<p>I'm basically split between committing early action to either Vassar College or Reed College. Reed satisfies me in that it sends so many of its students into graduate programs, yet on virtually every other level I find Vassar as being a much better fit for me as an individual. The most important of those being much better financial aid coupled with Vassar being need-blind. However, it seems to me that Reed admits a much higher percentage of its applicants than Vassar does, and in the end I would love to be able to go to either of these schools.</p>
<p>So my question to you is this, do my stats give me much of a chance of getting into Vassar with early decision, or would I be much better off just applying to Reed with early decision?</p>
<p>GPA: 3.7 unweighted (4.0 scale)
Upward trend with a 3.0 freshman year succeeded by 4.0's.</p>
<p>AP courses:<br>
AP Euro- (5)
AP English Lang - (5)
AP Physics I (currently enrolled with an A)
AP U.S. Government (currently enrolled with an A)
AP English Lit (currently enrolled with an A)</p>
<p>SAT II's: Planning on taking Literature and World History in December.</p>
<p>Extracurricular - I've been working 30 hours a week at my job since the start of Junior year to help my mother. I talk about this in one of my essays, but I still feel this is the most damaging part of my application.</p>
<p>Letters of Recommendation: 3 letters from my teachers are going to be very strong but I'm thinking the Counselor's rec will probably be sub-par.</p>
<p>I feel my essays stand as a very compelling representation of who I am both personally and intellectually.</p>
<p>So what do you think? Do I have any chance at this selective of a school ED-II?</p>
<p>Edit: Also I'm a Male since that seems to be a weird kind of hook for this school.</p>
<p>You look like a competitive applicant for either of these schools. For my family Reed offers a slightly better FA package (with no loans) – running the NPC I was actually surprised that Reed beat quite a few schools that are reputed to have very strong FA. Do run the NPCs for both schools if you haven’t. Being male will give you a slight advantage at Vassar and if you prefer Vassar go for it. The need blind thing shouldn’t be a huge determinant for you though; Reed is need aware for students at various margins and you don’t look to fall into those categories.</p>
<p>Reed also has a much more rigorous and directed curriculum than Vassar, which may or may not please you. Your work experience will never handicap you in the admissions process. On the contrary, colleges are looking for independence and maturity in students who will take initiatives in their educations and take full advantage of the college’s resources. I would think that at this point you need to either visit the colleges or find another way to get a better ‘feel’ for the schools, and make your decision based on that. Your everyday campus experience will be what makes your college years. </p>
<p>Early action and early decision are not the same (since your title says one, and your post says another). That said, I don’t think you need to apply ED to either to be accepted, honestly. Both are low matches for you, IMHO. The only thing that worries me is your comment that your GC rec may be ‘sub par’. Have you had disciplinary issues, or some other reason to think this?</p>
<p>‘Reed satisfies me in that it sends so many of its students into graduate programs’</p>
<p>This is not as good a reason to want to go to Reed as your reason for wanting to go to Vassar. Reed has a very self-selected student body, so despite having higher acceptance numbers, Reed has a student body profile similar to Vassar’s. You can go to grad school after Vassar (duh), and for subjects like psychology, Vassar is amazing. The only reason you should consider Reed over Vassar is if you want to study science/math. I suspect Vassar is stronger at art, music and theater, and for everything else, these schools are academically similar. You could always apply ED to Vassar and ED 2 to Reed.</p>
<p>I imagine that Vassar and Reed have a lot in common and that a student who would be happy at V would be very happy at R as well. Reed has a more structured curriculum than Vassar but you, as a student, get a lot of agency still. </p>
<p>You should visit these schools. You definitely have a good chance of getting into Vassar. You don’t need to ‘settle’ for Reed.</p>
<p>respectfully disagree with International95 on Vassar being just arts, or Reed > Vassar for science/math or Reed > Vassar for grad school. One example: Reed’s rate of medical school acceptance averaged from 2010-2014 is ~70%, Vassars 80%+, both v a national average of less than 50%. </p>
<p>The number of students who go from undergrad to grad is different than the % who successfully apply. The self selection process International95 refers to means that a lot of students arrive at Reed with a plan for grad school. </p>
<p>As International95 points out, you really should visit both these schools- their ‘feel’ is quite different.</p>
<p>I suspect what OP meant by graduate programs was PhD programs, which was on what I based my response. Very few people from Reed even apply to medical schools. Of the ~1600 people who graduated in that time frame, only 89 alums applied to med school, after assuming that no one who graduated before 2010 applied. For science PhDs, especially physics PhDs, Reed is an absolute standout amongst LACs for preparing students.</p>
<p>Vassar may not send as high a percentage on to PhDs as Reed- but that may reflect a more diverse range of goals, not an inability to get to graduate school. </p>
<p>The “Vassar is only good at arts” shibboleth needs to go! Their science/math program is strong, and includes the same kind of opportunities for paid research work that Reed does. </p>
<p>I NEVER said that Vassar is just arts, just that its art programs are stronger than Reed’s.</p>
<p>And I agree with the diversity in goals thing. That’s why I said that it is not a good idea to consider Reed’s track record in producing PhDs while deciding where to apply/go, and that OP should CONSIDER Reed’s rate only if OP is interested in science, particularly physics.</p>
Collegemom, I assume that the 80+ percent is for MD programs. What is your source?
