Reed is a tiny, liberal arts college. The campus is pretty, but small enough that once you've slept with someone, there's no way to avoid them. You'll keep running into them in commons, or the pool hall, or that class you thought they wouldn't take but they did and now you have to sit in the same room with them three times a week and pretend it isn't awkward. The population of Reed is big enough, however, that I'm still meeting new people in my year. The academics are phenomenal, and Portland's a fun city (although it helps to be 21). It's easy to get involved with student government, or just get some funding for a new extracurricular group. We don't have a football team, but the rugby players are all very dedicated to their sport. Ultimately, Reed is work hard, play hard -- we might stay in the library until 2 AM on a regular basis, but we also have more fun. There's nothing I would change about Reed, and having been here for four years, I can say with absolute certainty that I would make the same choice if I were picking a college now. That said, Reed is NOT for everybody.

Academics at Reed are brutally hard and will probably make you cry at least four times each semester. But then you get to write your thesis, so that's okay. Of course, the process of writing your thesis will probably make you cry at least four times every WEEK, but it's totally worth it. I'm an English major, and while Reed does not have a gender studies program, I've been writing gender studies papers in most of my classes for over two years, and my thesis is on gender dynamics in science fiction television. The professors have been incredibly encouraging and helpful, and I've learned more than I had ever imagined was possible. Reed is a small college, so we don't have the variety of classes that larger universities offer, but I've always been able to study what interests me -- even without a gender studies program, for example, it's possible to focus on gender studies in pretty much any literature class.

Reed is full of hipsters. You can recognize them by their lame haircuts and remarkable ability to name at least five unknown indie bands in any conversation. I try to avoid them.

Reed, like most of Oregon, is very white. I went to a public high school in a major city, so Reed is much whiter than what I'm used to. There are minority students, and a multicultural resource center, and we all interact with one another. Students tend to group themselves based on academic interests and extracurricular interests. For example, a lot of the linguistics students hang out together, and some of them are also in the association of Reed gamers, and they tend to hang out together. My roommate has friendships that seem mostly based on a love of Guitar Hero. The student body as a whole is less inherently politically charged than it used to be, but there are political groups on campus that organize events.

While many students at Reed come from an upper middle class background, there are also many, many students on financial aid. We're ALL worried about finding jobs after graduation, but that has more to do with the current economy than with how well Reed is preparing us for the real world.

Dating at Reed can go well, but if it goes badly it tends to be a complete disaster. There's no way to get away from your ex (especially if you've been dating someone in your dorm), and you'll keep seeing them with their new girlfriend/boyfriend. There's a fair amount of casual sex, which tends to be less awkward. Plus, no one will notice you doing the walk of shame the next day, because lots of Reedies dress weirdly and don't brush their hair on a regular basis.

The best part of Reed is Renn Fayre, which is a three-day party at the end of the year, before reading week and finals week. Renn Fayre begins when the seniors burn their thesis drafts. There's a parade, and other students spray the seniors with champagne. The next day there are fireworks and glow opera (this cannot be described; you have to experience it for yourself), and a giant feast. It's the culmination of an entire year's hard work, an orgiastic catharsis. It's amazing. It makes all those nights you spend working in the library until 2 AM worth it.

That we're all snotty, pretentious assholes who quote Derrida constantly.

Well, there are a lot of snotty, pretentious assholes, but I only quoted Derrida twice last week.

Reed is a crazy, incredibly intense place. It is not right for a lot of people. A lot of people leave -- because they can't handle the workload, because they can't handle the pressure, because they slept with too many people and can't handle the social atmosphere anymore -- but the ones who stay are the ones who think it's worth it. The ones who stay are the kind of people who can bury themselves in academia for days on end and love it. If you don't like learning, this is not the right place for you. But if you've ever found a subject that made you spend sixteen hours straight reading articles and journals and trying to find a new slant, a new angle that will make, say, Shakespeare seem new again, then come to Reed. And try not to quote Derrida too much, because Derrida was a snotty, pretentious asshole, and we have enough people like that.