<p>what do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of each school?</p>
<p>Here's what someone posted last October:</p>
<p>"I'm from Portland, I took a couple classes at Reed my senior hear of High School, and I'm a sophomore at Oberlin. So I guess I'm in sort of a unique position to answer your question.</p>
<p>A friend of mine, a senior from my high school also taking classes at Reed asked me the same question the other day. So I'm going to copy some stuff from my email to her:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Oberlin is over twice the size of Reed. It makes a big difference. Reed always seemed tiny to me, but Oberlin seems more comfortable. It's still small, though -- you can't help but run into people you may be trying to avoid, for example -- but there are always new people to meet. I think it's a great size, personally: not confining and still a community.</p></li>
<li><p>Oberlin has a music conservatory. I didn't really think about it before I got here, but it's great! There are concerts ALL THE TIME. 500 a year! That means there is, on average, more than once concert every day. I've met people who play bassoon, jazz bass, baroque recorder, and other amazing things. They bring a very different type of diversity to the school, and I really like it. I don't know if you're a musician, but if you are there are lots of ways to take classes and lessons in whatever you play. Last winter term, I took a class on making electronic music, and it was really interesting. This is one of the things that really sets Oberlin apart from any other school.</p></li>
<li><p>Location: urban/small town. Oberlin (the town) is reeeally small. I kind of like it. Some people don't. If you want to get out of town, Elyria (~10 miles) has all the big box stores to buy crap. Cleveland is also about an hour away, and people go there to do stuff from time to time. But the somewhat-insular nature of our campus means that people really invest into creating stuff to do here rather than "going out" for fun. There's plenty to do. But it isn't a ten-minute bus ride away from downtown Portland.</p></li>
<li><p>Reed is, I think, more academically intense. Oberlin doesn't have a Hum 110 or a thesis requirement. I think Oberlin classes generally have less reading too. But people often take more classes each semester here (it seems), and things like double majors (almost impossible at Reed) are pretty common. Also, you can do Honors your senior year and write a thesis, if that's what you want. I don't know. Reed was always a little bit scary, and Oberlin seems more reasonable.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>But it's truly a tough call. I would definitely considered Reed very seriously if it weren't in Portland -- I just really didn't want to stay in my home town. I really like it here at Oberlin. Winter Term and ExCos are AWESOME. Seriously. And OSCA, our co-op system, if you're into that. (Reed actually has a co-op, but there's only one and it's much smaller.)</p>
<p>That's only really scratching the surface. You posed a very difficult question. If you have any more specific questions, I'll do my best to answer."</p>
<p>Oberlin is more laid back, especially academically, and more influence is on meeting people, music, and yes, it is twice the size. Reed is very serious academically, and challenging too. Its probably one of the most challenging colleges you could attend.</p>
<p>what do you mean by being laid back "academically", I mean, I know Reed is very very hard core, challenging in its academics, but comparing it to other schools, are the academics less than you would find elsewhere?</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter is a quite capable student and she has found the degree of focus on academics at Oberlin to be perfect, for her.</p>
<p>When she was preparing her college list there were a few schools that were represented to her to have particularly strenuous academics, and this included Reed. I don't have any basis to say whether or not this is correct.</p>
<p>Based on knowing my daughter and hearing what she's said about her experience at Oberlin, I find it improbable that "comparing it to other schools, the academics are less than you would find elsewhere", except where those other schools were themselves outliers.</p>
<p>But this is just my guess, based on above.</p>
<p>I talked to a senior looking into Oberlin and Reed once and it seemed like the major difference to her was that if you don't do drugs at Reed you aren't accepted among peers, but you're accepted either way at Oberlin. I have no idea if this is true or would matter to you...but that's what I heard.</p>
<p>Reed has a particularly rigorous first year program and requires a thesis of all students -- that explains the high rate of students who don't finish up there (this has always been true -- I've know students who attended there as long ago as the 60's and know none who remained there for four years...though certainly many students do); if Oberlin is "laid back" by comparison, that does not mean that it is not equally challenging over the four years, just that students there seem to be less stressed out by the experience and more likely to finish. I've known many Oberlin graduates, whom I met in graduate school and after, and they all thought they received an excellent education.</p>
<p>The Reed six-year graduation rate (most commonly reported, and in the Common Data Set) for the fall 2000 cohort was 75%. The retention rate for the fall 2005 cohort was 90%.</p>
<p>Some self-reported drug data is here (along with other campus survey data):
<a href="http://academic.reed.edu/psychology/psy322/pluralisticignorance2/drugsalcohol.html%5B/url%5D">http://academic.reed.edu/psychology/psy322/pluralisticignorance2/drugsalcohol.html</a></p>
<p>I think most would agree that academic life at Reed is stressful. Since Reed is third in the country (behind CalTech and Harvey Mudd) in overall percentage of future PhD earners, some stress may be required. :)</p>
<p>Oberlin also has a remarkably (i.e., very) high rate of graduate school matriculation -- they are both outstanding in that regard and you wouldn't choose one over the other on that basis alone. Stress as an undergraduate is not a measure of whether you will get into, should get into, or will want to go to graduate school, which has its own ups and downs.<br>
There is no doubt that the two schools have different cultures and feels. For someone interested in music performance, it is a no-brainer that Oberlin is the better experience. In other respects it is more individual -- visits would seem in order to check out the feel of each campus.</p>
<p>BTW, you can write, and defend,an Honors thesis at Oberlin too, if you want to, if you do well enough in your major courses to be invited to do Honors.</p>
<p>Are the drugs problems at Reed that horrible?</p>
<p>Drugs not a problem at oberlin?</p>
<p>no, i don't think they are.</p>
<p>thanks.....</p>
<p>I can give you more detailed info after August, but according to what other people have told me, things are pretty quiet even in non substance free dorms, and there was no pressure absolutely.</p>
<p>The words "Reefer Reed" spring to mind.</p>
<p>as theonecurlyfry said, there is no pressure for drugs. they are definitely there, especially pot, but most everyone tolerates it (though i'm not sure about harer drugs) and while a lot of people smoke, a lot of people also don't smoke</p>
<p>thanks for the info..</p>
<p>the difference between Reed and Oberlin is like the difference between Greeks and Italians. Pretty similar...but Greeks never smile and Italians always smile. Obies smile.</p>
<p>Haha, that is so cool.</p>