Reed is an anachronism. Students know their professors first names, read Plato and Augustine, and write a senior thesis. A small liberal arts college it is. Sometimes it seems to small, but I can't imagine myself anywhere else. The people here are amazing, and I love them. Nowhere else will you see signs that say "SOON IT WILL BE RENN FAYRE AND I WILL KISS ALL OF YOU", and nowhere else will those signs fill your entire being with anticipation.

However, if I were a different person, I would probably be miserable here. Reed is not an easy place to go to, and a lot of people drop out or transfer before their junior year. It's not for everybody. Some people leave because the academics are too hard for them, and some people leave because the students that I think are so amazing seem like condescending, intellectual assholes with no grasp on the real world. And still other people leave because they'd rather be climbing mountains in Alaska. So, beware before you apply.

As for the world directly outside of Reed, that's pretty awesome too. Unlike most small liberal arts colleges, Reed is not in the middle of nowhere. Portland, Oregon, is the greatest city in the world and one of the weirdest too, but most students (especially the freshmen), don't take advantage of it. Reed tends to create a "bubble", out of which it is seemingly hard to escape but is actually quite easy if you try. I recommend going to the Hotcake House at least once before you leave.

General overview:

Academics at Reed are stellar. Be prepared to work your ass off; it'll be worth it. Your professor will know your name (unless he's old and senile, like Joe Bob), and you will know his or her first name/nickname (e.g., Joe Bob). Class participation is mandatory. If you don't like talking about your schoolwork outside of class, don't come here. If reading isn't your thing, don't bother applying (unless you're a math or science major) because you will hate it here.

My experience:

I've struggled here, and I considered myself a smart guy in high school. I've been on academic probation once and official warning twice. I've failed a class, and I still consider myself a smart guy. If I weren't a Psych major, I would have flunked out by now. People give Psych majors a hard time because they have "less work" than other majors, which is somewhat true: Psychology journal articles generally have fewer pages of reading and some of the profs assign shorter papers, but there's just as much time and critical thinking involved. A lot of the shit Psych majors get from other students is a result of academic dick-measuring, which happens A LOT at Reed. "Oh, you have 200 pages of reading to do? Well I have 300 pages of reading AND a 17-page paper due on Friday!" I have it better off though, because the Psych department has the most helpful professors on campus. I highly recommend taking "Thinking" with Dan Reisberg before he retires.

The math department is also rad. I was almost a math major, and my favorite class ever continues to be Intro to Number Theory with Jamie Pommersheim. If you're into math, take a class with Jamie before you leave here. He's awesome.

Reedies are the most intelligent, most awkward, and consistently atypical people I've ever met. There is no "Reedie prototype." We're different, and motivated by one thing: learning. Learning about the world, learning about each other, learning about ourselves. There's really not much more I can say.

Reed social life is really hard to describe because there are so many niches I don't know about, which is interesting because there are only 1300 students. Hmm.

Let's start with the dating scene. There's an old saying about Reedies and romantic involvement: "If you sleep together, you're dating. If you sleep together for more than two weeks, you're in a relationship. And if you're with someone for a month, you're married." Obviously, this isn't exactly true, but it does indicate the brevity of most Reed relationships. Now, getting laid can be hard if you're not just a little bit slutty, and this applies no matter what gender you are. If you're really desperate, going to a dance party oughtta do the trick. Also, because Reedies are extremely socially awkward, hooking up rarely happens in the absence of alcohol. The exception to this is the "library relationship", which is what happens when mutual admiration goes beyond making bedroom eyes at the person sitting across the room at another desk in the library. These rarely come to fruition, however, because the two people involved are usually too damn awkward to say anything.

All of this awkardness (well, most of it anyway) disappears at Renn Fayre, which is a campus-wide explosion of substances and bodily fluids (both the good and the bad) beginning on the last day of classes. However, Renn Fayre is no fun unless you create a project. Develop an idea, fill out an application, get the money, and make cool shit happen.

Let's see, what else?

There are no fraternities or sororities. The closest thing to a frat we have are the rugby team and the ultimate frisbee team. The women's rugby team, named "Bad-ass Sparkle Princesses", is also more fraternity than sorority.

Reed parties are pretty cool. There is usually alcohol available, but no pressure to drink. There are sometimes other drugs, depending on who is in attendance. There's usually an off-campus party every other weekend, and there's something on campus every weekdend. The on-campus events are, with few exceptions, fucking awesome. Some of my favorites: Drag Ball, Masquerade Ball, Hum Play, Harvest Ball (Halloween), Daft Ball (Daft Punk dance party), and Dia de los Muertos. Queer Prom is pretty cool too. One notable exception to awesomeness is Winter Formal, which is just an excuse for freshmen to get laid. It was fun my freshmen year and fucking lame every year afterwards.

If you seek a party school, look elsewhere. If you seek inane, drunken conversations about your favorite show on MTV or how awesome it was to go to the mall and oh my god check out my makeup, Reed is not the place for you. You will be miserable. If however, you would love to debate (drunkenly or not) the merits of Piaget's Theory of Mind and its implications for childhood development while there's a keg in the next room, please come to Reed. We'd love to have you.

-Never leave the library

-Drugs are everywhere

-Socially awkward

-Intellectually curious

-Arrogant

-We're all athiest bastards

-We're all dirty commies

-More or less true depending on your major

-Not really true. The majority of Reedies do not use drugs (alcohol being a notable exception), but Reed gets a reputation for being a druggie school because Reedies are more open about drug use than students at other schools. Yes, drug use occurs, but no more than at any other college. It's just that the drug culture here is much less underground, and as a result, it's generally less seedy and dangerous. It's also more experimental. You have science majors taking acid not because they want to get "fucked up" but because they're interested in the neurochemistry that's taking place in their brains. In sum, most students don't do drugs, but the ones that do are pretty adventurous and open about it, and that's where the reputation comes from. Also Renn Fayre.

-When I was a freshmen, I told a fifth-year senior I was having girl problems. He responded, "Reedies are the most awkward people you'll ever meet in your life." He was right.

-Absolutely true. They're fucking brilliant to boot.

-A little bit. It varies from person to person, but we do have a tendency to be snarky and sarcastic to people we consider to be ignorant.

-Not really true, although I have met a couple of athiests who are assholes to Christians and other believers, but they're few and far-between. That said, Reedies are mostly non-religious, but the one's who are religious aren't evangelical about it.

-Reed has a reputation for being a bastion of socialist thought, but the students today are far less politically radical than they used to be. That said, Reed is still a liberal school, so if you come here and you're open and out about being Republican, be prepared for some harassment.

If you wear polo shirts and plaid shorts, do not enroll at this institution. If you pop your collar without being ironic, stay the fuck out of Portland.