Reed College Top Questions

yes

In reality Reedies are a lot more accessible than they seem, and we actually do take showers. While there are a lot of intellectual conversations, there is also and element of everyday fun that people tend to overlook.

It depends. There are definitely some kids at Reed who still have a lot of growing up to do, but I think most of my friends are simply responsible, serious students. As far as the "Weed College" reputation goes, one spends too much time on school work to smoke all the time. I think that reputation comes from the openness that comes with the Honor Principle. Because people are frank about their drug use (and therefore more safe about it), we get an unfair reputation.

The first one is for the majority not. Most Reedies do not do a lot of drugs, and there is variance in the amount of liberalness among students, and some students do not fall under the "hippy" category. The second one is more accurate; more Reedies have trouble being social successfully.

Somewhat. There's definitely a lot of drug use but it's mostly centered around Renn Fayre. There are also plenty of Reedies who abstain from drug use, and it's cool and I don't think they feel like they are treated differently because of it. Love thou fellow Reedie. As far as the suicide rate thing goes, I have no idea where that came from. I know that Reedies are stressed out quite a lot, and are worked to the bone, but we have pretty strong support from faculty, friends, and counseling center. Reedies are definitely nerds, and a lot of them are quite awkward. Sometimes it's frightening...but mostly its awesome. Sometimes awkwardness can be misconstrued as pretentious...and I think that's our problem.

all of these stereotypes have some basis in reality, but obviously not every reedie will conform to them, and it would be quite difficult to find one that fit every one. reedies are individuals, they're just individuals who happen to be similar in many ways. and it might be worth mentioning that some freshmen who don't find that any of these stereotypes fit them end up transferring.

More times than not.

Yes.

If it's a Friday night- a lot of people are high, which tends to make them nicer, thus it seems that during school hours less are. For the most part people will not make eye contact with you, let alone smile. This is true. Everyone is not in the library all the time- although everyone seems to go at least once a day, and most people have not actually had sex in it. Finally, as time goes on the more unintelligent folk find their way to our fair campus.

The idea that Reedies are always wrapped up in academia and have a penchant for drugs are fairly accurate. The former most certainly, though the intent on learning extends far beyond the classroom. Drug use is no more common than at many state universities, but the drugs are often more experimental and more out in the open due to the relatively relaxed drug and alcohol policy. The inaccurate perception stemming from these stereotypes is that one cannot be a Reedie without doing homework all the time and experimenting with hard drugs. You definitely can still be a Reed student, but you will be in an environment where these things are common. As for craziness and cynicism, Reed draws all types of people. At Reed, you can experience insanity, pessimism, dullness, hopefulness... all the ten thousand myriad things.