Is Reed College still a possibility?

<p>I am a Junior in highschool that really wants to go to Reed, but am worried that my GPA will hold me back.My extremely low GPA results from horrible freshmen and sophmore years (2.8), but have pulled my grades up to around a 3.75 this semester. I'm looking at about a 32 on the ACT. I'm self studying AP Bio, Chem, Psych, and Calc AB, and taking AP American History in school. To help demonstrate myself as capable of Reed level work, I am going to enroll part time in a community college. Writing is my strength, and I feel that will help me in my essay. In addition to newspaper, MUN, and Rugby I am currently holding down a civil engineering internship. I plan on having an interview. Also, I was raised in a really messed up family situation that partially contributed to my lack of academic success, should I mention this in the interview or will I sound whiny? Does what kind of school you went to make a difference in how they look at your grades, IE a competitive private (all-male) prep school? </p>

<p>Is regular admission to Reed still a possibility or am I stuck trying to transfer in?</p>

<p>Thank You</p>

<p>Why do you want to attend Reed?</p>

<p>Ah, the key question. I want to attend Reed because I want an academic experience unrivaled in difficulty in a community of unique individuals who value intellectualism over prestige. Education and intellect speak for themselves. I do not want my hand held, I want to be tried, tested, stretched, and challenged in every way imaginable. When I leave college I want to have the confidence that I can do anything and everything. The name on the diploma does not matter to me, for I do not want to be one of the people who expects preferential treatment because they have a piece of paper with the name of a fancy school in big letters on it. Actually, I prefer coming from a less renown school because it will force me to rely on myself and my own merits, not my schools. if I had to hold one thing responsible for why I am lagging academically, its that I had it easy, I could get by with little to no work. Any potential I had was languishing because i refused to challenge myself. Reed is a challenge, and I want to rise to meet it. </p>

<p>I feel like I am already writing my “why reed” essay here. Thanks, you got me thinking about this early. :)</p>

<p>You need to tell Reed that is why you want to go there. I would schedule an interview ASAP. They respect smart kids who may not have stellar GPA’s. Read Loren Pope’s book “Colleges That Change Lives” This book talks about Reeds philosophy and you sound like a perfect candidate. Not sure if your GPA will allow you to go, but you are definitely on an upward swing in that department and they have been known to let kids like you in. Good luck and go for it!!!</p>

<p>Isn’t an interview now a bit early seeing as I’m applying in Fall 2011?</p>

<p>for Fall 2011, sorry</p>

<p>Yes, sorry. Perhaps wait for spring and by then your winter grades will be out and that will hopefully boost your GPA even further.</p>

<p>If I don’t get in as a freshmen, and I go to another college and pull at least a 3.5, how probable of a transfer candidate would I be? Does it make a difference whether or not it was a community college vs. 4 year institution?</p>

<p>The big thing I have heard about Reed is the desire in its students. You still have time to keep pulling your grades up. An interview will go a long way too. I think if you decide to go to another school first and you do quite well, then Reed will like you even more, but I would not give up Reed just yet.</p>

<p>Can you pay full tuition? At the moment Reed is need-aware. If you are a full pay you might be accepted, if you need financial aid then you probably won’t be. Yes you should tell them about your family problems in your interview, they want an explanation for the early low grades. Reed takes chances on students like you, I hope you get in.</p>

<p>My family is lower middle class and would require financial aid. Will it really make that much of a difference?</p>

<p>Pea is correct! Reed is known for taking chances and you could be the one. Go for it!</p>

<p>My understanding is that financial aid is a factor for approximately the last 50 students (out of more than 1000 offers) they select for admission each year. So if they just barely like you enough to accept you, it will become an issue. Otherwise, it shouldn’t be relevant. Having said that, I can’t really judge where you would fit within their applicant pool. Reed’s changed a lot in the last decade or so, and every year is a new one. Good luck!</p>

<p>If you have a jones for getting your academic/intellectual cojones knocked into another dimension, consider the University of Chicago, which wrote the rulebook for this kind of experience. Also consider Swarthmore, Pomona, and maybe Rice, depending on your political orientation. There are many schools which would allow/require that you work harder than you think is possible. In fact, developing your ability to achieve is what higher education is about, on any serious level. Look around, develop a list of possible schools. Most important, work hard now and do as well as you can. You don’t have a history of achievement at this point–you are still in your first semester of working hard in school, and you haven’t yet taken the ACT. </p>

<p>Does your high school have a decent academic advising office? Make every effort to talk with an academic counselor (even if your current assessment of this person might be negative) about your goals and to plan your courseload for next semester and next year. Doing this will also give you points for foresight and motivation, which the counselor will mention in a letter of recommendation that you will need him/her to write for you in conjunction with your applications to colleges. </p>

<p>I suggest that you give yourself a year of achievement in high school before you try community college. Learn how to ace high school first. Do this, and you will get into college, with or without community college experience. You mention that your life at home has not been conducive to academic achievement. My advice is to get assistance where you can. It sounds like you are trying to do everything yourself, to leap over obstacles, to make your own rules. You are at risk of getting in over your head, becoming entangled in unintended consequences due to lack of experience. </p>

<p>Consider that, if community college didn’t work out, for whatever reason, it would probably damage your ability to achieve in high school, and also would handicap you with an unfavorable college grade that would become part of your permanent academic record. (College grades are forever, unlike high school.) College admissions committees would see all this in your transcripts, and might not want to admit you.</p>

