Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2011 - (Page 44)

students review The Students Review series is intended to aid prospective college students in their search by offering insiders’ views of selected colleges and universities, as expressed by current undergraduates or recent graduates who have high academic ability. Note that the number of reviewers is small. Consider their personal perspectives as only one factor as you gather information and impressions from many sources. Our reviewers include 20 students who major(ed) in: art history (1), biology (3), chemistry (1), Chinese (1), English (6), international policy studies (1), linguistics (2), philosophy (4), psychology (2), and Russian (1). (The number of majors exceeds 20 because two reviewers completed double majors.) Reviewers’ comments appear within quotation marks. Reed College that go on to earn PhDs, in everything from physics to chemistry to the social sciences to English literature. It’s hard to make a better argument about the richness and vigor of Reed’s academics than the fact that its graduates fan out so successfully across so many disciplines.” Senior Thesis process is taxing and “The intense, but also inspiring, challenging, and ultimately leads to a finished product that Reed graduates are quite proud of. The whole campus celebrates on the last day of classes with the Senior Thesis Parade. Seniors don laurel wreathes, burn rough drafts in a bonfire, and ecstatically congratulate one another.” Quality of Academic Instruction for Undergraduates Reviewers used superlatives in praising the quality of education at Reed. education at Reed is superb, and “The like most of my friends, I was drawn to the college specifically for its commitment to rigor and for the intellectual character of the student body. The core curriculum is structured around Humanities 110, an interdisciplinary survey of ancient Greece and Rome, in which all students learn how to be critical of ideas and what makes an argument work. This is the only course that all Reedies take, and it is complemented by the other shared experience at the other end of the academic program, the Senior Thesis. Completing a Reed thesis demands an extraordinary depth of engagement and commitment to the subject. Reed prides itself on producing senior theses that compare favorably with, and indeed are often developed into, PhD dissertations.” quality of pedagogy at Reed is “The staggering. Professors are hired and tenured based largely upon their teaching record, and it shows. Not only are they scholars of the highest caliber, but they truly love teaching undergraduates. Professors facilitate classroom discussion by asking questions, employing the Socratic method rather than lecturing. Relationships between professors and students are marked by a sense of respect, camaraderie, and shared inquiry.” “Grading is another distinctive feature. Professors assign grades, but they are not shown to students unless they request them. Instead, professors give extensive written commentary on students’ papers and assignments. They point out flaws in your argument, highlight particularly well-written or well-argued passages, and give you a great understanding of why your paper was good and how it could have been better. This is much more helpful than getting an A; it fosters the idea that there is always room for improvement.” “Reed has one of the best undergraduate programs on the planet. It provides extensive training in the most important skill of all: critical thinking. The cross-disciplinary core, coupled with the intense depth of the Senior Thesis experience, gives students a thorough grounding in how to think, and this critical thinking background allows students to be successful in whatever fields they choose. Reed ranks in the top 5 schools nationally in the percentage of graduates Social Life Reviewers all loved Reed’s social world. “Reedies are creative and strange and eclectic and generally awesome. A quintessential Reed student organization is the Defenders of the Universe, which erects incredibly intricate structures basically overnight in strange places on campus. I’ve seen a human-sized, fully functional hamster wheel in the Student Union, a see-saw made out of two full-sized couches, and all sorts of interesting climbing and rolling structures scattered around campus.” theme dorms reflect the geekery “The of the student body, including Tir na nOg (the Fantasy/Sci-Fi dorm), J-dorm (Japanese culture), MadSci (Math/Science), and Ancient Civ. These are not just living arrangements, but ways of life, as Tir na nOg runs storytelling events, J-dorm holds anime movie events, MadSci makes Nitrogen Ice Cream, and Ancient Civ holds gladiatorial battles and chariot races. Role-playing games are also a strong cultural element at Reed.” “Social life at Reed is thriving! Every weekend there’s a dance party to go to, or a film screening, or a speaker, or games to play... the list goes on. Dance parties are one of my favorite Reed pastimes because 44 imagine Nov/Dec 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2011

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2011
Big Questions
In My Own Words
Latin Geek
Latin in Rome
Made in Greece ... or Was It?
Classics for All
Pillaging the Past
The Aqueduct Hunters
What’s Old is News
Selected Opportunities & Resources
Girls on Ice
Nurturing a Passion for Science at the National Youth Science Camp
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Game

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2011