Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth about America's Top Schools

Rating:
Summary: Delightful review!
Review: I got this book when I was in high school and became instantly hooked on it. Even long after I had chosen my college, I still read all the entries in it for pure enjoyment, they were so entertaining! The reviews of the various colleges are positively
hilarious at times. Yes, this guide is from a decidedly right-wing perspective, and that's why I found it so refreshing and delightful. I believe that liberals have every right to cultivate their idea of higher education. But thank goodness we conservatives have books like this to guide us away from the
deadwood. So be warned - this is definitely a conservative book, though the title doesn't indicate it. I hope that these editors
continue to put out editions of this book every year to help guide all the young people searching for colleges.

Rating:
Summary: Good but incomplete
Review: I like this book for the type of informtion it gives on colleges, such as the political atmosphere and the type of curriculum. Many schools have eliminated core requirements and indeed, some have actually added politically chareged courses as required while eliminating traditional, time tested courses in Western Civilization. The analyses are useful and are very detailed. This is not a quick glimpse into the schools covered, but rather, a detailed description. I graduated from Vassar College years ago and had the impression that it was a bastion of political correctness. The profile in this book bears this out. This guide is truly unique and useful.

I have a major problem with this guide, however. There are many colleges I wanted to read about but they were not included in the book. For example Binghmapton University is covered but none of the other schools in the SUNY system are. There was nothing about several goog schools in Pennsylvania such as Franklin and Marshall, Dickinson, Bucknell, Lehigh, Gettysburg, etc. Ohio State University is covered well but there is nohing on other major schools in Ohio's state system such as Ohio University and Miami University (or for that matter, Universitey of Miami in Florida). The book is good, as far as it goes, but many, if not most of the colleges I was interested in reading about are not profiled.

Rating:
Summary: Solid view
Review: This is not a book for the first time browser. If you are just looking for the scoop on your favorite name brand college then forget this book.
Read the Introduction carefully and you will see that the philosophy of this ISI approach is to value the schools that have a curriculum that they believe falls into the category of a "Core".
Their belief is that there is a body of information and fundamental skills that are universal to a "well-educated " person. They believe that many colleges have eroded this with "fluff" curriculum courses and lowering of standards. This book reviews schools that they believe have not seriously eroded academic standards. An excellent book for parents. It helped me choose Kenyon College for my daughter last year over more seemingly prestigious schools. The authors were exactly right in their evaluation of an outstanding, rigorous, yet not brutally competitive college with great scholarly teachers that imparted a love of their subject with compassion to the students. I did not find this academic approach in any other of the college books.