<p>Your independent studies are commendable, but you would be better off taking these courses at your high school. Are these course unavailable there? I don’t know your high school, but I am sure that it is the purpose of high school to provide interested students with opportunities to take courses that will prepare them for college. Again, I suggest that you connect with your academic advising office, and start from there.</p>

<p>Since you are just starting as a serious student, I also suggest that you learn how to study. You will discover, if you haven’t already, that you are not only learning, but learning how to learn. This is why independent study is usually unreasonably difficult. A course with a teacher and a curriculum should show you the fundamentals, teach you to apply and expand them, and give you an idea of how to do further work on your own. You haven’t had much of this experience yet.</p>

<p>Do you have a place to study? A desk, a lamp, a chair, some quiet space, a snack when you need it? Do what you can to make this a reality if you don’t have it already. Get earplugs if necessary. Look at your daily schedule. How much do you need to study each day, and where are the available times? Work on structuring your free (non-study) time so that you have the time you need, when you need it. </p>

<p>Maybe you will end up mentioning your family life in your college admission essay. You would be recognized as an achiever, not a “whiner” if you were able to write that you had made connections to people who could help you; that you had found/made a place in which you could do your work; that you had a long-term plan for your high school career, and were working very hard on it. You could write, as you have here, that academic achievement was your path, your road to fulfillment as a person. If your academic record and your letters of recommendation tell the admissions committee that all this is true, you would be a strong candidate for admission to Reed and to many other colleges. Your future is out there, but it’s also in your everyday life, your actions and choices now. Do your best, use what is available, and don’t go it alone if you don’t have to. There is a saying that “the wildest colts become the best horses.” But this happens only when the colt recognizes how to get what it wants without being broken.</p>

<p>CrazyEddy47, here’s the same message, with a few updates:</p>

<p>If you have a jones for getting your academic/intellectual cojones knocked into another dimension, consider the University of Chicago, which wrote the rulebook for this kind of experience. Also consider Swarthmore, Pomona, and maybe Rice, depending on your political orientation. There are many schools which would allow/require that you work harder than you think is possible. In fact, developing your ability to achieve is what higher education is about, on any serious level. Look around, develop a list of possible schools. Most important, work hard now and do as well as you can. You don’t have a history of achievement at this point–you are still in your first semester of working hard in school, and you haven’t yet taken the ACT. </p>

<p>Does your high school have a decent academic advising office? Make every effort to talk with an academic counselor (even if your current assessment of this person might be negative) about your goals and to plan your courseload for next semester and next year. Doing this will also give you points for foresight and motivation, which the counselor will mention in a letter of recommendation that you will need him/her to write for you in conjunction with your applications to colleges. </p>

<p>I suggest that you give yourself a year of achievement in high school before you try community college. Learn how to ace high school first. Do this, and you will get into college, with or without community college experience. You mention that your life at home has not been conducive to academic achievement. My advice is to get assistance where you can. It sounds like you are trying to do everything yourself, to leap over obstacles, to make your own rules. You are at risk of getting in over your head, becoming entangled in unintended consequences due to lack of experience. </p>

<p>Consider that, if community college didn’t work out, for whatever reason, it would probably damage your ability to achieve in high school, and also would handicap you with an unfavorable college grade that would become part of your permanent academic record. (College grades are forever, unlike high school.) College admissions committees would see all this in your transcripts, and might not want to admit you.</p>

<p>Your independent studies are commendable, but you would be better off taking these courses at your high school. Are these course unavailable there? I don’t know your high school, but I am sure that it is the purpose of high school to provide interested students with opportunities to take courses that will prepare them for college. Again, I suggest that you connect with your academic advising office, and start from there.</p>

<p>Since you are just starting as a serious student, I also suggest that you learn how to study. You will discover, if you haven’t already, that you are not only learning, but learning how to learn. This is why independent study is usually unreasonably difficult. A course with a teacher and a syllabus (chronological course outline, including topics to be studied, important issues and questions about the issues, textbooks, and other information) should show you the fundamentals, teach you to apply and expand them, and give you an idea of how to do further work on your own. You might not get a fully-developed syllabus in high school courses, but even a scaled-down, simplified version can be useful as a map of the course and an aid to planning your time (for instance, it should tell you when a final project/paper is due.) Sometimes, the instructor will just talk about what will be happening for the coming week. That’s your syllabus; catch it. </p>

<p>Do you have a place to study? A desk, a lamp, a chair, some quiet space, a snack when you need it? Do what you can to make this a reality if you don’t have it already. Get earplugs if necessary. Look at your daily schedule. How much do you need to study each day, and where are the available times? Work on structuring your free (non-study) time so that you have the time you need, when you need it. </p>

<p>Maybe you will end up mentioning your family life in your college admission essay. You would be recognized as an achiever, not a “whiner” if you were able to write that you had made connections to people who could help you; that you had found/made a place in which you could do your work; that you had a long-term plan for your high school career, and were working very hard on it. You could write, as you have here, that academic achievement was your path, your road to fulfillment as a person. If your academic record and your letters of recommendation tell the admissions committee that all this is true, you would be a strong candidate for admission to Reed and to many other colleges. Your future is out there, but it’s also in your everyday life, your actions and choices now. Do your best, use what is available, and don’t go it alone if you don’t have to. There is a saying that “the wildest colts become the best horses.” But this happens only when the colt recognizes how to get what it wants without being broken.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t be terribly worried. My GPA was a 3.1 and I dropped out of high school two weeks before the year ended. My ACT was a 32 as well but I had a ton of impressive extracurricular stuff. The interview is important! Your Why Reed essay, even moreso. Just demonstrate that you want to be here and that you would contribute to the community.</p>