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

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...Read more

As an Independent Educational Consultant, I often give this book to my students that think they want to attend a big university or a name brand school. Often students fall through the cracks at these well-known schools, but the Colleges That Change Lives are nurturing environments that do not let students become just a number. If a student has graduate school aspirations, I especially recommend this book, because these schools have much better track records for preparing and having their students accepted into first choice graduate programs. One of the criteria for being in Colleges That Change Lives is a school cannot be too selective. Even though some of these schools have become quite popular from inclusion in this book, they still accept other than straight A students, because they firmly believe in the learning experience gained from the academic mix of students. This updated version is even more inspiring than the previous. These colleges really do change lives!

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.