<p>I'm a high school junior looking at Reed and from the literature I've read it's amazing, but all schools try to make their university look so (I'm always this cynical). I've never been to the west coast (I'm from PA), but what things should I know about Reed, before applying, that I won't be able to find in their viewbooks?</p>
<p>What makes Reed, Reed? (the good and the bad please)</p>
<p>also, (if it helps), I’m African American,
low(ish) income,
211 PSAT,
4.0 uwgpa, 4.4 wgpa,
top 5% out of ~350 (my class is very diverse, half is failing, higher dropout rate, but sends a few students to the ivies each year)
4 AP’s thusfar (but I have yet to take the exams)
extracurriculars/volunteering/job/entrepeneurship</p>
<p>looking into the majors of engineering/premed</p>
<p>I think I would enjoy Reed’s environment; a lot of intelligent, though perhaps unconventional, young people forming a small community within a large city, known for being ‘alternative.’</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that one thing the people who are having trouble adjusting to life at Reed tend to complain about is the workload. Personally, I don’t find it excessive, but the fact that some people do is definitely something you should be aware of.</p>
<p>Also, Reed has a pretty small African American population and isn’t very diverse in general. The school administration is doing a lot to change that and there’s a really active and cool [url=<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/multicultural_affairs/index.html]multicultural”>http://www.reed.edu/multicultural_affairs/index.html]multicultural</a> resource center<a href=“the%20people%20there%20are%20great,%20really%20chill%20and%20funny%20and%20knowledgeable”>/url</a> and a peer mentor program, and a dean for institutional diversity, and Reedies are on the whole very passionate about building a more diverse and enlightened community, etc. etc. etc. BUT. As an African American, you should probably know that the actual AA population at Reed is very small.</p>
<p>Other than that, I really can’t think of anything. I’m loving Reed so far and have nothing to complain about. I actually think the Reed booklet I got last year (Inquire Within–is it still called that?) did a great job of presenting Reed accurately. It really is that awesome here 
</p>
<p>To get a more realistic idea of what Reed is like, you can:</p>
<p>Request some Reed Magazine issues from the PR office; the alumni magazine gives an even better idea of what Reed is really about than the admissions office’s marketing materials.</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>Check the ‘reed college’ tag on tumblr. There’s a recent Reed alumna who runs a blog called unofficialreed over there, and she regularly answers questions from prospective students. She really knows her stuff.</p>
<p>and, of course</p>
<p>Visit and see for yourself! If you can, that is.</p>
<p>Oh, I almost forgot:</p>
<p>Reed doesn’t offer engineering. There are 3-2 engineering programs with Caltech, Columbia and RPI, but no engineering program at Reed.</p>
<p>Awesome! Thank you for your response! </p>
<p>Even though my high school is relatively large and diverse, due to the classes that I’m taking I’m pretty used to being the only black person in any given room. So that won’t be a problem but (I’m assuming you’re not african american here) is there a sense of ‘token’ blackness? I don’t know if this makes sense (it usually doesn’t unless you’ve actually experienced it), but I guess what I’m looking for is to be treated like a human being, rather than some exotic pet?</p>
<p>If you’ve seen the youtube video ‘**** White Girls Say (To Black Girls)’ you might get the idea.</p>
<p>If I ever get the chance, I will DEFINITELY visit Reed :D</p>
<p>You should check out the Reed Overnight Multicultural Experience program on Reed’s website. Basically, it’s a program that flies minority-identifying students out to Portland for free for a few days! I went in October 2011, so I can personally attest to its greatness: It is super, super fun and it convinced me to apply ED2 to Reed. You have to be a senior to apply, but I figured I should plant the seed early.</p>
<p>That’s what I was going to suggest. Being white myself, I don’t feel I can weigh in on whether tokenism is a real issue at Reed; the multicultural recruitment program oniontears mentioned would probably give you the chance to judge that for yourself. I know several current freshmen who’ve done it, and they all say it is a great experience–and free, so you don’t have to worry about airfare.</p>
<p>That being said, from my perspective, which is admittedly that of a person who’s less attuned to the problems and frustrations that come with being a person of color than you, Reedies are absolutely nothing like the ignorant girls parodied in the video you’re referring to. Like, obviously some people are more oblivious to the subtleties of casual racism than others, but Reedies on the whole are very committed to not being backward a-holes. At least in my experience.</p>
<p>But you should visit and see for yourself, obviously. Failing that, do contact the multicultural affairs office, or ask the admissions office to do it for you, and ask to be put in touch with an AA Reedie who can talk about these things with you. They would probably be glad to do it.</p>
<p>I agree that Reed is generally pretty amazing. The viewbook isn’t totally off base and does a decent job at presenting what Reed can be, which doesn’t appeal to everyone. So don’t doubt the fact that you resonate with it too much. </p>
<p>Though Reed magazine is an interesting read, it is probably still self-conscious of its presentation of the college because magazines like that are often used as a tool to raise donations by keeping alumni informed. Reed is pretty positive about itself and perhaps that wears off on the students. Or maybe it really is that great. That’s for you to decide.</p>
<p>If you follow reedlj (live journal account), that might give you another perspective on things from current students.</p>
<p>I don’t think admissions tries to hide anything per se, they just put a positive spin on it. Like the much-touted rigorous curriculum, intellectual environment, etc also translates into a really intense workload, a stress culture surrounding said workload, and having little free time on weekdays because you’re (seemingly) always studying. I would say you have to prioritize and make time for the ECs you want to do at Reed more than other colleges-- you can’t do everything or you’ll burn out (PS I’m a transfer so I have some perspective on the way other schools do things). The promotion of “Learning for the sake of learning” and the conservative curriculum perhaps doesn’t do justice to how non-vocational (i.e. not practical) Reed is. It is a great preparation for further studies or a career in academia (and Reed DOES produce a very high number of PhDs), but perhaps not so great for those who just want to get a BA and enter the workforce (though that may be more the fault of hiring managers nowadays who don’t value the less tangible skills and qualifications that come with a liberal arts education and who prefer specialized degrees). </p>
<p>I guess with pretty much any aspect of… well, anything… positive qualities for some people (like a small community) can be negative aspects to others (feels like an insular bubble), so if you are an eternal cynic you will always find something to complain about. </p>
<p>I can’t speak to the experience of African Americans on campus, but I think students generally have a healthy respect for each other because they know it takes a lot to get into Reed and even more to stay in… so it seems like people generally treat each other as intellectual peers rather than stereotypes. Like with people I don’t particularly like/get, I remind myself that they are probably brilliant at something I know nothing about and it keeps me from discrediting them.</p>