Reed College Top Questions

I would recommend talking to the faculty and a wide variety of students, not just the one selected to show you around the campus. Make a list of qualities that are important to you in choosing a college and education, and make sure to ask a wide range of students and faculty about it. Talking to alumni is also very helpful, as they often have a better perspective on how their education helped or hindered their future careers.

The very most important factors in picking a college are the professors and the student body. The professors should love their subjects, so that the students will love them, too. Also, it is really essential to tour a college before apply or enrolling there so that one can evaluate his or her own personal ?fit? with the student body?s social, political, and religious life. Thought wasn?t obvious to me as a freshman, in order to really get the most out of one?s education it is necessary to do more than just take classes and read books and write papers. I feel that class work is made more fulfilling by indulging in activities outside of academics. This is especially true of being involved in student groups, activism, and volunteering. Being close to one's professors is also beneficial, since they know the field already and can offer guidance and support with navigating one?s prospective field. All of these things bring one closer to the greater community and remind us why we?re in college: to learn things that will help us better our communities and change the world after we graduate.

What college you go to will not define who you are. The college search process seems to be a massive struggle to make students second guess themselves, but in reality this choice in your life is not what is most important. What you get out of college is what you put into it. This will be true of your entire life. Don't rely on your school to make your life great, nor your professors to make you appreciate what you learn. You will get more out of college if you spend your time now doing things that seem worth while than you will if spend your time now trying to maximize your opportunities in college. Don't volunteer because it will look good on your application, volunteer because you will learn about people and is something actually worth spending you time on. If you learn how to pursue what is important to you now, you will be that much more prepared to take the oportunities offered to you in college, and more informed in the choices you make for yourself.

Go with your gut.

Go beyond the numbers and know that even more important than getting A's and getting jobs is living at your chosen school for four years. It is a place where you will make a life that cannot be measured in grades and statistics. It is a place where you will hopefully do more growing up than you have in the past 18 years. Pick a place that will allow you to grow and discover and develop your passions. Don't follow others, don't follow guide books. And be ready to make a sacrifice for what you want and what you need.

I would recommend to students trying to find the right college to visit the colleges that interest them, if they can. While a lot can be learned from brochures and websites, sometimes just walking on to a campus can fulfill you with the knowledge that you were meant to be there. When I first visited Reed, I felt so at home, and the more I learned about it, from students, tours, itnerviews with staff and faculty, the more enamored I became. This was by far my first choice, and I feel very honored to be here. Ultimately, the important thing is to find someplace that you can express yourself. A student goes through a lot of changes while at college, and the freedom to find yourself, to feel comfortable with your choices, is very important to doing well academically. That freedom gives you the confidence to pursue your interests, to know what direction you want your life to go in. The community of the school is very important, for when you inevitably have problems, its good to know you have support, friends who are there for you.

Finding the 'right' college is a highly subjective experience. No one really knows which college is right for them, but most end up at a college they really like. The most important part of picking a school is understanding your own priorities. What part of the higher education experience are you most looking forward to? Which aspects of college life do you dislike? Knowing your own priorities and finding a school that shares them is the best you can do to prepare yourself for a good education.

I encourage prospective students to visit the schools they apply to. Spend time on campus, talk to current students, visit as many classes as you can. I also advise you to think about your areas of interest and research the departments/opportunities that each school has to offer in those areas. Make sure you like the city/town that your school is in. You won't always be studying, and it's good to know what's off campus to enjoy. Think about your long term goals, and how being at a particular school will help or hinder the achievement of your goals. To make the most of the college experience, I encourage students to become involved in extracurricular activities. Additionally, get to know your professors, utelize the office hours available to visit with your professors. Make sure you are aware of all the student support resources your school has to offer. And don't forget to have fun, be it at on-campus events, or getting to know the city. The most important thing is to feel comfortable with the choice you make. Make sure you can see yourself spending four years of your life at your school.

It's about the student, what enviroment would bes best for them to spend the next two to 8 years of their life.

The most important thing is to know clearly what you want. If you know what you want, it is very possible to find it, and when you do, you can be very happy at your school. I would recommend doing some serious soul searching about this. Picking a college is frequently less about the college than it is about you. Actually go into classrooms, if you possibly can, and experience for yourself whether what is being taught, and the way that it is being taught, excites you. Even go into at least one school that you think you wouldn't like for some specific reason and see if the flaw you thought you saw actually does, in practice, bother you. In some cases, college experiences can be so very different from high school that you don't know the actual words for what you want. For example, 'theoretical' and 'experimental' can mean completely different things to a college student than a hgih school student, so don't just take our word for anything you don't have to: go see it for yourself.