<p>How do I compare the to?
Something is telling me that Reed would be a far greater experience than Colby could ever offer, yet at the same time my parents would rather I go to Colby in terms of rankings, job prospects etc.. Some imput would be appreciated..</p>
<p>Except for being small LACs, I think that they're very different.
Colby I think is conservative and isolated. Reed is very liberal and in a very liberal city. I guess it depends on the fit, where would you feel more comfortable?</p>
<p>The Common Data Set can help with comparisons:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.colby.edu/ir/cds/cds2006.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.colby.edu/ir/cds/cds2006.pdf</a> (a bit behind)
Reed</a> College 2008-09 Common Data Set</p>
<p>Reed is primarily a grad school prep college (some students like Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Swarthmore, UChicago undergrad):</p>
<p>REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY</p>
<p>These schools are quite different indeed!</p>
<p>I think 'conservative' needs to be used as relative term here.</p>
<p>I also think for many people, Colby has a really poor location. And I'm saying this as someone who has spent most of his life in 'the middle of nowhere'. It's rural -- but it's not charmingly rural. Waterville can't even compete with the much reviled Williamstown, and certainly not Middlebury.</p>