM110 days because his conference group didn’t read the text that day or whatever. He’d say that some of the big lectures are better than others. But overall, he loved HUM110; it was one of the reasons he went to Reed.</p>
<p>Yes there’s a huge reading list. In practical terms, most of the students my son knows (and my son, let’s be honest) didn’t do all the readings all the time. One of the things that freshman year teachings you is time management; there are times when you can’t do all the work, and you have to learn to prioritize, or pick your battles, or whatever metaphor. </p>
<p>If you are at all considering Reed, I strongly urge you visit if at all possible. I mention it because the best way to get a feel for the things you’re asking is to do an overnight visit. You can see the kind of life that students have, visit HUM110, and get a feel for it.</p>
<p>It is not non-stop studying at Reed. Sometimes you have to MAKE time to do fun things, and sometimes this requires not doing some of your work, but you will find time to enjoy yourself. This is especially true during your freshmen year, when your coarse load can (and should!) be more manageable.</p>
<p>How much you enjoy Hum 110 depends on how much you put into it and how good your conference is – if possible, avoid an early-morning conference.</p>
<p>I didn’t enjoy some of the readings for Hum 110, but after I finished the class, I felt like I’d accomplished something worthwhile. I’m glad I took it.</p>
<p>I can also second most of what the previous poster said – few people do all the readings (secondary sources in particular are considered a bit… expendable). And the fact that everyone takes Hum 110 together is sort of more important than the fact that everyone takes Hum 110. It provides common ground (and inside jokes) for the student body. For example, Hum Play as an extremely popular (as in, Get-In-Line-An-Hour-Early popular) tradition which includes references to/parodies of most works on the syllabus.</p>
<p>Thanks TrinSF and Tetra, your posts really help to put things in perspective.
I really like everything I’ve heard/read about Reed and your responses reassure me that I think I could handle it there (if I get in!).
Definitely planning on visiting, but I guess I have to wait till the fall… this is so exciting, can’t wait to see what it’s really like at Reed! :)</p>
<p>They require PE credits to graduate- in order to emphasize the importance of getting out of your head- they take it very seriously too- I have heard of someone who finished their thesis but not their PE credits whose diploma was put on hold.</p>