<p>fondly puts on an elegantly calligraphed Love Reed lapel pin from decades past…</p>
<p>Reed provides unsurpassed and profoundly transformative education yet remains an “undiscovered gem” school.</p>
<p>If relatively fewer kids from acronym prep schools matriculate to Reed, I’d guess there are a variety of selection biases in play: As noted in OP, it’s not a “preppy” place. As noted by 7D, the kinds of selection criteria that land you in HADES (be it location, prestige, etc) might continue that bias toward going to Big Name University. I’ll add that if you are a varsity athlete and wish to continue your sport, Reed is unlikely to be at the top of your list.</p>
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<p>The Reedies I know are not only brilliant thinkers, they are profoundly interesting people. Reed has always had a self-selecting bias, appealing to idiosyncratic and iconoclastic thinkers. And yes, along with all that swimming against the cultural currents, comes a fair bit of self-medicating and exploration.</p>