Reed College

Reed College Summary

Reed College is a private, independent liberal arts college located in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a highly selective four-year residential college with a campus located in Portland’s residential Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness preserve at its center. The Reed Institute (the legal name of the College) was founded in 1908, and Reed College held its first classes in 1911. Reed is named for Oregon pioneers Simeon Gannett Reed and Amanda Reed.. The first president of Reed (1910–1919) was William Trufant Foster, a former professor at Bates College and Bowdoin College in Maine. Although it holds a reputation for the anti-authoritarian leanings of its students (and sometimes its faculty), the only connection between Reed College and the journalist John Reed is the similarity of their names and the fact that both were native to Portland. Reed also requires all students to complete a thesis (a two-semester-long research project conducted under the guidance of professors) during the senior year as a prerequisite of graduation, and passing a junior qualifying exam at the end of the junior year is a prerequisite of beginning the thesis. Overall, Reed offers five Humanities courses, twenty-six department majors, twelve interdisciplinary majors, six dual-degree programs with other colleges and universities, and special programs for pre-medical and pre-veterinary students. Reed offers dual-degree programs in Applied Physics (with OHSU/OGI), Computer Science (with University of Washington), Engineering (with Caltech and others), Environmental Science (with Duke University), and Fine Art (with the Pacific Northwest College of Art). Reed’s student body is 45% male and 55% female, and includes 22% minority students: 3% self-report as Black (including African-American, African, and Afro-Caribbean); In the Fall of 2006, Reed enrolled 376 incoming freshmen and 47 transfer students, its largest entering class in many years. For students entering in the Fall of 2005, the total tuition, fees and room-and-board cost for a year at Reed was $41,106. In 2003 (the most recent data available), 2.6% of Reed graduates defaulted on their student loans—one of the highest rates of student loan default among elite institutions, though below the national average of 4.5%. However, on a per-student basis, Reed’s $265,000 per student is only slightly below the median. Reed is a highly regarded liberal arts college with an idiosyncratic reputation for academic conservatism and excellence together with a freewheeling campus environment. Reed students and alumni over the years have cultivated an image that includes an extreme academic workload, a sink-or-swim social ethic, and a reputation for heavy recreational drug use. The Princeton Review in its publication “The Best 361 Colleges,” published in August 2005, ranked Reed number one in its category “Best Overall Academic Experience For Undergraduates”. Reed has also gained notice for refusing to participate in the annual U.S. News and World Report College Rankings, because Reed “actively questions the methodology and usefulness of college rankings.” Reed further claims that US News has depended on limited data provided on the College’s web site to rank Reed, a practice which Reed claims is incomplete and has caused it to be ranked lower than it would be otherwise. Whether in fact Reed’s student body is more leftist than similar colleges is difficult to determine, but Reed’s academic tradition of open and passionate debate often spills into the off-campus political arena and, combined with the freewheeling social environment, often leads to the appearance of radical leftism. According to an article in the college’s alumni magazine, “because of the decisive support expressed by Reed’s faculty, students, and alumni for the three besieged teachers and for the principle of academic freedom, Reed College’s experience with McCarthyism stands apart from that of most other American colleges and universities. Since the 1960s, Reed has had a reputation for tolerating open drug use among its students, and the 1998 Princeton Review listed Reed as the number-three school in the “reefer madness” category. The Yale Daily News Insider’s Guide to Colleges also notes an impression among students of institutional permissiveness: “according to students, the school does not bust students for drug or alcohol use unless they cause harm or embarrassment to another student”. The Reed Psychology Department has conducted an ongoing survey since 1999 regarding both drug use and perceptions of drug use on the Reed campus. The Reed College campus was established on a southeast Portland tract of land known in 1910 as Crystal Springs Farm, a part of the Ladd Estate, formed in the 1870s from original land claims. The college’s grounds include 98.52 contiguous acres, including a wooded wetland known as Reed canyon (see below). At the same time the Willard House (donated to Reed in 1964), across from the college’s main entrance, was converted from faculty housing to administrative use. Reed houses about 800 students in twelve dorms on campus and several college-owned houses and apartment buildings on or adjacent to campus. Reed also plans to raise the number of students it can house on campus to 900 or 950, while maintaining the overall student body at approximately its current size. The Reed College Canyon, a natural wilderness area and national wildlife preserve, bisects the campus, separating the academic buildings from many of the dormitories (the so called cross-canyon dorms). On Canyon Day students and Reed neighbors join canyon crew workers to spend a day helping with restoration efforts. The Reed College Co-op is a theme dorm located on the first floor of the MacNaughton building, and is the only campus residence that is independent of the school’s board plan. The griffin was featured on the coat-of-arms of founder Simeon Reed and is now on the official seal of Reed College. An unofficial motto of Reed is “Communism, Atheism, Free Love”, and can be found in the Reed College Bookstore on sweaters, t-shirts, etc. Another popular characterization was from a letter to the local newspaper, in which Reed students were said to resemble “unmade beds” which provided a subject for creating special Reed occasion costumes. Every year’s Reed College Student Handbook (a manual on student life written by students, not to be confused with the College Handbook, which is written by college officials) contains a test called the “Reed College Immorality Quotient” that tests an individual’s immorality on topics such as sex, theft, and drug use. The Reed archive of comic books and graphic novels, the MLLL (Comic Book Reading Room) has existed for at least forty years, and Beer Nation, the student group that organizes and manages various beer gardens throughout the year and during Renn Fayre, has existed for many years. Reed considers any student who attended a year or more at the college to be an alumnus or alumna, as applicable. This “festival of learning” takes the form of a week (although originally a whole month) of classes and seminars put on by anyone who wishes to teach, including students, professors, staff members, and outside educators invited on-campus by members of the Reed Community. In his 2005 Stanford commencement lecture, Apple Computer founder and Reed alumnus Steve Jobs credited a Reed calligraphy class for his focus on choosing quality typefaces for the Macintosh.

