Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools You Should Know about Even If You're Not a Straight-A Student

As a parent of a senior, I became engulfed with the gossip and happenings of college admissions. I may know more than the average person about the topic. I had applied to schools at various levels. My siblings had too. We had attended good to great schools. And, our father was a professor at two major universities -- those with ivy on their walls. This book reminds me of that one clear day in my childhood when I thought my father was not nearly as dumb as my teenage attitude knew him to be, and I had the nerve to ask him, "Dad, where are the best students for your graduate studies coming from -- name the schools." He immediately spat out many of the small ivies in the northeast. I did not want that as my mother would be too close. Then he said these strange words, "Grinnell, MacAllister, Carleton, U Chicago, Pomona, Pitzer, Occidental . . ." I then saw the light -- I then knew he was not as dumb as all that. This book takes some of those schools and many more of the great unknowns -- what some call the selected schools, not the selective. They are pearls. They are where Ph.D.'s go to teach. And the students, through that amazing nuturing process, mature to become much better minds than when they walked their first steps on the campus grounds. These liberal arts schools epitomize the concept of higher education. His simple advice -- the ivies (for undergraduate) are overrated and the schools in this book are HIGHLY underrated. Look at the schools in this book and think about applying to the few that match your personality. You will not be disappointed. And, it makes a great read for the busy body parents who are more into the college "thing" than their over-tested and over-questioned seniors.

My son had visited several colleges, and was having a terrible time figuring out which ones he would "fit in" and get the best educational experience from. He ended up reading this book and visited a few of them that he liked the descriptions of. After applying to, and getting accepted at, four of the schools in this book (and two not in the book) he ended up at Denison University. He's in his second year, and just loves it. I've always felt a little "indebted" to this book, so I thought I'd leave this review.

I used to have herd mentality. I thought schools like Harvard, Yale and Stanford are the best. I moved to Northern California to get close to Stanford and Berkeley. Then, I read "Profscam" and "The Hollow Man" by Charles Sykes and I was greatly disappointed in our higher education (for more information also read "Tenured Radicals" and "Illiberal Education" by other authors). The Fisk's and USNews & World Report college guides mention none of the cancerous problems mentioned in Sykes' books.The colleges metioned in this book "Colleges that change lives" do not have the problems mentioned in Sykes' books.Now on the positive side, the 40 colleges profiled in this book are gems. Mr. Pope has done a great service for the parents, students, society and especially our country. He has done excellent research. He personally visited these campuses, some several times. Buy this book. Read it and tell your neighbors about it. Buy a copy for your children's high school counselors.In this 2nd edition 3 colleges have been removed: Bard, Franklin & Marshall and Grinnell. Three are added: Ursinus, Agnes Scott and Wabash. Also added are 2 sections: one section for Learning Disabled and another for Homeschooler.We all love our children and want to do our best for them. It is important to find out what their natural gifts and talents are. When they know what they are naturally gifted in they can make intelligent choice about what kind of college profiled in this book they should attend. Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation provides excellent methods in finding out what a person's natural talents are.All in all, this book deserves 20 stars!!! The best collge guide there is. And never let a small volume fool you. It is packed with gems.

This book was an excellent guide to the choices when I was a C+ student in high school. Without it, I would not be in my second semester at Earlham College, a Quaker college of 1100 students in Richmond, Indiana. The acedemic experience here has been a thousand times better than my large suburban high school in New Jersey. This book is a true gem in the search for the best college for you. It puts the person before the numbers.

This book was a key factor in college selection for our seventh child to attend college. Without it, she would probably be at a top-name university which is best suited for graduate students, and not the community of learning of a small liberal arts school. What's more, she was offered merit scholarships (not need-based) from 7 of 8 of the schools on Pope's list to which she applied. (The so-called "top" universities give very few merit-based scholarships). She is in her second year at the College of Wooster, and I believe that she is happier and receiving a better college experience than she would have at Duke, where she was also accepted. The only drawbacks are that very few have heard of these schools, and the nearly-universal "conventional wisdom" fails to recognize the important truths that Loren Pope's books explain. His book "Looking Beyond the Ivies," was also helpful. This book may turn your college search upside down!