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" !!

I enjoyed the book a lot, especially its focusing on a small number of not-often-discussed colleges. Well-written and thoughtful throughout, the book would be of use to students with not-at-that perfect records, who are looking for a good alternative to some of the very hard to get into "elite" schools. A good "sister book" for students considering colleges, which I also quite liked, was Professors' Guide to Getting Good Grades in College, by Lynn Jacobs and Jeremy Hyman. They tell, from the professors' point-of-view what students already in college can do to get A's. A useful thing, too.

I first bought this book 1.5 years ago when I was researching colleges for my oldest son. It changed the way I looked at selecting colleges from my prior misconceptions that "bigger is better" (like large state schools) and "it has to have a well-known name to be any good." Pope succeeded in convincing me that not only are there invaluable advantages to smaller-size schools but that there is definitely something to be said for "liberal arts & science" institutions that offer a well-rounded curriculum. I was able to relax then because my son had no idea what he wanted to pursue. As a result of reading the book, my son is now attending Cornell College in Iowa where he is getting a wonderful education in small classes with caring instructors and an administration that "took me by the hand," upon his initial arrival as a freshman, & addressed all my fears and concerns about leaving my son with a bunch of strangers 4 hours away. Because the book includes little quantitative information (%'s of in- vs out-of-staters, tuition costs, % of students who graduate/return sophomore year/go to graduate school, etc.) you will need to supplement this book with another, such as the Fiske guide, to give you a basis of comparison across schools. Even if you don't select any of the schools mentioned, it is worth a read if for nothing else other than a refreshing perspective.

Wish I had known that the book focused on schools on the east coast, in the midwest, and in the southeast. No California schools are listed.

I have a daughter ready to apply to colleges this fall and have found this book very helpful in planning and sorting through the myriad of information out there.

What I liked: Understanding the administration's vision, including teaching personnel's qualifications and the number of qualified competent undergraduates that each school can turn out is very helpful.

What this book doesn't tell you is the underlying student culture, the nuances of the location and the freshman return rate and other important considerations. So some of these schools sound absolutely too good to be true, but when you additionally use other resources to learn about the school's geographic location, what students say about their school, etc., you get a better picture of the college in it's entirety.

I commend the author who is investigating each college to discover the best intellectual powerhouses out there. In the end, it's the applying senior from high school that has to figure out which college or university is going to provide the best supportive and enriching environment in which to truly learn and grow!

Definitely get this book but do not use it solely to make your decision to attend a particular college named in this book.