<p>NJ Mom, extremely few Reed students failed the junior quals. I can’t recall whether any did in my class, but certainly some may have. I view that exam in retrospect as akin to the comprehensive exams or prelim exams that PhD students must pass, in the sense that most students pass these exams but they help students to stay focused and to integrate what they’re learning in different courses.</p>
<p>We were aware that some kids left Reed before graduating. One of my suite-mates in freshman year left after that first year. He could do the work but he really didn’t “fit” there. (I have a story about him that I tell my own students, but needn’t get into that here.) A few others whom I can recall leaving decided that after two years they had gotten a lot of what was special about Reed – the freshman and sophomore required humanities courses (equivalent to roughly 6 semester-long courses in the classics and great books – “Western Civ” at that time). I know one who transferred to Stanford so that he could go into Chinese studies. I know another who transferred to Berkeley. </p>
<p>So it’s not necessarily that these admitted students who don’t finish Reed can’t handle the academic demands. They may just decided to move on to another school. My guess is that even nowadays most of the Reed students who do not graduate do not become true “dropouts” who don’t finish college; they just change schools, or they take a break to find themselves (or to find money to continue their schooling) and in some cases come back to Reed and in some do not. But of course there’s that famous case of Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple Computer), who really did drop out of Reed, though I think he’s since earned an honorary degree there.</p>
<p>When I started at Reed, my older brother – a year ahead of me – was attending UCLA. And if I recall correctly, a whole lot of freshmen in those days had to take English 1A, commonly referred to as “dumbbell English.” And I also recall (perhaps inaccurately) that there was a high freshman flunk-out rate at UCLA. So the idea that the fact that you were admitted to college was no guarantee that you’d graduate didn’t seem unusual to me.</p>
<p>I do know that a few kids had trouble finishing their thesis. And one student from my era who attended the Reed reunion last summer told his story that since he missed the thesis submission deadline, he wasn’t allowed to graduate with his class. I have a feeling – but it’s just a feeling – that the thesis was more of a hurdle to finishing than were junior quals. But both of these, especially since they were universal requirements, not just things that, say, only “honors” students would have to complete, doubtless account for some of Reed’s attrition.</p>
<p>Reed is a demanding place academically. But I think the fact that it doesn’t emphasize grades (grades are kept as a matter of record – for a transcript – but are not routinely reported to students) helped to foster a cooperative spirit among students. I think that in its own way, the fact that Caltech grades certain freshman courses and a fair number of elective courses on a pass-fail basis – in the context of an extremely talented student body experiencing an extremely demanding curriculum – also fosters a spirit of cooperation there and helps to reduce students’ anxiety about how well they are doing (though Caltech has an elevated attrition rate among the elite universities). The point I want to make is that the fact that the curriculum may be demanding does not foster a high degree of competitiveness at either Reed or Caltech. And I would speculate that the grading systems have something to do with this.</p>