What are my chances / What can I do to improve them for Reed College?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Reed College
1

Reed College is my dream environment. Besides the amazing faculty, unique grading philosophy, and intensive discussion-based classroom scenarios, I feel that I will (for the first time) feel wholly at home and understood unlike my life up to this point. I’m quirky, slightly socially awkward, extremely passionate and driven, stubborn, adventure-seeking, odd, and deep. Since the age of ten, I have questioned the basic laws of nature and existence (what is truth, what is reality, etc.), and have felt an extreme motivation to accomplish something great for the race of humanity. I have an extreme closeness to nature and take frequent walks/runs through the forest. Some of my favorite activities include - writing (poetry, short stories, etc.), drawing, making music (piano, vocals, and songwriting), reading, and memorizing random facts. I am torn between majoring in Philosophy (my original love) or Chemistry (I love the sciences as well and it may be more practical). Anyhow, I am certain Reed is the place for me. I’ll gladly join the groups of students waiting at the end of the café to eat the leftover food so as not to waste any. I am worried I won’t make it in though, so I wanted to receive an honest opinion of my shots. I’ve attached my stats below-

Also, I’m homeschooled, but have been a dual-credit student at my local community college since the age of 15 and will graduate with my Associate’s from there soon.

Academics:
High School GPA - 4.0
College GPA - 3.8
(both un-weighted)
I don’t have my SAT or ACT scores back yet, although in the PSAT I was high enough in English and Writing for National Merit Scholar, but not Math (math was about 90%).

Essay: I am extremely strong in writing. In my “Why Reed?”, I plan to tell of how “Reed wasn’t my first choice, due to my undying ambition to wholly abandon the social system and train to become a Jedi Knight”, but then tell of ultimately, how it is the place where I will be most gracefully prepared to create beauty and light for the world, etc.

I will have strong personal references.

EC’s
Secretary of Central Virginia Community College Student Government Association
Vice President of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (CVCC Chapter)
POLIS Board Member (College Literary Journal)
Accepted into and successfully completed Virginia Space Coast Scholars (Program done by NASA)
Accepted into and successfully completed Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (Program done by NASA)
Vocalist for Blue Ridge Community Church High School Band
Middle School Small Group Leader at Blue Ridge Community Church
Technology Team at Blue Ridge Community Church
Varsity Basketball
Attended United States Naval Academy Summer Seminar

I am also working on finishing my book of poetry / potentially a novel, so I hope to be a published author by time of application.

Work Experience:

JCPenney
Crisp Organic Salad and Juice Bar
Graphic Design for Hope Farms (hopefarmsva.com)

Volunteering:

Over 500 volunteer service hours, including but not limited to:

Freedom 4/24 (Sex-Trafficking Awareness Organization)
Assistant Teacher at Peaksview Christian Home Educators
Hill Country Elderly Nursing Center
Wimberely Village Library Assistant YA Coordinator
8 Days of Hope Relief Event
CVCC Student Government Association
Junior Counselor in Training at Watermarks Camp
Set/Up Tear Down Team at Blue Ridge Community Church
Multiple Food Pantries

What can I do to improve my chances of admission at Reed? Thank you.

2

lol calm tf down you’ll be fine

3

Wow, thanks. Any other help?

4

reed changed its sup. essay to “what paideia class would you teach” even tho no one cares much about paideia here

5

Paideia (1970s definition): A time to make some money.

6

Any tips on what to add to improve my chances?

7

Current student here,
Your admission to Reed is going to pretty much come down to your essay. You’ve got the stats and I’m assuming your recommendations are solid. The essay prompt isn’t “why reed?” anymore, it’s what paideia class you’d teach if you had the opportunity. Paideia is a week where Reedies (current students, professors, etc) can teach a class on whatever they want. How to make chocolate, BDSM, flying kites, whatever.

My essay was about moshing. My roommate’s was about the Polish Lithuanian commonwealth. Don’t get too caught up in trying to write something “weird.” Pick something you’re super interested in and it’ll come through in your essay.

Also there’s nothing stopping you from submitting an extra Why Reed? essay anyways. I did.

Oh, and get in touch with your regional counselor. The first time they see your name shouldn’t be when they are reading your application. Demonstrated interest matters here.

8

Thank you so much!

9

In terms of homeschooling - my second son is a homeschooler while my Reedie was not, I was told that it is important to show that you can participate in the small class environment, and dual enrollment was specified as one of the methods. You should also be aware that CC courses taken for high school credit, will not transfer to Reed and that many CC classes are not up to the level of Reed academics so I just wanted to warn you about that. In fact, my son’s description of his CC stats class received a face palm from his advisor, So if it is important for you to have credits going in, it is entirely possible that your CC classes will not make much of a difference.They wont save you money, in other words.

Also the bump up in academic level is significant. Make sure that you are also really learning how to study intensively. My son believes that his current success has a lot do do with the level of academics (and not CC academics) that he took as a high school student. He had a very very heavy load. His economics instructor explained that his one semester econ class at Reed was the equivalent of three semesters of econ at a CC or a UC.

10

Thank you!

11

You seem really excited about Reed, so just make sure that comes through in your application. Your stats are great. I think you have a very good chance of getting accepted. As someone else said, don’t worry so much.

12

@Ghostt I was wondering how can I show interest in the college itself through the application while there is not a single essay similar to “why reed” essay?