I’m interested in philosophy, sociology, and Eastern religion, and I’m curious as to how these schools compare in educational quality, student culture, workload, and grad school prospects. Thanks!
Educational quality - these schools seem to generally be on par with one another
student culture - what are you looking for? Reed and Oberlin seem to have a markedly different social scene than that at Vassar, which might be seen as more “mainstream”. Reed especially is known for having a very liberal intellectual student body, on the hippy side. And from the New Yorker article on Oberlin that came out a while ago that seems to be the case at Oberlin too.
workload - Reed’s known for having a very rigorous workload. other two are not far off.
grad school - I’d have to say reed beats the others on this. The college is known for consistently sending its grads into some of the best doctoral/med/law/business scacross the country
Go to revisits if you can. The cultures of these schools are different and I think you’ll pick up on each while you’re there and one will feel more comfortable. All excellent schools so I would also look at the course catalogs and see what’s offered and how often.
Go to Vassar tbh – Reed and Oberlin are nice and everything, but Vassar is wealthier, offers more programs (please don’t come to Reed for sociology – we only have three professors and that’s not enough), and has an open curriculum. Come to Reed if you want to be in or around a city, learn so much that you don’t have time for the city, and want to definitely go to grad school etc.
The student culture at Reed is singular and homogenous, and if you don’t fit the mold you will be unhappy – I’ve seen it enough times. I lucked out that I fit in.
None of that is meant to be negative w/ respect to Reed, tho. This is an amazing experience, and I really appreciate it. The professors are a big part of it – they have so much to offer and I feel so blessed. But the student culture is not for everyone, and the rain is not for everyone.
Not a tough choice at all. Reed and Oberlin are kind of mediocre schools, in terms of elite reputation. Vassar is in a much higher class.
@daniel212 There are plenty of reasons why one might choose one of these schools over another, but to call Reed and Oberlin “mediocre” is both harsh and inaccurate.
@daniel212 Based on your previous post replies, it seems you are an avid advocate of Vassar. Is there a reason for your bias?
I suggest look at the registrar’s list of courses over the last two semesters and look at the courses actually offered at each institution in all areas of interest.
There may be some differences in coverage of these areas and their sub-areas of interest that are significant to you.
For people seeking graduate school, an undergraduate thesis can be significant to demonstrate one’s ability to get through a graduate program, and gain skills in this type of activity.
At Oberlin (like many other schools) if you do well enough you can qualify for department honors, in which case you can write a thesis.
I don’t follow Reed, but IIRC it at least used to be that everyone had to write a senior thesis to graduate.
Don’t know about Vassar.
Schools that have lots of students doing a thesis, tend to have a relatively high rate of graduates pursuing, and then getting, PhDs. Particularly when coupled with not much on-campus recruiting.
Reed’s PhD rate is among the highest. Oberlin’s is also very high. IIRC Vassar’s is lower. You can look those stats up yourself.
But IMO this would not necessarily be because Vassar is any worse for PhD preparation, if that’s what you want. More like more of its students prefer to, and can, do other things.
Oberlin is an isolated campus in a small, but immediately-adjacent town. It is 45 minutes from Cleveland but realistically you can’t get there without a car.
Vassar is a lot further than that from NYC, but a train to NYC stops tin Poughkeepsie so you can at least get there without a car, on the odd weekend. Poughkeepsie is not great but it is of some size. Only a small portion is walkable to though.
Both Oberlin and Vassar claim to have relatively a lot of activities going on on-campus. Oberlin has the conservatory, a lot of music all the time for one thing. They both have theater people.
IIRC Reed has a lot smaller student population than the others, and is in a suburban-feeling section of Portland; Don’t know what the transportation situation is like.
Reed makes everyone take a specific course sequence first year. Oberlin and Vassar both have distribution requirements that are easy for most people to fulfill.
But: Isn’t this too late now??
Reed does not make everyone take a “specific course sequence first year” [whatever that is] but you do have to take Hum110. That is the only requirement. The other courses you take are up to you (assuming you are qualified).
It was Hum 110 I was thinking of. I thought Hum 110 is a specific course And I thought everyone has to take it… And I thought it covered two semesters; and considered first semester followed by second semester to constitute a “sequence”… perhaps poor wording. If I have otherwise mischaracterized, forgive me. None of my kids applied to Reed. I have no personal knowledge beyond what I’ve read, mostly on CC. . For example, a Reed alum posted (about Hum 110) on CC “It is really equivalent to 4 courses (2 each semester) in its scope and intensity.”
by contrast, two of my kids applied to Oberlin, and three of them applied to Vassar. I have been to each of those campuses multiple times. To the best of my knowledge these other schools do not have particular specific classes that all students have to take. They have more typical “bucket” type distribution requirements.So that seems different to me. My D1 was very set about not being forced to take specific courses, so this was a point of particular focus for her.
