<p>nhyn- I’m actually not an international student, but my feeling is that there’s no way they wouldn’t accept you just because you’re also from Vietnam. College admissions is competitive and stressful, but once you have your app in you’ve done your best. My own feeling (this is somewhat idealistic, I know) is that Reed really does work to accept students they think will fit, regardless of where they’re coming from. Of course things like aid play a part, but yeah. My two cents. I wouldn’t worry about it. ;)</p>
<p>About getting into Reed… I was actually really surprised when it happened. There was one school I thought was my perfect fit (Whitman) and I interviewed for them, worked really hard with them, and talked with the adcom. I knew it was a reach… but thought I had a really good chance. Then, for some reason, my other apps were sort of stupidly chosen… lots of places I didn’t want to go. I always thought Reed would be way too much of a reach and wasn’t going to bother. Then, quite literally, three or four days before the app was due I realized that I really wanted to go to Reed and I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t apply. I slopped the app together as quickly as I could and was missing some things (I never took any SATIIs, I didn’t have a chance to try and interview, I didn’t actually have a graded paper because my only papers that year were written for a community college where the professor didn’t comment and graded them all together in a portfolio) and didn’t spend time on others (my poor “Why Reed” essay was written in 20 minutes and I didn’t have time to even reread it) because I was heavily involved in a play at school and had no time. So, heavens knows what made the admissions office think I was a good choice, but I’m sure as heck grateful they did. I like to think that my love of academics showed through but who knows. :P</p>
<p>My favorite part about Reed is the academic aspect. My professors area amazing and I’ve never been in a community where learning for the sake of learning is so heavily emphasized. Its amusing when my friends and I talk, we all have wildly different interests (most of my friends are science/math types whereas I’m a Classics major) but everyone of us has the subject or two where we have the geekiest moments…</p>
<p>regarzy~ I’m not completely sure about research opprotunities since I’m just a wee little freshman, but I’ve heard really good things about our psych department and the availibility of research and help to get research. Sorry I can’t be more helpful on this subject…</p>
<p>As to a normal college day… hmm…</p>
<p>M-W-F</p>
<p>7:30- Wake Up
8:00- Breakfast with my group of friends (and generally studying for Greek quiz)
9:00- Hum lecture (first row!)
10:00- Physics lecture
11:00- Greek Class
12:00- Lunch
1:00- Religion Class
2:00- “study time” (I usually just went and hung out in Commons… or I went back to my dorm, set my alarm, and took a nap)
3:10- Hum Conference
4:30- Study Time (this sometimes turned into mindless internetting [livejournaling, facebooking, whatever I could use to procrastinate with] depending on the workload/what was most pressing/how tired I was)
5:30- Walk around dorm and find people to eat dinner with
6:30- Crack the books/get reading/get organized
[During this period I’d never be completely on task, usually I’d walk around the dorm every hour or so to see who else was off task, “hall parties” (where a bunch of people suddenly find themselves standing in the hall talking when they’re supposed to be working) would often ensue.
9:30- Call it a night… try to do something I like (read/draw/maybe write)
10:30ish- Bed</p>
<p>The sleeping thing really depends on who you are. I have friends who like studying at night (or don’t mind studying at night) and so they often stay up late. I can’t focus at all after about 10 or so and so trying to work past that is meaningless. Thus, getting my work done by 10 is a priority and I do everything in my power to succeed. If I find its 11 or later and I still have a lot of work, I set my alarm for 6:30 or 7 and work then. Also, on T-Th my first class wasn’t until 11 which gave me a lot of morning work time. </p>
<p>Weekends sort of depend on what’s due. On Hum Paper weekends (Hum papers are due Saturdays at 5 PM) I always inevitably had a religion paper due as well. These were the only weekends I didn’t feel like I had too much free time. Even after a Hum paper is due, there’s fun to be had. I have quite a few friends who go to parties/dance parties on weekends, something I’m not into but they seem to like. I have friends who get out and about Portland. I’ve noticed Friday evenings are when people tend to relax and a lot of the time most people don’t have to work Saturdays too much. Sunday tends to be the busiest of the days when everyone is buried in their text books. </p>
<p>So… from my own experience, the Reed freshman workload (I can’t speak to later years as I know the work only increases…) can be unbearable… but it isn’t usually too bad. Mind, this doesn’t stop me from complaining about it when everyone else is… :P</p>