I am in total agreement with you. As a parent I requested timelines of decision making/ notification and was given different answers every time. Including “we are not using email this year” yet my son received a waitlist EMAIL 945pm on Friday, and we have yet to have a paper anything. Red flags, for sure.
I’ve checked all my email folders and definitely applied early action — nothing there 
And I’m in agreement as far as red flags, this whole thing hasn’t exactly given me a great impression of Reed. My stats also are not as great as many other applicants, even those who got rejected (for whatever reason), so if I’ve ended up waiting all this time just to get a rejection I’m going to be pretty mad, to say the least.
It’s Reed’s first year doing EA, so they’re probably still fine tuning the process (figuring out how to dovetail it
with EDII). We got the acceptance email at 10:22 pm EST on Friday night in the" promotions" section.
I read somewhere that FA offers will arrive in two weeks. Good to everyone who is still waiting to hear!
I’m in the exact same boat, I’ve checked everything and my stats are terrible. I’m seeing so many 4.0+ rejections with tons of aps and I’m here not having taken a single ap in my life, or even taken an honors course that I didn’t drop out of. I know they depend primarily on essays and interviews, and I’ve heard of people getting accepted with their GPA at 2.8, but since I haven’t had an interview I feel like I’m just waiting for a rejection. At least since I only applied to two other schools which notified me halfway through December despite saying end of December, unlike Reed which said end of January and still hasn’t sent me anything halfway through February, I’ll have a very easy choice if I get rejected.(One of the schools was just a safety I had no intention of going to)
I bet you all applied to get the Reed education, not for the incidentals of applying.
Yes, but if the process is dysfunctional, what does that say about the content?
Nothing. You’re dealing with different organizations. And it’s dysfunctional from a particular outside viewpoint. From inside it’s a well-oiled machine.
So, lack of information to applicants isn’t dysfunctional?
No, it only seems that way to outside observers.
Where is your perspective coming from? We are living this lack of information in real time.
Years of observing (after being a Reed parent). It’s always this way during this stressful waiting time. It will pass.
And it doesn’t inspire confidence in Reed as an institution if they are less than forthright in providing accurate information to their applicants and their families- applicants ARE the school.
@Obhcmom : Nobody wants to be contradicted by a total stranger, and I understand that this is an anxious time (more anxious than it should be) for parents and applicants, but I have to weigh in. I’m a parent and very familiar with colleges and universities from the inside. I have to take issue with you: Applicants are NOT the school. Faculty are, and it’s the faculty who will shape much of your child’s experience. Admissions is entirely separate from the faculty (maybe it shouldn’t be, but that’s another conversation), and students have zero contact with Admissions after they matriculate. Judging the quality of the education from a slight delay in the Admissions department’s notifications, presumably caused by the new Early Action option, puts much stress on you and your kid. We’re used to instant results from algorithms, but admissions is a very human process, and honestly, I don’t think it’s a huge deal that they were a few days late. My son was very relaxed about the whole thing, so I just kept it to myself that I was lurking on here! Minor hiccups in notification don’t signal anything at all about Reed, its administration, or its education, just as a slick admissions experience has zero bearing on the quality of the college. Be very wary of making a mountain out of molehill, which simply adds to the pressure on your kid.
Thank you- yes, it is stressful, and yes, it the entirety of an institution. And my son does not know I’m venting here. He is fine. I am anxious about his college choices, he is not.
And I still think the process of notification is more stress inducing than necessary.
As an applicant, it’s not that I wouldn’t attend Reed because of this — it’s just that it’s not exactly a stellar first impression for me, who hasn’t been able to visit the school or speak to anyone working there. Ultimately, aside from being schools, private colleges are businesses that profit from their students. Any good business should notify people who will potentially be working with them of any possible flaws. It’s also almost two weeks late, which is a bit more significant than a few days to me. I think that admissions at least owes their applicants (who have been working incredibly hard to have a chance at their school) a mass email saying they’re running late.
Not so. Schools like Reed are non-profit and actually lose money on every student; even full list price doesn’t meet the total cost, which is made up by endowment income. Non-profit schools’ financials are publicly available.
I called admissions, they said if I haven’t received anything that I should receive my decision sometime this week. I asked if the decision would be emailed, and the person said that they have no idea. So, guess I’ll just keep waiting.
If you spoke to a student, call again and ask to speak to an employee, or your admissions counselor personally. I feel your pain…and I’m sorry!
@Obhcmom Thanks for the advice! I ended up calling an admissions counselor directly and speaking to her. She said there’s a small group of applications that are still having decisions being made on them, and she isn’t exactly sure of the timeline of notifications. I’m honestly satisfied knowing that at least nothing is lost!
@slimegrl Good Luck! And I hope you hear soon.