Colby College Me 2007 (College Prowler: Colby College Off the Record) [Paperback]

Allyson Rudolph (Author)

Book Description

Series: College Prowler: Colby College Off the Record | Publication Date: July 1, 2006

Introduction from the Author

Colby College is the kind of small, New England liberal arts school that’s well known and well reputed—as long as you’re talking to someone else who went to a small New England liberal arts school. If you’re from the Midwest, people will think you’re going to a school named for cheese and make never-ending dairy product jokes. For those who are curious, the school is named for Gardiner Colby (not cheese), a wealthy man who saved the school when all its students started getting drafted away to the Civil War. Colby is one of many liberal arts schools that most high school students discover for the first time during their college search. On paper, Colby looks almost identical to many of its neighbors. The school is known for its strong academics, its small classes, and its bucolic beauty.

At Colby, it’s perfectly okay to be undecided on your major, your career goal, and even your classes for the first semester. It’s pretty normal to be a biology major one day and a theater major the next, or even both at once. Don’t get worried, though; Colby students aren’t clueless. Typically, we’re just really interested in a vast number of subjects. But this too is typical of New England liberal arts schools.

So what sets Colby apart? It’s hard to quantify the subtle differences that influence a person’s choice of college. The best bet, of course, is to visit the school and to read this book. (Oh, come on, you knew that was coming, right?)

Most people will tell you that they came to Colby for the people. The academics are stellar, but the friendly students and easy-to-talk-to faculty and administration have hooked more prospective freshmen than anything else. No matter how cold the winters get, and no matter how far you have to drive to go shopping somewhere other than Wal-Mart, the students are optimistic and easy-going.

This book offers lots of numbers and facts. It also offers real, live student opinions. There are funny responses, serious thoughts, insider advice, and even a couple of secrets. This book has the numbers and has the facts, but it also tries to include the personalities of Colby’s unique student body. Hopefully you will find it helpful, and good luck with your college search!

Allyson Rudolph, Author
Colby College

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is the kind of information kids really want to know before they pick a college." --Michelle Slatalla, The NY Times, March 9, 2006

"...get viewpoints on a variety of topics from the student body, which is where the Prowler gets its roar." --Melissa Kaplan, Boston Globe, May 23, 2004

"There is information on which schools have packed computer labs, which dorms are studious or riotous, ..." --Ben Gilbert, The Washington Post, April 27, 2004

About the Author

Welcome to College Prowler®

During the writing of College Prowler’s guidebooks, we felt it was critical that our content was unbiased and unaffiliated with any college or university. We think it’s important that our readers get honest information and a realistic impression of the student opinions on any campus—that’s why if any aspect of a particular school is terrible, we (unlike a campus brochure) intend to publish it. While we do keep an eye out for the occasional extremist—the cheerleader or the cynic—we take pride in letting the students tell it like it is. We strive to create a book that’s as representative as possible of each particular campus. Our books cover both the good and the bad, and whether the survey responses point to recurring trends or a variation in opinion, these sentiments are directly and proportionally expressed through our guides. College Prowler guidebooks are in the hands of students throughout the entire process of their creation. Because you can’t make student-written guides without the students, we have students at each campus who help write, randomly survey their peers, edit, layout, and perform accuracy checks on every book that we publish. From the very beginning, student writers gather the most up-to-date stats, facts, and inside information on their colleges. They fill each section with student quotes and summarize the findings in editorial reviews. In addition, each school receives a collection of letter grades (A through F) that reflect student opinion and help to represent contentment, prominence, or satisfaction for each of our 20 specific categories. Just as in grade school, the higher the mark the more content, more prominent, or more satisfied the students are with the particular category.

Once a book is written, additional students serve as editors and check for accuracy even more extensively. Our bounce-back team—a group of randomly selected students who have no involvement with the project—are asked to read over the material in order to help ensure that the book accurately expresses every aspect of the university and its students. This same process is applied to the 200-plus schools College Prowler currently covers. Each book is the result of endless student contributions, hundreds of pages of research and writing, and countless hours of hard work. All of this has led to the creation of a student information network that stretches across the nation to every school that we cover. It’s no easy accomplishment, but it’s the reason that our guides are such a great resource.

When reading our books and looking at our grades, keep in mind that every college is different and that the students who make up each school are not uniform—as a result, it is important to assess schools on a case-by-case basis. Because it’s impossible to summarize an entire school with a single number or description, each book provides a dialogue, not a decision, that’s made up of 20 different topics and hundreds of student quotes. In the end, we hope that this guide will serve as a valuable tool in your college selection process. Enjoy!

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: College Prowler (July 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427400393
• ISBN-13: 978-1427400390
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,596,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)