I think that is a very good view point. We are also getting opportunity to speak with a few current students. So let’s see.
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Andy,
Hi! As other people have said, Reed is academically a powerhouse. Students there aren’t just bright, they are brilliant. The students are Swarthmore brilliant, MIT brilliant.
It’s also quirky. When I was in high school in the 80’s, Reed has a reputation for having brilliant students who never bathed. 
It’s intelllectually on par with Swarthmore, but is about as left-wing, if not moreso than Oberlin (where your son was admitted). It’s crazy left-wing. It’s a stereotype of every conservative talking point about the inmates running the asylum and cancel culture gone to the extreme. One of the Presidents there resigned in 2018 because of student protests.
Having said all that Reed is without a doubt a better school than Kalamazoo by most objective measures. Endowment, physical plant, resources, student-faculty ratio, distinguished alumni, results. There’s a lot to commend.
The question is - will your son thrive there? The pressure-cooker environment and the over the top progressive culture of the student body isn’t for everyone. Whereas your son will be a big fish in a small pond at Kalamazoo, he may be less remarkable at Reed. On the other hand he was accepted, which is no small thing - so he may thrive in a pressure cooker environment with brilliant people. There’s a reason lots of students end up not graduating or leaving for other schools. It’s not for everyone.
Reputation is a powerful siren call. One that’s very hard to ignore. Talk to students, talk to professors.
Again a visit to both campuses would be very helpful. But certainly a visit to Reed would be warranted.
Kalamazoo is the safe, reasonable more affordable, choice. You know your son will thrive there. Reed is more of a gamble, it’s much more intense but with greater risk there may be even greater reward. Perhaps your son wants to dare greatly.
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Thank you for your always insightful and helpful advice!
Frankly I am totally for K (may be secretly because of the cost as well) but son is finding it attractive and hard to ignore the possibilities post Reed.
I am pretty sure that he will be above average at Reed, unless something goes seriously wrong. He is a straight jacketed hard working fellow. Also SAT and GPA is within top 25-30%, whatever that means. So the leap of faith is reasonable.
For us it is boiling down to:
Great academics + Good Brand name + Better weather (may be) + proximity to family at R VS Everything else better at K.
We did not explore Oberlin further because of more music and art focus which doesn’t seem to fit at all. Reed is unabashedly STEM school.
BTW Wooster has increased the aid to match K and also given us extra time to commit but we are not considering it at this stage.
Did you get extra time to commit to Reed? Since the deadline was yesterday? I am sure he will thrive where he ends up!
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Yes. 10 days after the financial aid letter.
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Andy,
Well he has 2 good choices in front of him.
Best of luck!
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It probably should be said that it appears you have conflated Oberlin’s College of Arts and Sciences with its conservatory.
Considered by breadth across the natural and physical sciences, I’d say that Oberlin would be more desirable than Reed. However, a student decisive in his preference for study within the biological sciences should be satisfied that Reed offers one of the nation’s better undergraduate programs in this area.
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Ok. We were under the impression that more students from Oberlin would be doing music or some other art form as a major or minor.
Having said that Biological sciences is definitely going to be major for him. Current plan is Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Even if that focus moves I imagine it will be within Biological sciences.
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Even within the biological sciences, Oberlin graduates over twice as many majors (68 in a recent year) as Reed (33):
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Reed&s=all&id=209922#programs
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Oberlin&s=all&id=204501#programs
Unfortunately, I was absent from your topic for a while, so I was unable to convey this information in a timely way.
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Oberlin is a much larger school I think.
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By actual numbers, Reed currently enrolls 1,366 students; Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences enrolls 2,453 students.
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An interesting fact is that just 21% of Reed’s last year entering class graduated in the ten percent However, 17% were valedictorians. 1399 average SAT score is very solid. With California not taking tests, I suspect a low percentage at Reed submit scores.
Admission Statistics - Institutional Research - Reed College
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Yeah probably a few points increase since from the students who take SAT only the ones with relatively high SAT would report it.
International stats are generally bit different in all schools. I think somewhat perversely international stats in top public schools, say UCs might be worse than citizen student stats and vice-versa at private schools.
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I really hope your son can visit and stay overnight.
That being said, since it’s likely quite different depending on culture: crossing a picket line is a big deal (not just at Reed).
Has your son made a choice?
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Decided not to go to Reed. Cost and retention issues eventually trumped the brand name allure 
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So – it’s Kalamazoo, right?
If so, from the very start, I thought that was the best fit and opportunity.
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Congrats!
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Finally the final (I promise unless the VISA gets rejected :-)) update! We have decided to go to College of Wooster. Wooster worked with us to reduce the COA substantially.
Here are the pros and cons as they finally worked out for us for K vs W decision:
Kalamazoo College Pros
- Nicer people, administrators
- More responsive and friendly professors
- City life
- Chicago just a train ride away
- Many college conducted social activities
- Flexible curriculum, easy double major + more interesting classes possible
- Study abroad well integrated in the curriculum
- May be easier for external internships due to city location
- Another large University nearby, college town vibe
- No Greek life
- Seems well integrated in the grad program at UMich
College of Wooster Pros
- Strong thesis focus
- On almost all academic parameters slightly better than K for STEM
- Semester system, easier to get internships in summer
- OSU Agri lab nearby for internships
- Data Science major which is better as second major than Math
- Dorms plentiful and available in summer
- Some summer classes are available
- Large international student population
- Majority students are out of state
- Gives a vibe of a better funded college
- Low Greek life
- More diverse and may be slightly better grad school targets possible.
For us it was an extremely difficult decision to choose between these two, especially because of the very cordial nature of communication (almost relationship!) with K people. However, eventually availability of Data Science as second major (BCMB first major) instead of Math, lower COA and soft assurance of paid biochemistry lab work weighed the decision in favor of W.
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Talk about a dark horse emerging! Congratulations!
College of Wooster is one of those colleges I think more people should be checking out and I often suggest it to parents looking for excellent schools that might be under the radar. There is relatively little discussion of it on these boards though (I think Ohio is a tough sell to many) - so if you would be willing to give an update once your son is there - that would be so helpful to others who might not be able to see it in person.
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