Vassar’s medical school admission rate from 2003-2012, which also includes Dental, Osteopathic and Veterinary School, ranged from a low of 60 to a high of 78 percent. The average was 70 percent. Last year 76 percent of the medical school applicants were admitted.</p>
<p>Reed is a fine college, but in my opinion not to the caliber that Vassar is. If both are equal in your mind, then I would go with Vassar. If you wanted to really step it up, Early DECISION at Vassar is Nov. 15th, so you could hurry up and get things ready for that. If you are applying for financial aid, that is also the deadline if you are doing Early Decision. In any event, it appears you are a strong candidate for either school, and without a doubt, a motivated student could be very successful at either one. Good luck.</p>
<p>EDIT - Oh…I see you haven’t taken the SAT Subject Matter tests yet…never mind then on the Early Decision idea. As others have pointed out, Vassar does VERY well at sending students on to Graduate school too. In re-reading your initial post, it seems to me that Vassar is your place. One final thing is that Vassar is really amping up in science. They’ve got a new building in the works and are really making strong moves to get even better in the sciences. </p>
<p>^ Yes, your opinion, no doubt predicated on college rankings, should be the basis for this young person’s decision of where to go for college. <em>facepalm</em></p>
<p>@International95 - You apparently are biased toward Reed for some reason, and that’s fine. It is a great college. My advice to the starter of this thread is not just based on college rankings (of which Vassar is superior), but also because he said he felt Vassar fit him better and that financially it was a better option. As good a college as Reed College is, it just does not compare overall to Vassar. Vassar College is one of the elite liberal arts colleges in the country. Reed does not have that distinction. If there’s a specific program you want that Reed offers that Vassar does not, then Reed is your place, but if the academic offerings you require are offered at both colleges, AND you feel Vassar is a better fit AND financially it is a better decision, then Vassar is the CLEAR winner here. I would say that if all things were equal that Vassar wins. It’s harder to get into Vassar and so the caliber of the student body is greater than at Reed, so you get the extra-added benefit of being surrounded by better students. If the thread starter is going to apply regular decision, he should apply to both…Vassar as the match or slight reach and Reed as the safety.</p>
<p>Reed is an ‘elite liberal arts college’ too, given its impressive track record in producing successful graduates, especially academics. What makes Vassar better, and what gives Vassar that ‘distinction’ and not to Reed? How does a Vassar education take you further than a Reed education? Is Vassar Harvard, a school whose name can open countless doors? You have said nothing more to add to your claim and are saying things that expose your unfamiliarity with liberal arts colleges, like ‘so the caliber of the student body is greater than at Reed’. Vassar has a lower acceptance rate, yes, but the quality of the students who choose to attend these schools is same when comparing average SAT/ACT scores. What is more important in understanding who go to a school: those who we kept out or those who are here?</p>
<p>It just never fails to amuse me when people bring up acceptance rates to validate their claims. In that case, everyone should be lining up to go to College of the Ozarks, which has an acceptance rate lower than Vassar’s, because the lower acceptance rate must mean that ‘it’s harder to get into [College of the Ozarks] and so the caliber of the student body is greater than at Vassar’. <em>facepalm</em></p>
<p>To OP: I recommend you apply to Vassar not because it is an ‘elite college’ and is ‘better’ than Reed but because you feel that it is the better fit for you. It’d ridiculous to compare LACs, especially those like Reed and Vassar, because neither can take you further than the other in the long term.</p>
If that statement wasn’t so silly it would be insulting.
There is not necessarily a correlation between admission rate and the caliber of the student body.
Reed’s and Vassar’s SAT scores and percent in top tenth of high school graduating class are almost identical.
<p>@stepay, not having attended either of these colleges, you may be basing your opinions on rankings. What many people don’t know is that Reed completely opted out of rankings such as USNews for many years and/or did not submit the information that would have made the college competitive in the rankings. Why did they opt not to participate? Because they understand that rankings are mostly not a useful or accurate way to evaluate colleges or education. Being small LACS Reed and Vassar are better known by the general public on the West and East coasts respectively but I think if you talked to anyone working in selective post-secondary education you would find they are comparable educational institutions with unique aspects and qualitative rather than quantitative differences.</p>