Reed College

Date: Feb 23 2005
Major: Chemistry (This Major's Salary over time)
Of course Reed is not for everyone. It is a small, insular, highly academic environment. For four years, I did little but learn. That is not what everyone is looking for in a college. It did instill in me a strong desire to learn, and a desire to learn for the sake of learning. I pushed myself hard and never stopped trying to learn a subject just because I thought I had learned enough to get an A. The faculty were great, and while fellow students could appear at times to be pretentious or arrogant, I found it was a matter of stress and insecurity. Without grades, students can become defensive of their intelligence at times, especially at a school like Reed, where it is such a priority. Going into graduate school, I found that Reed college was a plus on my application and I had no trouble getting in anywhere. The fact that there is no grade inflation does not reflect poorly on the student, all transcripts come with a disclaimer. Being at a large graduate school, I see a whole different environment for the undergraduates, and I am glad I went to Reed. As a liberal arts major in the sciences, I am grateful that I didn't have "dumbed down" classes at Reed. I think knowledge about many fields is an advantage in any field.