Reed College
Portland, Oregon | Admissions Phone: 503-777-7511
E-mail: admission@reed.edu | Website: www.reed.edu
ADMISSION
Admission Rate: 35%
Admission Rate - Men: 34%
Admission Rate - Women: 36%
EA Admission Rate: N/A
ED Admission Rate: 17%
Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -13%
ED Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -50%
% of Admits Attending (Yield): 17%
Transfer Admission Rate: 23%
# Offered Wait List: 1,331
# Accepted Wait List: 477
# Admitted Wait List: 80
SAT Reading/Writing (Middle 50%): 670-750
SAT Math (Middle 50%): 640-770
ACT Composite (Middle 50%): 30-33
Testing Policy: ACT/SAT Required
SAT Superscore: Yes
ACT Superscore: Yes
% Graduated in Top 10% of HS Class: 55%
% Graduated in Top 25% of HS Class: 78%
% Graduated in Top 50% of HS Class: 97%
ENROLLMENT
Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 1,483
% Part-Time: 2%
% Male: 46%
% Female: 54%
% Out-of-State: 93%
% Fraternity: Not Offered
% Sorority: Not Offered
% On-Campus (Freshman): 99%
% On-Campus (All Undergraduate): 62%
% African-American: 2%
% Asian: 7%
% Hispanic: 10%
% White: 58%
% Other: 9%
% Race or Ethnicity Unknown: 3%
% International: 10%
% Low-Income: 18%
ACADEMICS
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 10:1
% of Classes Under 20: 71%
% of Classes Under 40: 97%
% Full-Time Faculty: 99%
% Full-Time Faculty w/ Terminal Degree: 95%
Top Programs
Biology
Chemistry
Economics
English
History
Mathematics
Physics
Political Science
Retention Rate: 88%
4-Year Graduation Rate: 68%
6-Year Graduation Rate: 81%
Curricular Flexibility: Somewhat Flexible
Academic Rating: 
FINANCIAL
Institutional Type: Private
In-State Tuition: $58,130
Out-of-State Tuition: $58,130
Room & Board: $14,620
Required Fees: $310
Books & Supplies: $1,050
Avg. Need-Based Aid: $40,278
Avg. % of Need Met: 100%
Avg. Merit-Based Aid: $0
% Receiving Merit-Based Aid: 0%
Avg. Cumulative Debt: $21,697
% of Students Borrowing: 48%
CAREER
Who Recruits
1. TerraCotta Group LLC
2. First Book
3. Cranial Technologies
4. Teach for America
5. Wayfair
Notable Internships
1. Melville House Publishing
2. RTI International
3. Whitney Museum of American Art
Top Industries
1. Business
2. Education
3. Research
4. Media
5. Operations
Top Employers
1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. Apple
4. Intel
5. Amazon
Where Alumni Work
1. Portland, OR
2. San Francisco
3. New York City
4. Seattle
5. Los Angeles
Median Earnings
College Scorecard (Early Career): $42,200
EOP (Early Career): $36,900
PayScale (Mid-Career): $104,900
RANKINGS
Forbes: 105
Money: 665
U.S. News: 68, Liberal Arts Colleges
Wall Street Journal/THE: 75 (T)
Washington Monthly: 40, Liberal Arts Colleges
Inside the Classroom
“A band of fierce intellectuals and the distinctive institution that nurtures them. All in for rigorous scholarship and the joy of intellectual pursuit.” Thus reads the twitter profile of an elite liberal arts school of fewer than 1,500 undergraduates located in Portland, Oregon—the one-and-only Reed College. It would be difficult to create a statement that more aptly sums up this unique institution that, for many, serves primarily as a prelude to a PhD program.
Twenty-three academic departments collectively offer forty majors, fourteen of which are interdisciplinary (e.g., history-literature or mathematics-economics). One of the most storied features of a Reed education is the mandatory, year-long freshman Humanities 110 course that comprehensively explores Greco-Roman culture and its many influences. However, in spring 2018, after a series of student-led protests over the course’s “Eurocentrism,” the school agreed to alter the course to include the study of other cultures. As with the aforementioned twitter statement, that anecdote also helps paint a picture of the Reed experience.
Grades at the college are, paradoxically, both (a) difficult to earn and (b) completely unknown to the students themselves. To ensure that the emphasis on the classroom remains on learning for learning’s sake, grades are issued but not shared with students until graduation. The average GPA earned is 3.1, and only eleven students have graduated with a perfect 4.0 in the last three decades. The educational experience is highly personalized, and students work directly with their professors. Class sizes average seventeen students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 9:1. Study abroad opportunities exist at fifty-two partner university programs in twenty-three countries. The college funds a number of undergraduate research opportunities for students to work alongside faculty, and all students are required to complete their own senior thesis, which is essentially a mini-dissertation under the guidance of a faculty advisor.
The areas in which the highest number of degrees are conferred are the social sciences (17 percent), biology (13 percent), interdisciplinary studies (11 percent), foreign languages (10 percent), psychology (9 percent), and English (7 percent). All majors are viewed favorably by elite graduate programs that are fully aware of the exceptional level of rigor baked into every academic program at the college. English, math, and physics receive particularly strong praise. Competitive fellowship and scholarship programs are also acutely aware of Reed’s excellence and pluck up graduates at exceptionally high rates. In 2018, of a graduating class of just over 300 students, six won Fulbright awards and one took home a Truman Scholarship. In its history, Reed grads have won thirty-two Rhodes Scholarships, sixty-seven Watson Fellowships, and 174 National Science Foundation Fellowships.
