Reed College (reviews)

I am a rising Sophomore at Reed College. My first year at Reed was extremely formative for me, which I expect is true of most students’ first years of college, but it is clear to me that Reed made this year unique in many ways. To begin, during the summer before Freshman year, Reed paired students with summer advisors to help them to form their schedules for the fall. Even though I was not looking at all to major in economics, the economics professor I spoke to was incredibly helpful. Every student I spoke to about this process also found it helpful. From the start, the Reed community proved to be present and accommodating. I came into college knowing little about what I wanted to focus on in college. While I have since figured this out through classes and familiarity with the Anthropology department, my academic advisor, as well as the community as a whole, made the process clearer. The Anthropology class that made me commit to the major, “Decolonizing Archeology”, is one of the choices of prerequisites to the 211 class “Introduction to Anthropology”. Its focus was on the bias and injustice in the history of archaeology, as well as in modern archaeology, and how archaeology can be utilized in different ways. This was an eye-opening and incredibly valuable class, I honestly think that every person going into the field of anthropology should take a class like this. Much of Reed is like this: it is incredibly unique in its integration of reinterpretation into academia, something essential in a modern and ever-changing world. The Center for Life Beyond Reed assists students through job and internship searching, I was helped with my resume and cover letters last year by a student working with them. The CLBR continues to keep helping students as they graduate and find work, and keeps in contact with alumnae which creates more opportunities.
Additionally, my biology class was engaging and incredibly interesting even though it is outside of my major. There are opportunities abound within every area of study at Reed, and these are easy to access both through department emails and through department webpages. I feel as if I am going to be well-prepared to find a job after college, even if my field is slightly harder to get a job in. Reed’s student community is small but unique and supportive. There is a large portion of international students. I am from the U.S., so I do not know much about the international program, but I have been told it was helpful and made the experience less complicated. My one occasional fault with Reed is that the community can sometimes be a bit insulting, especially when I was unable to get off campus a ton last year. The people there are people I want to be around, but there is definitely a bit of a bubble in terms of what people believe and their backgrounds. Nonetheless, this is not an issue for me most of the time, just something to know about the school. I have found a home at Reed, it is easy to feel at home with the overall accepting academic environment and a tolerant and open-minded student body.