Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Simon's Rock is one of the few schools in the nation to seek out students who have not finished a high school curriculum..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, College Avenue, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Fully revised since the first edition, COOL COLLEGES covers the most exciting schools in the U.S. and Canada, with a new chapter on eco schools, an update on tuition-free schools, and the total low-down on the so-called top-ranked schools. Are you hyper-intelligent? Self-directed? A late-bloomer? Or just different? Then you need a great school that will challenge, nurture, inspire, and motivate you-and COOL COLLEGES has got '¬?em. It will also give you the scoop on: What the Ivy league is and what it really wants Totally free schools, including one where financial need is a requirement for admission Universities that don'¬?t give gradesSchools that don'¬?t want your SAT scoresData on the highest (and lowest) paying majorsThe schools that graduate the most millionairesMen'¬?s, women'¬?s, and minority-focused colleges Schools where you can design your own degree programA college where you can hike and camp your way to a degreeA college that runs its own ranch on an 80-square-mile campus Science and engineering schools where undergrads get their own labs The most competitive colleges, including one that rejects 95% of applicants Campuses where students love to study, even on Saturday nights Schools that offer programs in computer game studies, comedy, auctioneering, special-effects makeup, and more

Plus a link to the Web addresses for every college and university in the United States and Canada.COOL COLLEGES is the resource for finding your dream school-and gives you the edge you'¬?ll need to get accepted.

 Reviews"Worth a look, if you'¬?re headed for college or getting ready to apply."-San Diego Union Tribune

I received a used copy of your book, Cool Colleges (2nd Edition) in the mail this morning and (admittedly) out of vague interest and the slight boredom that comes with not having a driver's license, I picked it up and went about my usual hole-up-in-my-bedroom-with-new-book-and-blinds-down-and-stay-holed-until-I-have-finished-the-text-in-it's-entirety routine. The purpose of this message is to express my nearly inexpressible gratitude to you and your associates in research. I have read life-changing books, articles, and speeches but I have never, not once, been so deeply affected by a work of this type: A guidebook? I have perused U.S. News & World Report's 2007 College Guide and the Newsweek/Kaplan 2007 College Guide, each with their individual talents and faults, but your book was different. For once I felt like the book was directed to students such as myself. I'm not an athlete and I'm no an academic superstar: at my school, that's what it takes to be a favorite. I am just another mediocre teenager in millions who wants to save the world.

Your book made me feel, for once, as though someone was looking at those of us hanging by our fingernails on the edge of being completely lost in our distinction. I love to learn for the sake of learning and not because I'm aiming for any star-studded diplomas or accreditations, but because there is so much to learn. Your book not only allowed me to see that there were other "Lost Kids" (that's what my guidance counselor called me) but further that there were places trying to find us because we aren't as lost as some of our superiors like to think. Again Sir, thank you for all your work. It has not gone unnoticed nor was it in vain. If nothing else, you made at least one girl's life (and future) a little brighter. -Carina, 17St. Petersburg, FL


From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

* An in-depth look at the best-kept secrets in higher education for outstanding and unusual students, providing an insider's edge to getting accepted.
* Fully revised and updated with the most current information, including the latest on free colleges, the scoop on top-ranked institutions, and a new chapter on the rise of eco-schools. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580081509
• ISBN-13: 978-1580081504
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #598,356 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most unique college guide. Highly recommended., December 1, 2002

By	John H. Hwung (Fair Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Read this college guide togther with books such as "Colleges that Change Lives", "Beer and Circus", and "The Distinctive Colleges". You will see that the opinions expressed in this book is quite on the mark. This book should be regarded as a college guide to college guides. Plus, it tells you the representative colleges from each categories such as the scholarly colleges, the "great books" colleges, etc.

U.S. News and World Report's College Guide is pretty silly. It tells you how selective a college is. I.e., how good are the incoming students to each college. Well, we don't want to know how healthy are the patients that are admitted to a hospital. We want to know how much the hospital is going to do for a patient. Likewise, a college guide should tell us how much a college is going to do, educate, mentor and enable a student. Choosing a college is like buying a product. I want to know what that product will do for me, not how well I am.

Buy this book. It is highly recommended!

90 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool book! Must Read when choosing a college (parents, too!), October 17, 2000

By	Carolyn K. "Mrs. Hoagie" (Hoagies' Gifted Education Page) - See all my reviews

Cool Colleges is not only fun to read, it's full of the kind of information I wish I had when I was picking a college!

What's the difference between an Ivy League and the other top tier universities? How about the seven sisters? What schools invite young high school students to go to college instead? What are the top public colleges and universities in the country? Which colleges can you attend for free? What schools have the strongest educational environment (to the point of being called 'short' on social opportunities?)?

This book will answer these questions, and tons more. And best, it's FUN to read! I couldn't imagine a college selection guide being a "can't put it down" book... but this is one!

They aren't kidding in the subtitle: "for the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different." This book has colleges for all of those, and everyone else, too!

Plus lots of college application and life hints: don't take up the credit card companies on their card offers, and get into debt before you even get a job!, do write a good essay, but don't 'borrow' one from the Internet, which majors earn the most (but don't pick just for the money!), and more.

And there are even references to other Cool Books to read while selecting your college, including a good traditional college selection guide that lists more than just the basics, a good book to dispel the 20 greatest myths about college, and other good books to help you along the way.

Read Cool Colleges first!

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a look for its different perspective, August 31, 2002

By	Balto Reader "bils" (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews

I considered giving it 3 stars, because it's mostly filler, but it was... well, "cool", and it provides a fresh perspective on colleges that might be quite valuable for some kids and their parents.

The author's basic concept is to look beyond the popular reputation of colleges and the "U.S. News" type of surveys. There are lots of essentially unknown places that would be very rewarding for the right kind of student. Some people are hung up on whether their friends have ever heard of the college; this book encourages people to get over that status-oriented thinking.

The college featured in this book that struck as unbelievably cool is Deep Springs, on a huge ranch in the high desert of Eastern California. The students (all 26 of them!) not only run the ranch, they also run the college... interviewing applicants for admission AND for faculty positions. It's only a 2-year school, and the students go on to top-tier schools (Ivies, Berkley, Swarthmore). And it's totally FREE!

But back to the book.... It's very disorganized (clearly intentionally so), and could have been pared down to less than 100 pages of actual content. Buy it if you are obsessive about college research (like me!), but borrow it if you have the opportunity.