Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges | Loren Pope | Essential for students and parents

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Colleges That Chan...

	Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges Loren Pope Penguin (Non-Classics), 2006 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 37 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Now fully revised?the perennially popular guide to choosing the right college

Prospective college students and their parents have been relying on Loren Pope?s expertise since 1995, when he published the first edition of this indispensable guide. This new edition profiles 41 colleges?all of which outdo the Ivies and research universities in producing performers, not only among A students but also among those who get Bs and Cs. Contents include:

? Evaluations of each school?s program and ?personality?
? Candid assessments by students, professors, and deans
? Information on the progress of graduates

This new edition not only revisits schools listed in previous volumes to give readers a comprehensive assessment, it also addresses such issues as homeschooling, learning disabilities, and single-sex education.

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A Book That Has Become a Classic Guide to Colleges

This book, "Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change The Way You Think About Colleges", has become a well-known and classic guidebook read by many during the college selection process. It is the book that first introduces many people to the concept that small liberal arts colleges will often provide a superior education and are a better choices than big universities for many college-bound high school seniors. It challanges the notion that acceptance into an Ivy League or Ivy League wannabe school should be the ultimate goal for typical bright perspective college students. It points out that the Ivy League schools and most large universities target graduate students rather than undergraduate students. It also points out that professors at those schools are often far more interested in research than paying attention to whether undergraduate students are actually learning the subject or not. Small 4-year liberal arts colleges, however, are different. There, class sizes are smaller, and the professors are far more likely to care about whether their students actually understand what is being taught. The small liberal arts colleges are also much easier for the typical high school graduate to gain entry to. Ivy League schools are beyond reach for the vast majority of high school graduates, and many large public universities have many more applicants than they can accept.

The downside to most private 4-year liberal arts colleges, of course, is cost. The published tuition prices are usually considerably higher than those of most public universities. However, there is some good news about cost. Most private colleges today discount their tuition costs via financial aid and merit scholarships. So, the final cost of a private 4-year liberal arts college might not be too much more than that of a typical public university.

The vast majority of the book is devoted to descriptions of 40 colleges that the writer has selected based upon the criteria he chose to rate the impact of the colleges upon the lives of their students. Those 40 colleges he felt were the best among the colleges he considered. Some of the best information is therefore at the beginning of the book. Starting on about page 35, he begins his descriptons of the 40 colleges. I could not help wondering as I read through the college descriptions whether other writers would have used different criteria and therefore included some different colleges.

It should also be pointed out that one must be careful in wholely relying upon this book to make their college selection. One should take note that the writer included Antioch College among the 40 colleges. Antioch College, of course, is now closed. That fact suggests that parents need to consider more than just whether a college has historically been innovative or life-changing when considering whether they want to spend their money to send their children to it. They might also want to take a look at a college's financial picture, its enrollment statistics, and in just what manner the college has been changing lives.

Overall, "Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change The Way You Think About Colleges" should be a must-read book for parents and perspective college students. It will make one think about whether the best undergraduate college option is always a large public university.

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Essential for students and parents

Our son graduated high school in 2002. A friend suggested this book to us and we read it eagerly. We parents were struck by the wisdom of Pope's arguments that big name colleges charge a lot for the prestige of the name, while the colleges in this book just offer great education.

Our son studied the book and came up with four colleges he wanted to look at - and one he was pretty sure was the place for him. After visiting the campuses, that's where he ended up going, and he thinks it was the best thing that could have happened in his life. He would have never found that college without Pope's book.

We recommend the book enthusiastically to anyone we know with a child looking at colleges. They may not be for everyone, but understanding his philosophy of choosing them will make you a more discerning consumer.

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VERY HELPFUL, WITH A CAVEAT

The author makes a persuasive case for small, liberal arts colleges, many of whom are not well-known. He describes each school in detail, and does a very good job of pointing out each school's advantages. Initially I was quite impressed with the information.

What is lacking is very much information about problem areas or weaknesses of each college. The book is so laudatory, it lacks even-handedness. I am recommending the book highly, but think it needs to be complemented with a more balanced book. As an example, Pope (rightly, I think) raves about St. John's College in New Mexico, which uses the "Great Books" as primary sources. But, this praise needs to be balanced. Here are comments about St John's from The Princeton Review's "The Best 368 Colleges": "full of relentless intellectual duress..." " a school for super-geeks"...Everyone is a "voracious reader" and "kind of neurotic".
I'm not saying these comments are all valid, but they should be included for the reader's consideration.

Other than this criticism, I think the book is a great asset, and one we'll make good use of in researching colleges.

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great