Outside the Classroom
Downtown Portland is only ten minutes away, making Reed’s location in the southeastern corner of the city ideal for finding culture, the arts, and entertainment. Public transportation is easy to navigate, so just about anything the uber-progressive City of Roses has to offer is accessible. While 98 percent of freshmen live on campus, only 67 percent of the total student body resides in university-owned housing. Others live in affordable off-campus housing that is easy to locate in the immediate area. There are no fraternities or sororities at Reed, nor is there any semblance of highly completive athletics. There are, however, five intercollegiate club teams in which athletically-inclined students may wish to participate. While most Reedies would say their primary outside-the-classroom activity is “studying,” there are ninety student-run organizations from which to choose, including KRRC, the campus radio station; Quest, the student body’s independent newspaper; and typically “Reedish” groups like the Sky Appreciation Society. Renn Fayre, an annual campus-wide, weekend-long party for graduating seniors is an out-of-control event that is truly beloved by students. Notable amenities include a recently renovated ski cabin on Mt. Hood that students are free to use, and the Watzik Sports Center that boasts a pool, sauna, and climbing wall.
Career Services
The Center for Life Beyond Reed (CLBR) employs five full-time staff members giving it a 297:1 student-to-advisor ratio that is about average for a college included in this guidebook. The guiding mission of the office since a 2012 rebranding is to help students “try to connect the intellectual passions they cultivate during their time here to successful careers.”
On the practical side, the CLBR offers six full-day senior boot camps where students can receive help with resumes, online professional profiles, interview techniques, and helpful contacts in students’ areas of interest. In recent years, it has increased engagement with freshmen and sophomores, encouraging earlier 1:1 advising sessions. The Fall Job Fayre features a limited number of employers and drew only eighty students in 2017. Handshake and the Reed Career Network are the places online to find a job, internships, or connect with alumni. Winter Shadow internships allow current students to join alumni in their places of business. With an intense focus on preparing the next generation of academics and researchers, the campus is not swarming with corporate recruiters, yet Reed does maintain some productive relationships with employers—Microsoft, for example, contributed $500,000 toward the development of the college’s computer science program. Acknowledging its immense level of success in placing students at elite graduate and professional schools, the CLBR serves its unique student population well in spite of below-average starting salaries (more on that in a moment).
Professional Outcomes
An examination of Reed’s alumni database reveals that the three most common occupational pathways are business (28 percent), education (25 percent), and self-employment (19 percent). Included among the most frequent current employers are Microsoft Corporation, Kaiser Permanente, Portland Public Schools, Intel Corporation, the US Department of State, National Institutes of Health, and Apple. Because of the incredible number of students who flock to academia (more on this later), many institutions of higher education are also employers of large numbers of Reed alumni. Salary figures for graduates are low. In fact, at age thirty-four the median Reed graduate makes only $37k, lowest among any of the nation’s elite liberal arts colleges. However, it is important to put that number in proper context because that is the age when many Reed alumni may be completing an advanced degree.
Reed is rarely the final stop on a student’s academic journey. In College Transitions’ analysis of National Science Foundation data, Reed was the No. 1 producer of future PhD holders across all academic disciplines as determined by percentage of graduates attaining that degree. By discipline, Reed was in either first or second place for English, history, biology, and physics. The list of the universities where the highest concentration of grads pursue their doctorates is phenomenal. Included on that list are MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, and Princeton. MBAs were earned at institutions that include Penn, Georgetown, Columbia, and UChicago. Reedies who went the legal route obtained their JDs primarily from top-tier law schools. Recent med school applicants have enjoyed a 70 percent acceptance rate, and many have attended similarly impressive universities as those in other fields already mentioned.
Admission
Reed College’s 35 percent acceptance rate does not do its level of selectivity justice, not that the college cares. Admirably, this institution has long been anti-rankings and has no interest in PR efforts to drum up more applicants for the purpose of enhancing its status. It receives fewer than 6,000 applications per year. Its students are a self-selecting crew who choose to apply to this unique liberal arts school in Portland, Oregon. The middle-50 percent range for enrolled students is 1310-1520 on the SATs and 30-33 on the ACTs. Grades/class rank numbers are impressive but do not automatically exclude those with an imperfect transcript; 55 percent finished in the top 10 percent of their high school class, 78 percent were in the top 25 percent, and 70 percent of students typically sport a GPA of 3.75 or above.
The Reed Admissions Office only designates three factors as being “very important” in its evaluation process: rigor of secondary school record, grades, and essays. Factors deemed “important” are standardized test scores, class rank, interview, demonstrated interest, and recommendations. This is a college that, like Wesleyan on the opposite coast, is looking for intellectual risk-takers whose passion comes through in their writing and in conversation. Applying early definitely helps as 52 percent of ED applicants are accepted (a figure that is unaffected by athletes). Teens who are destined to be Reedies are the ones who fall in love with the school in the first place. Brilliant young people with an open mind who eschew convention will be thrilled to find a home here. Of course, strong credentials will help to make that goal a reality.
Worth Your Money?
At a cost of $75,000 and little available in the way of merit aid, many pay a steep price for attending this institution. Over 50 percent of Reed students do qualify for need-based aid and receive average annual grants of $40k. Undoubtedly, the academic experience here is uniquely wonderful and a perfect fit for a certain type of budding intellectual. Yet, if you don’t qualify for need-based aid and don’t come from a wealthy family, you would have to make sure that the $300,000+ bill for tuition would make sense as part of your life plan. Interestingly, the average student loan debt among Reed graduates is lower than the national average.