<p>If anyone is familiar with both schools please feel free to do a comparison. Any advice is much appreciated. Just so you know where I am coming from, I am interested in studying philosophy and I am very interested in academia. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I’m aiming for both schools 
some comparisons:
- Vassar ranks number 10 while Reed ranks number 54 (i also don’t know why Reed is such that low)
- Location: Vassar is in NY, which is much colder than OR, where Reed is located.
- Some friends told me that Reed has a bad tradition of drugs… but they also told me they enjoyed it
- If you can realize, Reed has a higher SAT range score of admitted students compared to that of Vassar (–> so it can be inferred that Reed put more emphasis on SAT???)
- Reed seems to be very good at politics, business and economics (someone told me Steve Jobs graduated from Reed)
- Both are very generous in terms of FA </p>
<p>Those are what I know good luck
Btw, are you applying for class of 2014? I am</p>
<p>hbrad, your knowledge of Reed is limited.
Reed is #54 because it does not contribute to US news, and therefore gets punished.
Reed has drugs like all colleges do, but do not seem to be as punative, so drug use may be a little more out in the open.</p>
<p>Reed does not have a business major, I think their politics and economics is good, but not pre-professional.<br>
Steve Jobs went for one semester, didn’t continue because he could not afford it.</p>
<p>Better visit the two. Reed is very different in atmosphere from Vassar. Vassar has a long history, having been a top 7Sisters school. Reed is more, mod, in my opinion. Reed and Bard are similar, in my opinion.</p>
<p>actually i’m also not sure about those facts
anw, I saw on Vassar website that each year they only offer financial aid (FA) to 50 -60 international students. But I found out on CollegeBoard that they accepted 131 international students with significant aids (average around $45k). Why is there such a difference in number?
btw, i’m applying as an international student :)</p>
<p>Reed would be ranked near Vassar if it participated in the rankings:
[url=<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/college_rankings.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/college_rankings.html]Reed</a> College Admission Office<a href=“fun%20read”>/url</a></p>
<p>I visited Reed this summer, and Ive read alot about Vassar and am going to visit next week. My impression of Reed was that there is that the students study ALOT. they have a huge amount of reading every night. Its a hard school academically, but if you love to read and to discuss and learn, then you would like it. They have a lot of weird/cool traditions and drug use is really out in the open as well. I dont think there is more drugs there than other schools, it is just more obvious at Reed. The similarities I noticed and liked are the people. Im sure these stereotypes get overused but both schools have lots of hippies, vegetarians, and gay people. Which is awesome, because they are so accepting it seems. Reed would give you a heavier workload, Vassar would still be difficult academically but you can choose to not have extremely difficult classes because of their open curriculum. Reed has some really strict requirements including a freshman humanities class that has a huge list of books, and you also have to write a thesis there. I ended up not applying to Reed because it was too much reading and too prominent of a drug scene for me, but chances are Ill be at Vassar next fall.
Hope my opinions helped! Good Luck</p>
<p>I didn’t look at Reed and go to Vassar, so bear in mind that I’m horribly biased :)</p>
<p>Overall, my sense of Reed is that it’s a little less mainstream than Vassar. What I mean by this is that you’re probably going to run into a stronger “counter-cultural” feel at Reed than Vassar. Vassar definitely has students who would be classified as “hippies” and activists as well as plenty of vegans and vegetarians; however, you’ll also find plenty of students who are moderate and/or quite mainstream in terms of interests, activities, dress sense, etc. I’m sure this exists at Reed as well; however, my sense is that the counter-cultural vibe is a little stronger there.</p>
<p>Another difference is, as Alaska, pointed out, curricular. Vassar has very few requirements (one quantitative course, one freshman writing seminar, and one language credit), while Reed has a rather strict set of graduation requirements. In addition, not all majors at Vassar are required to write a thesis (though some, like history, are), while I believe everyone at Reed must. </p>
<p>Lastly, drug culture is a point of difference. I know this starts to fall under stereotyping, but my sense of Reed is that it’s a place where drugs are more prevalent than at Vassar. Drug use definitely happens here; however, I feel like it might be a greater part of the campus culture at Reed than at Vassar.</p>
<p>Reed is grad school prep college, more academic and intellectual, less practical (e.g., no business or engineering), with a traditional, classical, highly structured curriculum. More of a future PhD school, like Bryn Mawr, Carleton, Oberlin, Swarthmore and UChicago.</p>
<p>I agree with you vossron. Vassar’s open curriculum and to intergrative approach make it a better preparation for professional studies and business in the arts and media.</p>
<p>^ But it’s still great if you’re looking to apply to a top grad school, right?</p>
<p>Yes, Kaznack, Vassar is still excellent for graduate school: it is by no means a school that prepares students only for professional studies and business in the arts and media. I don’t want to argue, but I’m not entirely sure that that’s a great characterization of Vassar… we don’t actually have any pre-professional, business, or engineering majors. Out of my friends (bear in mind that they’re mostly sophomores), the vast majority are planning on going to graduate school after Vassar. </p>
<p>In addition, not everyone is planning on a career in “the arts or media.” For some reason, that’s a huge stereotype about Vassar students which really isn’t all that true. I know many people at Vassar who want to be professors, doctors, researchers, veterinarians, etc. There are, of course, students who want to do something in more “artsy” fields, but not all do.</p>
<p>“Some friends told me that Reed has a bad tradition of drugs… but they also told me they enjoyed it”</p>
<p>Was that a joke?</p>
<p>Hey, I visited and considered both.
Reed is in Portland, OR, which is an amazing city. Poughkeepsie, from what I’ve heard, is not so much. It’s also very easy to get around Portland without a car, because of the MAX and bus lines.
Reed seemed to be a bit more alternative than Vassar. Drugs are definitely there.<br>
One big difference is that Reed requires a very heavy core as well as lots of distribution requirements. All freshman have to take a year long intro class. PE is also a requirement. You will also spend your senior year writing a senior thesis. Vassar just has a 1 semester long intro couse, and no distribution requirements.
Reed is also very heavy on academics, less so on fine arts.
Both should do fine in getting you into grad school. If you want to be with a lot of other people that also want to go to grad school, Reed would be the place (something like 60% of grads get Ph Ds)
Reed’s campus has LOTS of brick. All brick. Vassar’s campus is more varied, prettier (IMO) and also twice as big.</p>
<p>“Reed would be the place (something like 60% of grads get Ph Ds)”</p>
<p>Minor correction: For PhDs earned from 1994 to 2003, it’s 20% of Reed grads.</p>
<p>the thing about reed, as reed itself advertises, its not for everyone. make sure you visit or at least research extensively before settling on it. if you’re not ready to make the leap to what someone above aptly described as a ‘grad school prep’ then i’d advise against reed.</p>