Customer Reviews

Choosing the Right College 2006: The Whole Truth about America's Top Schools

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

 

 

As a college student who when choosing a university read the same things over and over, I found this book to be a refreshing challenge to the typical college books which only say good things about the college they write about. This book goes in depth in their view of campus culture and is completely unafraid to challenge colleges for their shortcoming whether it be academic, partying or social problems that these colleges have. Being a person who is very conservative, this perspective is useful in that it explains the PC problems that many colleges have. My only complaint is that it often gives conservative institutions somewhat of a free pass that may be undeserved. In general however, this book ruthlessly examines institutions of higher education that need such close examination and points out their problems. Liberal or conservative, this book is a must have for anyone who wants to put a serious magnifying glass to the college they attend. I attend Amherst College currently, and this book was invaluable to making my collegiate decision

ISI's latest guide goes beyond statistics and rankings. Each school is meticulously researched and analyzed with an admitted bias about "the purposes of education and the responsibilities of the educators." Even though my kids aren't quite ready for college yet, I will definitely use this book when the time comes. I wish I'd had it when I was choosing a college. In fact, reading through this guide and the excellent introductory articles, is an education in how to be truly educated.

AS A GRADUATE OF NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY & USC, I HAVE NOT SEEN A BETTER COLLEGE GUIDE THAN CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLLEGE BY ISI BOOKS. CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLLEGE DOES ANNUAL UPDATES & REPORTS ARE GIVEN BY "IMBEDDED STUDENTS" ON CAMPUS MATTERS, POLITICAL LEANINGS OF THE COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY, GAY/LESBIAN ACTIVITY, TYPES OF PARTIES OFFERED, & BOTTOM LINE... ARE PARENTS & STUDENTS TRULY GETTING THEIR MONIES WORTH. OTHER GUIDES DON'T ADDRESS THESE CRUCIAL ISSUES.

John Zmirak's "Choosing the Right College" provides an interesting collection of useful information on a selection of the leading US universities/colleges. Students and parents might find it a helpful tool to understand these specific schools. At the same time-- when a campus visit is either premature or impractical (geographic distances)- I can recommend a "virtual college fair" called CollegeWeekLive (www.collegeweeklive.com) which lets students and parents, guidance counselors connect and interact with admissions staff, undegrads at 200+ colleges/universities and watch videos of live presentations from admissions experts. There are lots of great tools to help in this process.

Choosing the Right College is a helpful guide book but it is directed to a specific market. The selection of schools is a bit random. The insights are mostly helpful; however, this book seems to be written for parents and their teens who are interested in attending colleges that are friendly to their ideological preference. Don't expect to see all major state or public universities. Interesting but not thorough. If you have money to spend, buy it; otherwise, look for a more complete guide.

This book contains reviews that are blatantly slanted against liberals of all kinds. It jeers at colleges and universities that have, support, or require courses in ethnicity, women's studies, african studies, or gay and lesbian studies. There is little tolerance for liberals in the authors and it shows in their reviews of some of the best colleges in the country. There is unhindered sarcasm in the voice of the authors, who are obviously right wing christian fanatics who believe things like feminism, sexual intercourse, and non-white people are all threats to America. This book is a shameful scar on the face of America. Because of its right wing bias I cannot give it more than one star, and even that is giving it too much credit. I urge you, there are better, more tolerant college guides out there.

Initially, I did like this college guide when looking for colleges. It wasn't the fluff seen in the Princeton Review or Yale Guides (which seem more like an extention of the school guides than something which might actually be helpful in picking a college). However, on my second reading, I realized that Choosing the Right College was well, just that: a guide to choosing the RIGHT (as in right wing) college. Anything that isn't focused on and doesn't glorify Western Civilization is somehow not serious. If a college has a core that just happens to require a course on diversity (even if the other 99% of the core is focused on Western Civilization and topics like Math and Science), the core is no longer "serious" and you'll be advised to send Johnny to a place where he never has to know that there is whole other world outside of the West and Japan (for some reason, the authors didn't mind courses on Japan). According to the authors, learning about gender is wrong and thus no one should ever think about taking a course on gender. Also, learning about race and class is not even remotely scholarly. If you major in something African American studies and Latina Studies, then you aren't a serious student. Thus, you'll get the impression that just about half of all the most prestigious colleges (Harvard, Amherst, Oberlin, Berkeley just to name a few) are not "real" academic institutions but places for liberals to air their political views and stiffle academic progress. Yeah, right. I'm all for learning about Socrates, Hobbes, and Kant but it isn't a crime to also be exposed to Confucius, DuBois, or Al-Ghazali.

Also, I got the impression that they didn't always thoroughly check out their info. It said that the group, Sister of the Round Table at Colgate was a political group. I went to Colgate and can tell you right now that the group does nothing political. It's a social group for Black and Latina women that meets every week. It's really not that different that an ethnic organization on campus. I guess the name must've really threw the author for a loop.

If you want a good guide get the Fiske guide. It's been trusted for years and doesn't have the agenda of promoting Western ideas as the only ideas that are worthy of being taught in colleges and universities.

This book could have been the best college guide book had the authors not used it to promote their ultra-conservative agenda. I stumbled across this book while applying to college's last year. Unlike Princeton review and others, the reviews are lengthy and detailed. However, the authors derail courses such as AA studies, women and gender, and Latino studies and suggest that they are for non-serious students and a waste of time. They are quick to praise schools that require a senior thesis and a structured curriculum, but are at the same time notorious for their Greek culture and ubiquitous hard drinking. Some of the opinions offered can be out right offensive and reflect a narrow and ignorant point of view that was integral in elite college life of yesterday. The authors fail to realize the importance of multiculturalism and diversity on the college campus. The extreme political angle of this book distorts the truth and therefore the book fails to deliver on its promise on delivering the truth.