<p>Reed is an excellent small liberal arts college. Brandeis is an excellent, small liberal arts college functioning within a world-class research university. It’s a trick to pull that off, but they do, and the undergraduates benefit from that special combination.</p>
<p>Take a look at this: [Find</a> Out What?s Cooking in the Chemistry Lab | Brandeis University](<a href=“BrandeisNOW”>BrandeisNOW)</p>
<p>If you haven’t seen this piece, including the video, it may be helpful to you in understanding the excellent undergraduate research opportunities that are available at Brandeis. These are the foundation of both its exceptional med school acceptance rate and excellent rates of admission to top doctoral degree programs. One great example is Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Rod MacKinnon who began his research career as an undergrad at Brandeis, went on to med school and then returned to Brandeis for post-doc studies. Another good example of the exceptional science teaching/research environment at Brandeis is Biochem Professor, Greg Petsko who left MIT to come to Brandeis to conduct his ground-breaking research and teach undergrads in a nuturing environment. All of this is possible because of Brandeis’ special position as a top tier research university combined with a small liberal arts college. BTW, here’s a brief article describing the impressive ranking of Brandeis’ own doctoral programs (many among the best in the nation): </p>
<p>[Brandeis</a> doctoral programs rate high in national survey | BrandeisNOW](<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2010/november/nationalresearchcouncil.html]Brandeis”>Brandeis doctoral programs rate high in national survey | BrandeisNOW)</p>
<p>This is very relevant to undergraduates because, at Brandeis, undergrads and grad students both work side-by-side with the same professors.</p>
<p>Plus, here’s an article about the large number of recent Brandeis undergrads, including Physics majors, receiving NSF graduate research fellowships:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/april/nsf.html[/url]”>http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/april/nsf.html</a></p>
<p>Brandeis truly is an amazing school. Its small student body- the smallest I believe (about 800 in a class) of any top tier national research university–is matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes. So, as alluded to earlier, the research opportunities are tremendous. Plus, as you know it’s very close to Boston, the world’s greatest college town, but on its own suburban campus with a cohesive community–really the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Its intellectual environment is comparable in many ways to its University Athletic Association sister school, U Chicago (perhaps no coincidence that the President of U Chicago is a Brandeis alum). Yet its students are down-to-earth, friendly and non-competitive with one another. </p>
<p>Despite its small size and relative youth, Brandeis’ alumni are very distinguished–to name just a few: in the sciences, in addition to Nobel Laureate Rod Mackinnon, Fields Medal winning physicist Edward Witten (often called “Einstein’s successor”); in journalism and literature, 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman of the NY Times, The Earth is Flat etc. and Mitch Albom of Tuesday’s with Morrie (about his Brandeis professor); in the performing arts, the Creators/Producers of Friends and actress Debra Messing; and in business, Robert FX Sillerman (billionaire businessman–currently owner of American Idol and Graceland), Jeff Lurie, billionaire owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and Christy Hefner, former CEO of Playboy). </p>
<p>On the question of whether Brandeis is the right fit for you, I believe the kind of person who would feel comfortable at Brandeis is an intellectual and/or creative sort who is friendly and comfortable with himself or herself and not competitive or pretentious. Intellectual but down-to-earth and friendly I think is an apt description of the student body. Unlike some preppy place or frat-oriented environments where social interraction is based on the “exclusivity” of the frat system, Brandeis has a welcoming, relatively-nonjudgmental environment–yet there are some off-campus frats for those who like what they have to offer. There is no pressure to party, but parties are there if you want them. Often social interaction centers around the numerous clubs and other terrific extracuriculars like music and theater–if you’re into theater/music/art, there’s a ton of high quality opportunities and it’s a very exciting place to be.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>