RogueXgirl

*sigh* after reading all the fabulous stats I feel like my chance for Reed would go way down arggg... I'm a transferring applicant though....>.<

al390dunkwa

Think again RogueXgirl. My daughter's SAT scores were respectable but not great (620 verbal, 610 math, 610 writing) and she was accepted although won't attend because of the cost. I believe her strengths aren't "testable" and Reed is able to see that. They were able to see that in her interview, essays, and writing sample. Don't let the stats on this forum guide your decision.

RogueXgirl

Thanks al390dunkwa. I am a transfer student so hopefully they dont care too much about SAT. I have a good GPA in college, somewhat activities, I think my essays are okay... but thing is, I am an international student and applying for aid, my FC isnt very high... so it makes it more competitive to get in *sigh* Oh well, all I can do now is wait for the decision

piezor

Wow, I must have had the worst test scores ever or something. O_o

ACCEPTED

GPA: 3.75/4
SAT: 1790
ACT: 32
SAT IIs: High 500s to low 600s
Rank: 75 out of 500 something
AP classes: 6 AP classes this year, with 5 APs from previous years
AP tests: US 5, World 5, Psych 4, English 4

Essays: I thought I did fairly well and expression a lot of genuine interest in the school. Was probably one of the stronger points in my application.

Recommendations: I'm guessing they were quite phenomenal. I had two wonderful teachers and one councilor write them, and they each knew me fairly well.

ECs: A bunch of school clubs, mostly cultural and art based.

Additional Info: I've done research with a lab at our local hospital, spent the last summer studying at Cambridge University, UK, and the year before that at our state governor's school.

sogrady

Accepted.

GPA: 3.6/4 (not very good in my school)
SAT: 2160 (1410 on the old version)
SAT II: US History 710, English Lit 710
AP's: My school did not offer AP classes, but I took these for the hell of it: US Hist 5, Euro Hist 5, English Lit 5

Essays: Mentioned a ton of Reed-specific things (including their posters) and highlighted some interests of mine (like German)

Rec's: One from my German teacher to support the interest in the language and one from my English teacher.

EC's: cultural clubs and writing clubs

Location: New York City--my school is a prep school geared towards kids of a lower income bracket, but this does not help all that much when the school kills my GPA and all other Reed applicants also go into Yale/Brown/etc.

Additional Info: Study abroad for a moth in Germany/annual Oktoberfest skit. I also found a loophole in the "Writing Sample" submission that allowed me to submit graded creative writing instead of a research paper, which was useful because I have a habit of tossing those research ones out.

laughable

Seriously, folks, "stats" are the very least important of factors related to Reed admission. Much luck to the admitted students that submitted information about their test scores and personal evalution of writing samples and essays. However, those weak estimates of the unmeasurable values cherished by Reed faculty, administration, and students may be ill-suited as a guide for potential applicants. An extremely wide range (relative to peer institutions) of numbers and "quality" of writing and recommendations find their way into Hum 110.

Above all else, try to find a way to visit.

ekmoore

Accepted, and sent my deposit off last week.

GPA: 5.26 weighted, and I don't know unweighted off the top of my head, alas.
SAT: 2140 (all three)
ACT: 31
SAT IIs: 770 English, 750 US History, 580 French (haha)
Rank: 14 out of 300ish
APs: 9 total in HS, all 4s and 5s so far.

Essays: Who can say, really? I was pretty informal and liked them even after i'd hit submit. guess that's a good sign. I think my personal statement started with "I am a pink haired atheist vegan", for what it's worth.

Recommendations: My two favorite history teachers sent them off, so I hope they were good.

ECs: no sports or music, just clubs. President of two: French (the irony!) and Junior Civitan.
.

infiniheart

Accepted! I visited the first week of April and handed in my deposit then. So excited!

GPA: 3.86 UW, 4.26 W
SAT: Took it once, got a 2200. CR 720, M 720, W 780.
SAT IIs: 740 Math IIC, 720 Spanish, 710 US History
Rank: 29 / 500something (my high school is pretty competitive, and I don't care about grades nearly as much as my peers do)
AP classes/tests: European Civ (3), Spanish (4), Calc AB (5), Computer Science AB (4), US History (5), Calc BC (5), English Language (5). Currently taking Environmental Science, English Lit, and Gov.
Other: I took third-semester calc this year at a local community college and got a C in it. My professor was awful and I didn't learn a single thing! (I didn't study or do homework either, but...)

