<p>My older son applied to Stanford and Yale and as you can easily see there are thousands of CC posts from anxious applicants and parents (I admit I was one of them - he's at Yale).</p>
<p>My second son applied to Reed early admissions so we are waiting -- but I can see there is obviously a difference in the crowd applying to Reed. I have yet to see Reed in person but I think it would be a great place for my second son since the two of them are so different in personality.</p>
<p>OK...I guess I'm stating the obvious about Reed versus the "big name" schools. </p>
<p>As a Freshman at Reed I can attest to the fact that Reed is not for everyone. To go here you really have to love learning. The workload is so intense here that if you’re not incredibly invested in the process of learning you will most likely fail. That being said the community is super close-knit and wonderful. Even after only one-semester here I feel totally comfortable with the Reed community. Mostly everyone is very nice and incredibly smart. While Reed can be claustrophobic sometimes because it is so small, the size also makes the community incredibly close-knit. Just being a Reedie connects everyone here and it is great. Another wonderful thing about the small size is the attention that you receive. Being able converse in and outside of class with some of the brightest minds in the US is a wonderful opportunity. The professors are top-notch and are all mostly willing to give you extra time for help or just conversation.</p>
<p>I hope this helped give you a little perspective. Don’t hesitate to inquire further if need be.</p>
<p>Well there are thousands of early applicants for Standford and Yale and only about 200 for Reed. But I am hoping (like ddrbenny said) the smallness of Reed will make it a better community and provide more accessible professors. As for seeing Reed in person, before I visited I had very high expectations and was afraid it was all “too good to be true.” But the visit basically reaffirmed all the great stuff I had read.
Anyway, I am definitely an anxious Reed ED applicant! (Three more weeks!) How are you/your son dealing with the waiting?</p>
<p>In 2005 there were 179 applicants, college board says it’s now 214. I was just estimating. I am surprised there aren’t more Reed EDers on CC though.</p>
<p>I would actually say that, unless you are dealing with like…cocky confidence, your attitude is probably a lot healthier. But yeah, these next 3 ish weeks will feel really long.</p>
<p>Haha relaxed isn’t the right word…More impatient. Of course, I don’t like the connotation of that word either.
See, despite my confidence, I can’t ever be sure of my application. So, the more time I have to think about it, the more time I have to find problems with it. </p>
<p>Just curious, since we’ve both submitted our apps already, what’d you write your essays on? (I mean Common App/supplement)</p>
<p>Howdy guys! Here’s another hopeful Reedie. Don’t have much to contribute, but I figured I’d say hey. I’m nervous as the rest of you, but its only 15 days now!</p>
<p>I feel the same way, emmalene. Just remember that Reed’s admissions people are very adept at picking out who would be a good fit for the school and who wouldn’t. I’m sure that if you really can’t see yourself at another school, it’ll come across in your application and they’ll pick up on it.</p>
<p>My cousin went here for a few years but transferred to Claremont McKenna because she said there was a lot of hardcore drug use and partying going on almost every night. I live on the east coast and cannot attest to this firsthand, but that’s what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>^I live on the East Coast too, but I took a couple visits. On my second, I stayed overnight and talked to them about the drugs/partying. They said that partying wasn’t really typical during the week because everyone’s holed up studying, and that no one would pressure you into partying/doing drugs. They’re really open to pretty much whatever.</p>