Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges (Paperback)

by Loren Pope (Author) "You don't have to be one of the jittery millions of wannabees anxiously fattening resumes to impress some high-status school that won't do nearly as..." (more)
Key Phrases: freshmen return, aid averaging, caring faculty, New College, Agnes Scott, Ohio Wesleyan (more...)

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Smart and credible. -- The New York Times

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Smart and credible. (The New York Times)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Revised edition (July 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143037366
• ISBN-13: 978-0143037361
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,037 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He Is Still the Best, August 17, 2006

By	Miami Bob "Resurgent Reading" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews

If you ever hanker to think that your child may have been better off going to that school whose name everyone knows, pull out this book and read the first 20 pages and you will become instantly relaxed.

In a nutshell, Pope espouses that liberal arts undergraduate education in the Ivies is faltering, if not failing, but America has plenty of great liberal arts educational centers and they are at the numerous well established liberal arts colleges (LAC's) of America. Those LAC's and some "other" LAC's are great places for undergraduate education. Some of those "other" LAC's are the topic of this book.

This is the old book (Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools You Should Know About Even If You're Not a Straight-A Student) with quips at the end of the 40 schools which update his research of each respective institution. He has added passages at the end of the 40 schools to describe what has happened at some of the schools which makes his statement(s) of a decade ago as true or even truer than when originally written. In short, the LAC's of this book are not only still good schools, most are better schools than when he delivered their names in the original book.

He writes well. He is very persuasive. And, in the end, his arguments clearly show each school's strength through his writing skills and by the statistics recited throughout this book.

If you want more, there are two others on this same line of reasoning: The College Admissions Mystique by Bill Mayher and Looking Beyond the Ivy League: Finding the College That's Right for You by Loren Pope. If you think Ivy (for undergraduate) is the answer before reading these three books, you may discover a change of opinion after reading these books.

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the only two books you need, August 15, 2006

By	Mega Mom (Scarsdale, New York) - See all my reviews

As a parent in the grips of high anxiety (I have a high school senior and I high school junior) I highly recommend this book. Although I am a bit concerned that these 40 schools are about to be swamped with applications, I think it will encourage familes to look for their own "schools that change lives." The other book I highly recommend is GETTING IN WITHIUT FREAKING OUT by Arlene Matthews. It is written for anxious, confused parents like me and lays out exactly what to worry about and what NOT to worry about as you and your kids negotiate every step if the school search and application process. The second book is also very reassuring and funny, which I appreciated.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I graduated from one of the 40 schools, November 19, 2006

By	DustyFeet "dustyfeet" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews

I actually graduated 25 years ago from one of those 40 schools Pope reviewed. Looking back, I do agree that although my college was not a "name brand" college, the education I got was like no other. They were formative years and as Pope says, I was "educated" not "trained".

Looking back to those days at college, I would attribute much good of what I am today to attending that Liberal Arts College. My graduate school, post college, was a Big Ten University. The difference? While the Big Ten U. was very "competitive" based, my experience at the Liberal Arts College mentioned in Pope's book was "collaborative".

Yes, I do agree that we are oversold on "brand-name" schools, and Pope's book would be a good guide to exploring your options. If you are thinking of sending your child to, or if you yourself are considering, college, then this book is a "must read" !!