<p>I'm an international student hoping to major in Physics, and I hear Reed has a strong program with excellent placements. After reading up on Reed, I'm definitely intrigued but I still have a few questions before I decide to apply.</p>
<p>First and foremost, what makes Reed "quirky"? That word pops up in every single thread and everyone seems to either love or hate Reed's quirkiness. Will I need to ride a unicycle in order to fit in? What makes Reed so unique?</p>
<p>Also, how is the campus culture? Despite being a South Asian, I'd say I'm a lot more liberal/progressive than the average int'l student. That said, do the Int'ls tend to stick out?</p>
<p>A lot of people also seem to have problems with the brutal workload and the arts/humanities core. I think I'd really enjoy the core, but just how bad is the workload? I have experience with horrific exams so I think I'm somewhat prepared, but I'm curious to know what your average day/week is like.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your replies!</p>
<p>The workload is manageable, you don’t need to ride a unicycle, some international students are stereotypical and some aren’t (Reed wants to recruit more of the latter).</p>
<p>I think your unicycle quip verifies that you have sufficient quirk. You will find oddball characters on any college campus; Reed’s reputation is probably due to a greater percentage of them. Things like the thesis parade are quirky and unique. At my daughter’s college, there was a fellow who dressed like a sun god. At Reed, I;m not sure anyone would really notice. </p>
<p>I am also a student looking to go to Reed within the next few years. What are the entrance exams like? Is it true you have to be fluent in two langages? What level of map, science, reading, writing, ect do people usually come in with. Does Reed accept the oregon transfer degree? </p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the Oregon transfer degree. But I can tell you that Reed uses standardized exam scores from SAT and ACT. It doesn’t have its own entrance exams. You do not have to be fluent in two languages – no such requirement. But it helps your application if you have studied a second language for 3 years in high school, and it helps your application even more if you are fluent in English (!). </p>
<p>If you go to Reed’s admissions site, you will see what the typical test scores are for students who enroll. The “Common Data Set” (CDS) reports are generally available for all colleges and universities, usually on the webpage of their “institutional research” office.</p>
<p>What do you mean by ‘stick out’? From my experience, internationals do tend to cling together, and you can see that if you are international, but some also make friends outside of the international group. The internationals are generally more conservative than the Americans: for example, we don’t get naked and run around campus and then at Lewis & Clark.</p>
<p>The workload is really not that bad, but I’m only a freshman. However, I will be taking 300-level classes next semester so I will probably be able to get a better picture of what’s ahead. HUM is what you make of it, nothing to stress about. I’m kind of worried about the final, but people told me it will be ok. HUM conferences are like a book club, really. </p>
<p>It is possible to study hours after hours without getting tired here. Just take classes you enjoy and you should be fine.</p>
<p>@International95 - The stick out comment was because I’ve heard of Asians getting a bad rep for isolating themselves or being too conservative. For example the Florida Tech subreddit has a lot of strong anti-Asian sentiments. I don’t really blame them because campus life in an engineering school with~30% int students is probably very dull. As a very liberal/progressive private school/big city kid in a conservative South Asian country, I think I can sort of relate to them. I guess Reed’s liberal stereotype (I think I saw ‘pot head’ thrown around on some Reed-related threads on other sub-forums) automatically deters the more conservative students.</p>
<p>Also, as a student from a very old private school with a ton of weird traditions, where can I read up on Reed’s traditions? Thesis Parade? Streaking at Lewis&Clark? Sounds fascinating to me.</p>
<p>On the topic of HUM, would I need to come in with an extensive knowledge of philosophy, etc to not be overwhelmed from day 1? Unfortunately my local education system made me completely specialize in science/math during my last few years in high school, so I’m probably behind the curve here despite my strong interest in philosophy/arts, etc.</p>
<p>@lostint The Wikipedia article about Reed describes a few of those traditions. Look at the section on “Icons and Student Life.” The very fact that this section exists, with this heading, tells you that a Reedie probably wrote it. Still it’s not exhaustive, so you won’t find the story of the Doyle Owl, for example, nor the many accounts of its appearance and capture. But Reed magazine often has stories about Reed’s history or folklore: <a href=“http://www.reedmag.org/”>http://www.reedmag.org/</a></p>
<p>Regarding Hum, you don’t need extensive knowledge of philosophy. You just need to be able to think, be prepared to read a lot of interesting stuff with an analytical and critical eye, and to write about what you read or think. Some students have a stronger background in philosophy or history than others. But if you knew “everything” already, you would be the teacher of the course not a student in it. </p>