Summary content courtesy of Wikipedia.

Reed College Academics

There’s never a reason to feel alone in your studies either, since there are academic support services like Learning Center, Study Skills Assistance, Tutoring and Writing Center. For instance, the university has a Cross-Registration, Double Major, Dual Enrollment of High School Students, Independent Study, Internships, Liberal Arts/Career Combination, Study Abroad and Visiting/Exchange Student Program. Besides, when any student is looking for some counseling or other types of support, Adult (re-entering) student services, Alcohol/Substance Abuse Counseling, Career Counseling, Employment Service, Financial Aid Counseling, Freshman Orientation Program, Health Services, Minority Student Services, Personal Counseling and Placement Service can help. The university has disability services as well, so be sure to inquire about them if needed. Reed College is unique in its study options.

The following are the types of degrees and majors offered at Reed College.

Foreign Language and Literature:

Chinese, Classics, Comparative Literature, French, German, Linguistics, Russian, Spanish

History:

History – General

Mathematics:

Mathematics – General

Popular majors:

twenty percent social sciences, fourteen percent biology, twelve percent english, ten percent philosophy and religious studies, eight percent physical sciences, eight percent psychology, seven percent foreign languages and literature, six percent history, six percent interdisciplinary studies, six percent visual and performing arts

Philosphy and Religion:

Philosophy, Religion/Religious Studies

Social Sciences:

Anthropology, Economics, Political Science/Government, Sociology

Psychology:

Psychology – General

Physical Sciences:

Chemistry, Physics

Multiple or Interdisciplinary:

Biological/Physical Sciences

Biological and Biomedical Sciences:

Biochemistry, Biology, Molecular Biology

English Language and Literature:

Creative Writing, English

School of Visual and Performing Arts:

Art History/Criticism/Conservation, Drama/Theater Arts, Fine/Studio Arts, Music – General

Are you an international student? The Fall application deadline for international students is the 15th of January. Yet, for non-international students, tutition fees are $32,590 Room & Board (on-campus) $8,516 Additional estimated expenses $700 Costs per credit hour $1,350 Cost & Savings Calculator Financial Aid International students eligible for need-based aid. The cost per credit hour (overall) was $1,350 Cost & Savings Calculator Financial Aid International students eligible for need-based aid last fall. Other additional expenses amounted to $700 Costs per credit hour $1,350 Cost & Savings Calculator Financial Aid International students eligible for need-based aid. Besides, for international students, the application fee is 40.

