<p>First off, whether or not my perceived deficiencies allow me to “get” Reed, at least I “get” it enough to realize that you are welcome to attack people’s opinions when you disagree with them, but not the people themselves. That comment was totally uncalled for.</p>
<p>Useless is not the same as worthless. While I agree that it may be a worthwhile personal pursuit to improve the life of the mind through the MALS program (and don’t deny that students will learn a lot and grow intellectually), I don’t see the MALS degree being useful in any sort of professional sense, which seems to be the main reason people pursue post-bac degrees. There are no jobs that I know of that would list Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies as a qualification, even in academia, and Reed openly acknowledges its lack of practicality. </p>
<p>Since it sounds like the OP was more interested in either transferring or taking a few courses at Reed to supplement an existing degree, rather than in enrolling in the MALS program specifically, I think auditing would better fulfill that desire. Especially if finances are a consideration, it makes more sense to audit 9 classes at Reed for $900 than to plop down $33,390+ for a MALS degree. But what it sounds like the OP didn’t realize is how much financial aid (grants and a reasonable amount of loans) is available for Reed undergrads, especially independent students who haven’t had any income in a year, so that it is unlikely s/he will go into $40k of debt per year as s/he thought. That same amount of institutional aid is not available to MALS students, as Reed only offers a “small” scholarship and the rest is made up out-of-pocket or through federal loans.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.reed.edu/mals/index.html[/url]”>http://www.reed.edu/mals/index.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/mals/financial_info/costs.html[/url]”>http://www.reed.edu/mals/financial_info/costs.html</a></p>