<p>Unfortunately, you will find sources of intellectual snobbery at any school. The main difference is, as I stated before, such reports of snobbery at Reed are generally not made by Reedies; rather, they are usually made by prospective students, college guides, through-the-grape-vine sources, etc. which are all subject to misconceptions seeing as they do not attend the college, nor have they spent any significant amount of time here. That’s not to say that intellectual snobbery is nonexistent at Reed, but as I said at the beginning of this post, it exists everywhere and can’t be completely avoided, regardless of the institution.</p>
<p>Again, no judgment cast by me regarding your decision. I merely wanted to give personal input as a Reed freshman since I do hear those complaints quite a lot from prospective students.</p>
<p>I really wasn’t putting Reed down, just pointing out that it’s not for everyone. My son would never survive there but his friend loves it, those “pompous” discussions are like air to him. That’s why it’s so important to visit a school before you decide.</p>
<p>Many first year students at places like Reed are likely to think that, because they’ve chosen an “intellectual” school, they need to talk the talk to be respected. So you’ll hear some high fallutin’ bloviation in first year seminars. Some of it will be completely off-topic. Other students will try to impress the class by drawing in marginally relevant background knowledge instead of focusing closely on the material at hand. Still others will make observations that are appropriate in content but expressed in 10-dollar words when ordinary language would do. </p>
<p>This puppy play is all normal. Good professors know how to channel it into productive discussion. This is an important part of the liberal education process. It can’t happen if you spend most of your first two years listening to professors lecture. I doubt you’ll be able to duck it entirely at a good school like UVa.</p>
<p>So the saga continues. I am now in at chicago and deciding whether to withdraw from UVA is near impossible for me. My feelings are that Chicago might be perfect for me (minus the cold weather), but it could also be a place where I am miserable; but I can’t help but feel that I may forever regret backing away from the opportunities to step out of my comfort zone and really test my intellectual limits. So I feel that whether or not I “enjoy” chicago, it will almost definitely be a more rewarding and humbling experience. The other main thing here is that one of my biggest heroes (hayek) is strongly affiliated with chicago, and it is the best, or one of the best, places to study econ in the world. So that’s an incredible temptation for me to pass up. </p>
<p>The trade for an amazing econ program is missing out on an amazing undergrad business school (mcintire). The trade for finding out my intellectual capacity and motivation is giving up a reasonably assured increased quality of life and possibly social atmosphere. </p>
<p>I’ll never forget the time i was on philosophy bro’s blog and he was talking about how we all seek pleasure and avoid pain, and how a common objection to this is that if that is the case, how come people like socrates and other truth-seekers existed. he said something like, “No, you ****. Socrates KNEW that he would be unhappy if he didn’t pursue truth.”
Ugh…I kind of just wish we lived in a dictatorship and someone simply mandated me where to go to school</p>
<p>^Socrates had a very different definition of the word “happiness,” and considering that we have no writings from him, much of what you will read of Plato’s character Socrates is just that: a character.</p>
<p>I’m sure you will do well at UChicago, which is an amazing school. Good luck!</p>
<p>We were confused because you never mentioned that you were on the wait list at UChicago. Congratulations on making it off the list, not a common story, especially this early.</p>
<p>I think it’s different because of the size (5k undergrads is perfect size imo) and because it’s totally worth it for the econ program. Pretty sure I’m going to chicago, i need to call my dad though</p>