I don’t know why the PhD rate is really that relevant anymore; everyone, including students at Reed, know that entering a PhD program may be a poor investment of time, excepting for economics or computer science, but Reed does not do very well in placing students in top PhD programs in these fields really… maybe one or two a year, but that’s it, and these people are among the smartest I’ve ever met and they barely get an offer from a top school. We are good at literature, math, physics, biology, history, but yeah, probably do something else, unless you are sure there is nothing else out there for you. I’ve definitely met those sorts of students at Reed, and I can definitely see them as professors and nothing else.
I also have no doubt that a top Vassar student can get into top PhD programs as well. I am sure a thesis option is available to these students. There are some areas Vassar does poorly in, like physics and math, particularly compared to Reed (no, seriously, it is killer here), but overall I would recommend Vassar over Reed, as the student culture is sufficiently similar but one is bigger, wealthier and honestly has more to offer (like the open curriculum!) However, Portland >>>>> Poughkeepsie.
HUM110 is only ‘intense’ if you take it seriously; you could also not do the reading, read sparknotes, write good papers thanks to training in high school, and simply keep quiet in conference. Some of my friends and I did this and finished with B+'s. Since HUM was so boring, this was an amazing outcome I must say. In essence, it then is a non-course if you know how to write. It is also not a serious conference by any means; it certainly tries to get you started but it does not reach anywhere the level of any literature or history course at Reed in terms of the discussion.
I thought Reed didn’t give out grades.
Reed gives grades; you just don’t see them until you graduate.
Ignore following story if you’ve read it before. When I was a senior and debating applying to law school, I had to make an appointment with the president of the college in order to get a grade report to figure out where I had a shot of being admitted. President Bragdon had my file on his desk, opened smiled, told me I could apply anywhere I wanted, shook my hand, and that was it. I still didn’t see my actual grades until I was an alumnus.
Reed gives grades and you can check them every semester if you like. However, you have to ask; they won’t be given to you otherwise. You will also be notified about your grades in the event that you are failing.
Shocked, I am. What is this world coming to? Thanks for correcting my misinformation, @Corbett.
It’s hard to recommend any of those schools without you giving more information about what you want from college. I’m a current student. While I love Reed, it isn’t a school I would recommend to just anyone or even most people. For the student that is deadset on living the “life of the mind” and devoting themselves to academia, and doesn’t feel they could do this in a more “mainstream” setting, I think Reed is amazing. Reedies can be really jaded but if they’re being honest with themselves, wouldn’t really rather be anyplace else.
Hum110 is probably one of the easiest classes you will ever take at Reed. It’s a freshman level class that everyone has to take so it isn’t that bad. Other classes will definitely be less forgiving if you try to take the “Sparknotes and keep quiet” approach. I cannot imagine I would have passed my philosophy and literature classes that way.
You can ask for your grades at any time. I’ve seen my grades.
Lastly, the area you choose to study matters a ton. I wouldn’t recommend a music, dance, or comp science major to come here for example. The programs are fine, but there are better options with less brutal price points. As someone who wants to go into legal academia, Reed has been phenomenal and my department places very well in my target graduate programs.
Ps. Stress culture is a huge contributing factor to how jaded Reedies can come off. Most Reedies I know take an unhealthy amount of pride in being busy and sleep deprived all the time and don’t leave campus. It’s 110% possible to make it through Reed, take care of yourself, and volunteer/work/socialize in Portland. And the people that do that are coincidentally much happier and more interesting
Yeah, and I will add that we don’t necessarily do things differently or are harder than comparable LACs. I’ve compared approaches, syllabi, and in the end it’s mostly the same result. Sure, the multivariable calculus course at Reed formalizes notions of differentials and is unnecessarily theoretical, particularly at the end. Sure, Russian language courses take place everyday, even for second-year students. But the culture gets to you very easily if you let it.
Anyway, college is not supposed to be easy. Otherwise you’d be wasting your time and money.
Compared to Oberlin, Reed is a smaller liberal arts college tucked in a suburb of Portland. It’s a small campus, excluding the adjoining the nature area. It seemed very insular to me. There does not seem to be much to do except to study, or go to Portland which is about 45 minutes away on the number 17 or 19 bus. If you go to Reed, you should expect to go frequently to Portland, one of America’s great cities.
Oberlin on the other hand is part of a town, and has a much more spread out campus with more buildings and athletic facilities and fields. The town square, shopping, and restaurants adjoin the campus. Cleveland is a little further distance away, but because there is so much to do at Oberlin. Students rarely desire to go to Cleveland. The conservatory is a great asset, with hundreds of concerts a year.
Reed is in the City of Portland, not a suburb. But it’s true that the immediate neighborhood, which has a relatively affluent and residential character, does have a suburban feel. It’s safe, but not very exciting.
There is now a light rail station (MAX Orange Line) near the Reed campus, which would be a faster way to get downtown (or to most other parts of the Portland metro area). But you don’t have to go all the way to downtown Portland to find off-campus life; the Hawthorne District is more convenient.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne,_Portland,_Oregon