Reed College

Location: Portland, Oregon

Enrollment: 1,400

Acceptance Rate: 31%

SAT/ACT: 2055/31 (average scores of those accepted into the class of 2020)

Tuition: $51,850

Athletics: n/a

Mascot: Griffin

Colors: Richmond red

Bonus: Reed will meet 100% of whatever financial need an applicant has that cannot otherwise be met.

I was able to visit Reed this past summer and explore the campus through a guided tour, and the academics through an instructional session. Though the school is relatively small, something I wasn’t sure I’d like, it became more appealing after hearing about all of the different outdoor excursions and community events the school organizes. Even though the school has only one graduate program, (Master of Arts in Liberal Studies), the undergraduate curriculum provides a well-rounded and largely self-selected educational path. The classes that you take are classified into groups and there’s a requirement of credits within each group. They offer majors from International Comparative Policy Studies to Russian to Mathematics, and also have dual-degree programs that allow students to work with other schools such as the California Institute of Technology and the Portland Northwest College of Art. This school would be great for anyone who wants to live within a short distance of Portland and would like to attend a liberal arts college that provides a wide array of activities and academics to its students.