Reed College

Date: Oct 03 2004
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
From Hi-Tech to Wall Street

IMHO, it seems, unless you go into the academic world, the Reed name is useless on the east coast (neither a positive or negative). And with the declining number of tenured positions, this means that a Reed BA is less useful than say a BA from a name institution. I got into a few institutions with a name and, in my experience, I should have gone to them. At least with a lower GPA (which is common at Reed) I could have said 'at least I went to U of Chicago' or 'insert prestigious U here'.

I also felt that for the same amount of work, I would have gotten a higher GPA. I used to think

Ha! What's a GPA for, really?

Well, really, it depends if you want to get into grad school. And if you do, in any way shape or form (b-school, law school or PhD), then it does matter. So my lower GPA worked to my detriment. I wonder how Swathmore-ites, with who we have this in common, deal. I don't meet too many of them in my line of work. And many firms on Wall Street are starting to look at GPAs of employees.

Alot of my unhappiness about Reed is that I didn't have a good plan going in. Why was I going? I personally would have been better off in the army at 18. So I blew my tuition on that.

Anyway, I'm going for a second BA now, prepping for a Masters in Math Fin. Totally unrelated to what I did at Reed.

Reed was, at least for me, a high priced finishing school. No one took an interest in guiding me, and they were glad to take my money. Did I learn to think independently? I think I could have learned that at any liberal arts school. But a liberal arts education has not had the long-term benefits that I had hoped. If I were to do it again, I would have been a hell of a lot more pragmatic. Because no one in NYC cares if you read the Illiad.