Reed College Admissions

This school did not report their application fee. Transfer student are not ignored. For example, there were one hundred and ninety-four total number of transfer students who applied and eighty-one total number of transfer students who were admitted. Admission policy is currently Percent applicants admitted: 45%. Remember that this can change at any time.

the SAT subject section score is due the 1st of March. SAT and ACT score reports are due the 1st of March and Transfer students must apply no later than the 1st of March, with priority applications due on the 1st of March. Regardless of which application you submit, this school will notify you by the 1st of April. Will you make it in time? Make sure to know when all the due dates and deadlines take place. It is also very important to submit financial aid applications as quickly as possible, and make sure they are in by the 15th of January. If you are a transfer student, you will be notified of your acceptance by the 1st of May. Furthermore, make sure that if you are a transfer student and are participating in a financial aid program, your financial aid application is in by the 1st of March. Priority financial aid applications for transfer students are due the 1st of February. If you wish to apply early, your application will be do no later than the 15th of November, of which you should hear back from the university no later than the 15th of December. For all student applicants, the Fall application deadline is the 15th of January. The regular application is due the 15th of January.

Reed College Athletics

The following sports can be found here:

• Men’s Intramural, Men’s Club and Women’s Club Basketball
• Men’s Intramural and Women’s Intramural Golf
• Men’s Intramural and Women’s Intramural Soccer
• Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Club and Women’s Club Softball
• Men’s Intramural and Women’s Intramural Volleyball

Reed College Financial Aid

Financial aid distribution is at eighty-two percent scholarships per grants and eighteen percent loans per jobs. Financial aid for students is readily accessible at this school. Likewise, need based financial aid distribution is determined through Academics. Financial aid forms are CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, FAFSA, Institution’s own financial aid form and Noncustodial (divorced/separated) Parents Statement.

Reed College Students

Reed College offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Furthermore, it is part of an Suburban setting, Very large city (over 500,000) and Residential campus. In addition, the student body consists of nine percent in-state students, ninety-one percent out-of-state students, zero percent part-time students, fifty-seven percent women, forty-three percent men, one percent american indian per alaskan native, eight percent asian per pacific islander, three percent black per non-hispanic, six percent hispanic, sixty-four percent white per non-hispanic, four percent non-resident alien, fourteen percent race per ethnicity unreported, fifty-seven percent in top 10th of graduating class, eighty-six percent in top quarter of graduating class, ninety-nine percent in top half of graduating class, sixty-seven percent had h.s. gpa of 3.75 and higher, seventeen percent had h.s. gpa between 3.5 and 3.74, eleven percent had h.s. gpa between 3.25 and 3.49, three percent had h.s. gpa between 3.0 and 3.24 and two percent had h.s. gpa between 2.5 and 2.99. The university is a Private, Liberal Arts College, Four-year, Coed, where 45 percent of the applicants were admitted, Regionally accredited and College Board member. The school’s size is approximately one thousand, two hundred and eighty-three degree-seeking undergrads, three hundred and fifty-four first-time degree-seeking freshmen and thirty-one graduate enrollment.

This school features the Suburban setting, Very large city (over 500,000) and Residential campus. Further, the university has many unique facilites such as nuclear research reactor, wildlife refuge, fish ladder. Generally, the school is located 5 miles from downtown.Students should note the housing policies: First-Year Students Guaranteed On-Campus Housing, ninety-nine percent of first-year students live in college housing, fifty-seven percent of all undergraduates live in college housing, Coed Housing, Women’s Housing, Apartments For Single Students, Cooperative Housing, Special Housing For Disabled Students, Wellness housing (alcohol/drug/smoke-free), fifteen-JUN deadline for housing deposit, one hundred dollars amount of housing deposit, and First-time first-year students allowed to have car.