Essays: I copied and pasted my "table" essay from my EA UChicago app--an essay I was fairly pleased with, but I was too lazy to write another one. It wasn't exceptionally eccentric or anything, but it was well-written and showed my "voice". I've made a conscious decision not to go back and re-read any of my essays, but I think my "Why Reed" essay was okay. I hadn't ever visited Portland or the campus, so it was based purely on my perceptions of the school and what I'd read on their website and on Wikipedia.
Writing Sample: I sent in a copy of a 12-page log I wrote about One Hundred Years of Solitude for my AP Lit class. I attached a preface explaining what a log is--you pick a book and write whatever you want about it. I also explained that most logs written are written the night/morning before they're due, mine included. In my log, I talked about Arrested Development, Pan's Labyrinth, and Salvador Dali. I think my analysis was pretty good, too.
Recommendations: One from my US History teacher probably talked about how I'm "unique". I'm sure the rec was good, though. The other one, from my calc teacher, talked about how I'm hard-working (false, but oh well).

ECs: Co-President of Leo Club, Leadership positions in FBLA, Peer Counseling, & Young Democrats, Member of Link Crew, Water Polo, NHS, Food Not Bombs. Worked at an accounting firm and at Bed Bath & Beyond. Most of my ECs are not at all representative of me or my personality.

Interview: I had an interview when an admissions rep came to San Diego. Since I had the advantageous last spot of the night, we talked for a good 15 minutes past the 30-minute mark until someone kicked us out of the room. We talked about bands we both like, books, movies, and lots of other fun things. By far the best interview I had.

Location
State or Country: San Diego, California
Description of school: Public, 4x4 schedule, somewhat competitive, upper-middle class suburbs
Ethnicity: Asian + Caucasian
Gender: Female
Hook?: Nothing!

For anyone looking at this to try to figure out whether or not they'll get into Reed, comparing your stats with ours is essentially pointless. Though statistics are of considerable importance, the admissions office ultimately decides whether you're a good fit for Reed, and I think a large part of that decision doesn't take statistics into account. So don't worry about it--there's nothing you can really do to control their decision and college admissions are so arbitrary in general. You'll end up somewhere good regardless!

vugbug

Still managed to get in, regardless of test scores. Reed is my new obsession.

GPA: 3.964 UW
SAT: 1840. CR 600, M 640, W 600.
SAT IIs: 540 US History, 600 Chemistry, 680 Biology
Rank: 25 / 525?
AP classes/tests: Chemistry (3), Biology (4) Took two AP classes.

Essays: Why Reed = basically wrote about what I did when I visited and what I thought about it.
Writing Sample: Paper on Roman citizenship
Recommendations: Math teacher and Bio teacher

ECs and other things: Link Crew, NHS, cross country, Key Club (prez and VP), math and science club, research internship (science)

No interview

Location
State: Oregon
Description of school: Public, upper-middle class suburbs
Gender: Female

calewithac

Accepted.

GPA: 3.8 u/w
SAT: -
SAT II: -
ACT: 28
AP's: Calc AB - 4, Physics - 3

Essays: very personal and humorous about religion... and a very reed-specific "why reed" tying it in with my "want for knowledge," and another essay about my european trip that was very personal and used sufjan steven's song "chicago" as a tie-in.

Rec's: my english teacher who's an alum wrote a very very long rec that was amazing. one from my principal, which i'm sure was good. i also had to submit another from my history teacher.

EC's: tons of theater, lots of music, lots of community service with political organizations, help with political campaigns.

Location: rural massachusetts - i went to a performing arts charter school.
Gender: male

Additional Info: i applied last year and was waitlisted, so i took a gap year (deferring from l&c) and traveled through europe. they ate up my european trip essay, in that i talked about how i grew as a person and about all the mistakes i made there. i also got an interview this year, which i wasn't able to last year.