Some Reid-questions

[failte-aoife.livejournal.com]

I started writing a CM-Fic, and I've some questions about Reid.

1. Do we ever get a time-line, except for the fact, that he graduated high-school with 12? Like where and when he went to university, and when he joined the BAU?
2. Is there any reference in the show what his ph.d's are? So far I've read 'Math, Physics and an unknown third subject' and 'Math, Physics and Engineering' on fan-pages and 'Math, Chemistry and Engineering' in the Collins-books, but I really can't remember that they ever mentioned something in the show.
3. OK, this is not so much Reid but rather the US-school-system (excuse my complete ignorance). What would be a normal age to graduate from high-school? Do you go to university immediately after high-school, or is there something else first?

Comments

[failte-aoife.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that helped a lot, thanks!
(You really don't notice how little you know about some people, until you write about them...)

[diemme.livejournal.com]

Reid references the "Las Vegas public school system" so I'm guessing it would be the school nearest his home. American schools work by zoning mostly. Reid is 24 in 2005, I think, so he would have graduated high school in 1993.

Most American kids graduate around the 17-18 age range and I'd wager most kids going to college go straight from high school.

Maths, Physics and Psychology, maybe?

[severity-softly.livejournal.com]

As far as the first two, I don't think there is an ACTUAL canon timeline on him or statement regarding his degrees, though if someone else can point to canon evidence, I would love to hear it.

In the US, people are generally 18 when they graduate high school. Whether they go immediately to college varies greatly by individual, depending on their desire to go to college, their financial situations, etc. etc., though it is commonly accepted to to go directly from High School to College.

[spence-reid.livejournal.com]

Judging by the fact that Reid has not JUST started at the BAU at the start of the show, he probably took combined high school and undergrad and combined his master's work with his Ph.D.
Also, I know there's talk of him having math, physics and engineering degrees, but I think those are just stereotypical smart people or nerd degrees so that's what people thought about him. I would think that he would have at least one psychology degree and probably one in linguistics. It might say on the show, but I'm not sure. If I'm wrong, please say!

[theonlynonny.livejournal.com]

That makes more sense to me too. Plus, he wanted to know what was wrong with his mom and possible himself. But really he has a strong background in a lot it seems.

Is there no phd program for criminology?

[califmole.livejournal.com]

Well we know one of his doctoral degrees isn't in Psychology, since he had to ask Gideon to perform a psychological assessment of Nathan Harris (the kid who Reid suspected was a budding serial killer in Sex, Birth & Death).

The show has told us that he graduated high school at 12 and that "Math, Physics and something else" are his degrees. Some fans speculate that one of his degrees may be related to languages or the esoteric field of psycholinguistics, since Reid is given the task of analyzing any writings--it's clearly not just because he's a fast reader. So if you're writing fanfic, you can feel free to play and pick a degree you think makes sense for your story, or just do what the show does and never refer to it.

As far as his schooling, he was in the Las Vegas public school system, so he most likely went to the high school closest to where he lived. As others have said, most students graduate from high school when they are 17 or 18. A bachelor's degree is generally planned as a 4 year course of study, but that can vary depending on courseload, whether summer sessions are involved and if the student took college level courses for credit while still in high school. After that, how long it takes to get his first doctorate depends very much on where he's studying, and the field he's studying. There are combined master/doctoral programs, etc.

Since we're introduced to Reid as a young agent but an experienced one in the pilot episode (he knew Gideon before Gideon's break down, for instance), to make that timeline make sense, tthere's also a possibility that Reid finished up one or more of his doctorates while working at the FBI.

Obviously there's a lot of gray area here. So you can view this as an opportunity to make Reid's backstory make sense with your writing. After all, fanfic helps fill in the holes that the writers and producers leave behind.

[theonlynonny.livejournal.com]

I figured that was just due to Ried being partial and somewhat emotionally attached. Also Gideon was the expert.

[nebula99.livejournal.com]

The subject of Reid's PhDs has never been mentioned on the show - so you can feel free to make them whatever you want!

They could be French, Chemistry and Modern Dance - but I think that is unlikely.

[knit.livejournal.com]

They have PhDs in modern dance? Win. lol.

[failte-aoife.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that really drove me mad. I was so sure that they never mentioned it in the show, but nearly everybody said something about Math and Physics.
(*lol* for the Modern Dance :D)

[shortypenguin.livejournal.com]

-snort-

I just had a funny picture of poor reid in tights dancing...

and falling horribly over himself. :D

[batgurl88]

Collins is definitely making it up. On top of the inconsistencies between the degrees he gives in the two books, they also contrast what one of the show's members (prettty sure it was MGG) said Reid's possible degrees were. As far as I'm concerned, it's not canon until it's said *in* the show, and it most certainly has not been mentioned yet.

[failte-aoife.livejournal.com]

Really? I didn't notice that, I could swear it were it were Math, Chemisty and Engeneerining in both :o

[theonlynonny.livejournal.com]

I assume he went to UNLV or somewhere in las vegas (same as highschool) since in revelations they show him at 18 with the poeple to take his mom in to the instuition. But that is just my assumption.

Normaly age to graduate highschool is 18 sometimes 17 or 19(based on birthday, obv). Ussually go straight to college the following fall.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think he would have gone to UNLV, probably one of the top uni's in U.S.A. From what I understand he wouldn't legally be able to take charge of his mother's affairs until he was 18, so I don't think that had anything to do with where he went to college. I agree that his PHD's are in Maths, Physics and either linguistics or psychology or a combination of the two (psycholinguistics sounds good to me).