Reed College, OR

[alexPDX]

Does anyone know how Reed College (Portland, OR) is viewed in the academic circles, especially by med school admission evaluators? They don?t participate in the US News ranking (refused to supply data) so I know that the ranking they get there is not accurate.

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[BonBon Doux]

It's viewed favorably in academic circles mainly because it has a VERY strong biology program for its undergrads and gives you a good liberal arts education. When I was working at the NIH, three of the kids in my dept were from reed....

besides the fact that they have a good bio program, i don't know much else....

bonbon

 

[alexPDX]

Thanks! I am just worried that the cost of tuition is not worth the difference in quality when compared to Portland State. They do have a beautiful campus (Reed) and just 20 minutes from where I live.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by alexPDX
Does anyone know how Reed College (Portland, OR) is viewed in the academic circles, especially by med school admission evaluators? They don?t participate in the US News ranking (refused to supply data) so I know that the ranking they get there is not accurate.

Reed College definitely opened many doors for me. If you attend Reed, you will have to work hard to pull A's. The school advertises not giving out grades to students to foster the love of learning rather than focusing on getting good grades; however, grades are given. The highest grade possible is a double A given to the best student in a class.

On my interview trail, Reed College is well known in the academic world.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by alexPDX
Thanks! I am just worried that the cost of tuition is not worth the difference in quality when compared to Portland State. They do have a beautiful campus (Reed) and just 20 minutes from where I live.

You can't compare PSU to Reed. They are on completely different levels.

 

[Supadupafly]

Reed is a great school, and so is PSU, but why don't you consider UO? You'd have to move, sure, but of the three, UO would probably provide the strongest education from experienced researchers, and offer the best experience. Reed could be better for it's liberal arts, but IS very expensive (I've always found this strange for a school named for a labor reporter and socialist). PDX on the other hand is closer to OHSU; if you wanted to do some volunteer or research work, you'd be right around te corner. UO is undeniably the state powerhouse in academics.

 

[meanderson]

It probably really doesn't matter where you go. If you want to go to PSU, you could go there for 2 years, take many of your med school prerequs, and then transfer to OU for your final two years.

Regardless of where you go to school, you still have to make good grades, perform well on the mcat, and acquire some meaningful clinical experience.

 

[phinicky]

Reed is a great college. In fact, I came very close to going there as an undergrad.

There are 2 people in med school class (GW) from Reed

 

[boomuntilnoon]

I wanted to go to Reed, and I even got accepted there, but instead I chose to go to the Reed-for-Rejects college in sunny Florida.

 

[alexPDX]

Thanks for all your comments. You guys have been very helpful. There is a transfer student day coming up on Monday and I will have the opportunity to ask more questions and get a feel of the school.

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

it's a tree-hugging hippie commune. good school [academically] though. depending on your personality it could be the worst four years of your life [or the best].

 

[indo]

Go over to Reed and hang out for a while to see if that is your type of crowd over there. Doan says they won't stand for any porn...
Portland State is what you make it. It can be a very easy college or a very difficult one. The average age there is about 25 so most of your "competition" are non-traditional students who don't mess around when it comes to the pre-reqs. As far as pre-med prep. goes I would say it is pretty decent. A friend got into hopkins so it can't be too crappy.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by indo
Go over to Reed and hang out for a while to see if that is your type of crowd over there. Doan says they won't stand for any porn...

and your point is??? I'm sure the top students consider whether or not a college tolerates pornography when submitting their applications.

Give it a rest Indo.

 

[indo]

kiss my ass and get a sense of humor...doesn't have to be in that order.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

🙄

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

Originally posted by Andrew_Doan
and your point is??? I'm sure the top students consider whether or not a college tolerates pornography when submitting their applications.

Give it a rest Indo.

not specifically porn but rather the attitude of the campus does influence top scholars. i know that i'd hate going to a whiny liberal school like reed.

 

[alexPDX]

C?mon you guys there is no need for incivility and bickering on the porn issue. I do appreciate the different points of view though. I am quite liberal on some issues but I hate extremism (quite a subjective term, I admit) so I will look more into the activism facet of Reed. But as long as opinions and policies I do not sympathize with won?t interfere with my studies I don?t think I would mind.

 

[Supadupafly]

For some reason, PDX-ers on this site are viscious. I've encountered this a few times (nothing bad about pdx-ers; I'm about to go get on the 15-Belmont this minute).

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by alexPDX
C?mon you guys there is no need for incivility and bickering on the porn issue. I do appreciate the different points of view though. I am quite liberal on some issues but I hate extremism (quite a subjective term, I admit) so I will look more into the activism facet of Reed. But as long as opinions and policies I do not sympathize with won?t interfere with my studies I don?t think I would mind.

Reed is a liberal college. I'm not sure I would call the students "whiners", but the students are rather politically and socially considerate activists. I enjoyed my time there.

A Reed education is definitely not for everyone. The undergraduate program is structured similiar to a PhD program with: junior qualification examinations, thesis proposal, writing/publishing of a senior thesis, and oral defense of the thesis. The completion of a senior thesis is required for graduation. Because of the senior thesis and rigorous academic standards, the attrition rate at Reed is quite high. In 1993, it was about 50%. Perhaps current Reedies can provide current insight in regards to the attrition rate for 2004. Reed college produces a large number of future doctoral candidates.

I encourage you to the visit the campus and the students. Good luck!

 

[Habari]

from the students that have interviewed at my school from reed [for md/phd] - they've been among the most interesting people [i'm pretty sure one will be matriculating]. the school has a great reputation academically - to people that know/matter. it doesn't have 'brand name' recognition - but neither does carleton/swarthmore[perhaps a bit more because it's east coast]/harvey mudd [albeit a very different type of school] etc... all great schools if you like their atmospheres

these schools are self-selecting to a large degree - if middlebury, for example, sounds like a 'tree-hugging birkenstock-wearing hippie commune' - probably isn't for you.

 

[alexPDX]

Originally posted by Andrew_Doan
Reed is a liberal college. I'm not sure I would call the students "whiners", but the students are rather politically and socially considerate activists. I enjoyed my time there.

A Reed education is definitely not for everyone. The undergraduate program is structured similiar to a PhD program with: junior qualification examinations, thesis proposal, writing/publishing of a senior thesis, and oral defense of the thesis. The completion of a senior thesis is required for graduation. Because of the senior thesis and rigorous academic standards, the attrition rate at Reed is quite high. In 1993, it was about 50%. Perhaps current Reedies can provide current insight in regards to the attrition rate for 2004. Reed college produces a large number of future doctoral candidates.

I encourage you to the visit the campus and the students. Good luck!

Thanks Andrew. From what you?re saying Reed has a lot of similarities with some of the European models of undergraduate education, where emphasis is placed on higher-level courses. I did one year of undergrad there and I really miss that atmosphere. Most of the general education subjects presented in college here were high school requirements across the pond. I hope I am not inviting a flood of flaming by my statements.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by alexPDX
Thanks Andrew. From what you?re saying Reed has a lot of similarities with some of the European models of undergraduate education, where emphasis is placed on higher-level courses. I did one year of undergrad there and I really miss that atmosphere. Most of the general education subjects presented in college here were high school requirements across the pond. I hope I am not inviting a flood of flaming by my statements.

I'm not familiar with the European models of undergraduate education.

I forgot to mention that Reed offers many advanced seminar type courses. My last two years of advance biology, chem, and biochem courses focused on reading recent scientific papers and presentation of research. These seminar courses were also balanced with small group lectures.

The sciences at Reed is strong, and you'll get tons of exposure to original research. Reed even has a research nuclear reactor maintained by students.