Description:
"Women make up the majority of America's college students, yet no college guide has focused on the perspectives of female students on America's college campuses." Robert Mitchell, high-school college adviser and author of The Young Woman's Guide to the Top Colleges, decided to change that. This guide features in-depth profiles of 200 top schools, each profile being split into a "statistics" and a "narrative" section. The statistics section includes the school's contact information, as well as information on enrollment, top majors, faculty, sports, and organizations for women. The narrative comprises women's views of their own schools--from the level of support for lesbian and gay students to opportunities in intramural and varsity sports, from the social scene to the availability of women's health care. The book is especially strong in its coverage of women's studies programs and campus security--including extensive information on each school's safety efforts, from night escorts and buses to safety phones and well-lit paths. If this book has a flaw, it is that its focus is, at times, too narrow: While the strength of a university's women's-studies program may be a good indicator of that school's general support of women's issues, information on support for women in the sciences and other "less traditional" fields would have been equally helpful. All in all, however, with its chapters on selecting a college and finding financial aid, The Young Woman's Guide to the Top Colleges is a good resource for women making this extremely difficult decision. --C.B. Delaney
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