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

by John P. Zmirak (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
A godsend for anyone who wants to know how to beat the academic establishment and actually get an education. -- National Catholic Register

This is easily the best of the college guides, with thoughtful critiques of 125 top schools. -- The American Spectator, January 2005

Review

?An indispensable guide to the atmosphere on various college campuses, and the presence or absence of a real curriculum, is a book titled Choosing the Right College. It is head-and shoulders above all the other college guides. Among other things, it tells you which colleges have a real curriculum, rather than a cafeteria of courses, as well as the kind of atmosphere each campus has.??Thomas Sowell, nationally syndicated columnist

?Choosing the Right College is aimed?at exposing the political biases of academe, the prevalence of permissive sex and the lack of core curriculums to prospective students and their parents.??New York Times

?At last, a college guide that has the guts to go through the hallowed gates to the heart of such issues as political correctness, campus polarization, student drinking and faculty standards at colleges big and small. This guide is a must for parents who care more about their kids? integrity than about their credentials.??Dr. Laura Schlessinger, syndicated radio talk show host

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1000 pages
• Publisher: Intercollegiate Studies Institute (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932236600
• ISBN-13: 978-1932236606
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #699,878 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Covers the top 125 Schools, September 27, 2004

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Choosing the Right College 2005: The Whole Truth About America's Top Schools (Paperback)

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.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Perspective of America's most important colleges, December 10, 2005

By	Alek G. Vey "Slightly snobbish music fan" (Amherst, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

41 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The college guide for Conservatives, but all around informative, August 21, 2005

By	Christopher D. Jones (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Choosing the Right College 2005: The Whole Truth About America's Top Schools (Paperback)

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.