Customer Reviews

Choosing the Right College 2005: The Whole Truth About America's Top Schools

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are college guides that have something to say about all the colleges in the country. This one is different. In its almost a thousand pages it talks about only a hundred twenty five schools. As the sub-title says, this book talks about America's Top Schools. Here you'll find several pages on Cal Tech and six of the University of California schools. But you won't find San Jose State. You'll find Brigham Young, but not the University of Utah.

Again unlike many college guides, this book does not just say complimentary things about the schools. LSU's theater is described as - dirty, depressing, dilapidated and demoralizing.

If you're looking at the big name schools, the information provided here will be of great value in helping you to decide if this particular school is for you.

One of the first things you come upon in this book, is Jeremy Beer's nostalgia for "The Core Curriculum" of years past. It is this that truely sets the frame for the rest of the book. Jeremy's beliefs are very narrow, and those colleges that don't conform are thouroughly critized by him. But in his process of critizing these schools, one learns the most about them of any college book. While I happen to disagree at least partially with view of a full two-year core curriculum in great books and history (Like that of Columbia's, which to give him credit, he lauds despite being a very liberal school), in his attempt to describe schools philosphies in comparison to his own, one garner's a lot more information about academic life than any other college book. His boook also manages to give a better view to the reader of the school, both in life at it, and political leanings. However the book is not without fault. I happen to disagree with a lot of his personal views. He believes choice at colleges is a mostly a bad thing. I also wouldn't be surprised to see him wanting to amend the United States constitution to ban Woman's, African, Carribean, (or any other non anglo-saxon and/or non-male) studies. Some of the things he writes are down right offenive to anyone who has ever believed in multiculturalism. Some of his political critisms of schools are right (even if they were a bit hard to take for this self-described liberal). He makes it his job to point out whenever poltiical bias crosses the line in courses from that of the professor's own opinion, to indoctrination of the class, and rightfully so in my opinion. He also often shows his conservtive feathers in descriptions, such as description of Harvard's dedication to stem-cell research, he describes it as "[So controversial that President Bush has decided not to support it]" But in his narrowmindedness (in my opinion) he does provide a much more full picture than any of the other comparable college guides and is worth purchasing.

The writers do a wonderful job of analyzing where a good liberal arts education can be found in America; the result of doing diligent research about curriculum, quality of teaching and academic and student life. Some people may flinch at the accounts where politically correct colleges gone awry are substituting rigorous study for indoctrination but the truth of the matter is that students are losing out immeasurably when they fall prey to those who would destroy freedom of thought. A great guide which should be read by every thoughtful high school student.

In today's climate of "tolerance for everyone except for those who aren't liberals," this guide provides an overview of what is really going on in higher education in America. It is essential reading for any parent, prospective student and for the colleges and universities themselves. Hopefully, the pages will be like clanging bells, sounding the alarm, alerting everyone of the danger we all face when the free exchange of ideas and beliefs is openly discouraged in favor of political correctness.

This is the book for students and their families who desire a traditional college education. I used an earlier edition to help my daughter chose a college because it was the best guide I could find. It still is. The students who were consulted by the editors have a real point of view, and this gives the campus profiles character and interest even -- and perhaps especially -- if your own point of view differs.

Choosing the Right College 2005 is the ideal guide for the bright, well-rounded, liberal arts minded high school student, looking for a stimulating challenge in the next step of their academic career.

This guide gives intelligent students a fighting chance at getting the most out their experience in higher education by helping them choose a college or university which best suits their personality, politics and academic style.

The college reviews posted in this book are detailed in their description of the academic climate, the social scene and the general feel of the campus. It's like a virtual tour of the campus, led by a savvy, smart senior who knows the ropes and is giving you the scoop on what going to school at a particular college is REALLY like. It's a fun read, too.

I recommend it highly, especially to students who enjoy in depth learning and true intellectual dialogue.

This is a book for parents who want a truthful, objective review of many major institutions of higher education. Wish it was updated and included still more schools. If you want to avoid wasting your money on politically correct pap and exposing your child to pc speech codes, this book will be helpful.

"Choosing the Right College 2005', like ISI's previous guides, is an invaluable resource for college bound students and their parents. In addition to factual data--tuition, enrollment, SAT range--the guide provides an in-depth look at what kind of educational/social experience students will receive at the top 125 schools. What I found helpful about this guide is that it is not afraid to reveal the bad along with the good traits of each school--something you're not going to read on their web sites!

First, look carefully at the picture of this books cover, specifically the title. Why are the words "The Right" set off by white type rather than the yellow used in the rest of the title? Yup, you guessed it. This book may be thorough and accurate, but it most definitely is written from a certain (right-leaning) perspective. Read the Introduction by William Bennett (remember him? ) to get a good idea of where this book is really heading.

It's perfectly fine for this book to have an agenda--just be aware of the bias when purchasing the book and reading it. This is not simply an unbiased factual guidebook. But neither is it simply an "insiders guide" to what each school is really like (which I was kind of hoping for). Instead, it is a book that unabashedly takes a hard-line viewpoint that core curricula requiring classic courses like European Lit are the best way to approach a liberal arts education. Courses in areas such as gender studies or African studies are scoffed at throughout the book. The schools that have no core curricula and offer more liberal approaches to education are written about using an almost incredulous tone, even when they are undeniably excellent schools that provide well-rounded liberal arts educations (e.g. Amherst's entry). More conservative schools that adhere to the agenda of the book come off more glowingly even when they arguably leave a lot to be desired in other areas (e.g. Sewanee's entry).

In reading this book you never get the feeling that the authors are willing to concede that there are many different approaches to education that are valid. They tout the schools that do it their way (i.e. college as glorified prep school) and shade their verbiage against other approaches.

I'm on faculty at Emory University and know a few other schools very well and from what I can tell this book paints fairly accurate portraits of the profiled schools. For the depth and accuracy of the information I give the book 5 stars, but for the narrow way the authors shade that information I give it 1 star. Hence, 3 stars.

From the editorial reviews posted, I expected a lot of information about HOW to choose the right college (as the title suggests). Unfortunately, only about 25 pages were devoted to this subject. The rest of the 970 pages are commentaries on specific colleges. Which would be fine, I guess, except that not one of the 5 colleges I'm interested in was included. No Virginia Tech? University of Richmond? Virginia Commonwealth University? All fine schools, but not reviewed.

Also, there is no index, so if you are trying to find reviews of all in-state colleges for example, you will have to have memorized those schools to be able to find them in this book. If they are even included.

In general, you won't need this book if you are not wealthy, as most of the schools listed are heavily weighted to the most expensive!