Cool Colleges

by Asher, Donald

• ISBN13: 9781580088398
• ISBN10: 1580088392
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2007-04-01
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Summary

Profiling more than 40 innovative and unorthodox schools, Cool Colleges is the only guide that reveals which colleges don't require SAT scores, which ones don't give grades, and even which ones are totally free-as well as which ones reject more than 90 percent of their applicants. Independently minded students are sure to find the college of their dreams, whether they want to take classes outdoors, design their own degree, or explore other ways to get the most out of their education.

Author Biography

Career consultant DONALD ASHER is a featured speaker at more than 100 colleges and universities every year, coast to coast. A columnist for MSN Encarta and contributor to the Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal.com and CollegeJournal.com, he divides his time between Nevada and San Francisco.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. XIV
Introduction	p. 1
Where This Book Came From	p. 1
Research Methodology, Biases, and Limitations	p. 3
Is Important Information Missing from This Book?	p. 8
How To Use This Book	p. 10
Some Final, Very Important Disclaimers	p. 11
Three Prep Colleges	p. 13
Simon's Rock College of Bard	p. 14
Simon's Rock and Bard	p. 18
Cool Book Alert! Jefferson's Children: Education and the Promise of American Culture	p. 19
Are You Gifted?	p. 21
The East Coast?	p. 22
10 Largest Colleges/Universities	p. 22
12 Smaller Colleges/Universities	p. 22
College Planning Differs by Family Income	p. 24
Deep Springs College	p. 25
Get the Name Right!	p. 26
Landmark College	p. 29
On Credit	p. 30
An Unusual Application Essay	p. 32
A Few Thoughts on the Large vs. Small Decision	p. 33
Essay: "Secret to Finding Scholarships-There Isn't One"	p. 34
Totally Free Colleges and Universities	p. 36
Tuition-Free Institutions	p. 37
Cool Scholarship! The Collegiate Bass Anglers Association	p. 38
The Ivy League and More	p. 39
The Ivy League	p. 40
The Most Competitive Schools in America	p. 43
The Yale Syndrome	p. 45
The Seven Sisters	p. 46
Cool Book Alert! Looking Beyond The Ivy League: Finding the College That's Right for You	p. 48
Why We Still Have Men's, Women's, and Minority-Focused Colleges	p. 49
Skull and Bones at Yale	p. 49
Three Schools That Are Kicking Butt	p. 52
Essay: "Western Colleges Finally Get Their Due"	p. 53
Cool Book Alert! The Public Ivys: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergradate Colleges and Universities	p. 55
The Public Ivys	p. 55
Q&A with a Dean of Admission: What Highly Competitive Really Means	p. 56
Schools With Massive Endowments	p. 56
Should You Go to the Best College You Can Get Into?	p. 59
Inputs and Outputs	p. 60
Measuring the Value of an Ivy League Degree	p. 61
College Rankings	p. 62
Eastern Oregon University	p. 62
Top Ten Per-Capita Producers of Ph.D.s	p. 64
The Best Place to Grow a Woman Scientist?	p. 64
Why Distance Doesn't Matter and All Schools are Local	p. 64
The Best College Library in America	p. 66
Schools Where Scholarship Is Honored	p. 67
Reed College	p. 68
Cool Word List!	p. 69
Why Reed Declines to Participate in National Rankings	p. 70
Size Does Matter	p. 71
Reed Scholars Win Honors	p. 74
Every Reed Senior Writes a Thesis	p. 75
Cool Web Site! Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest	p. 76
Interested in a Career in Higher Education?	p. 78
A Short History of Educational Reform	p. 79
So You Think College Presidents Have It Easy?	p. 80
Cool Web Site! www.collegiatechoice.com	p. 81
Cool Book Alert! The Fiske Guide to Colleges	p. 81
Swarthmore College	p. 82
Grade Inflation	p. 83
Cool Book Alert! Colleges That Change Lives	p. 84
Cool Scholarship! Wofford Presidential International Scholarship	p. 86
The Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC)	p. 87
Cool Book Alert! College: The Undergraduate Experience In America	p. 88
The Highest Paid Professors in America	p. 89
What About Bryn Mawr?	p. 90
University of Chicago	p. 91
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Classification System	p. 93
A Note about Urban Danger	p. 95
Top Ten Most Innovative and/or Unorthodox Colleges	p. 96
For Poorer?	p. 96
Cool Book Alert! The Innovative Campus: Nurturing the Distinctive Learning Environment	p. 96
Sewanee - University of the South	p. 97
Hampden-Sydney College	p. 98
The Equestrian Center at Sewannee	p. 99
Robert E. Cook Honors College	p. 100
Real Truth about Cook Honors College	p. 101
Truman State University	p. 103
What Grad School Admissions Officers Love to See on Your Application	p. 104
Interview with Robert E. Cook	p. 105
Cook Honors College	p. 107
Essay: "A College Officer Writes about Distinctiveness at a College"	p. 107
Essay: "On College Counseling for the Intellectual Student"	p. 109
Essay: "Advice from a Distinguished College Professor"	p. 116
Cool Book Alert! The Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character Development edited by the John Templeton Foundation	p. 119
Brains and Brawn	p. 120
MIT's Charm School	p. 120
The Great Books Programs	p. 121
St. John's College	p. 122
The Reading List for Freshman Year	p. 124
The Reading List for Sophomore Year	p. 124
The Reading List for Junior Year	p. 124
The Reading List for Senior Year	p. 124
Does St. John's Ever Change?	p. 125
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts	p. 126
Shimer College	p. 127
Recent Pilot Great Books Programs	p. 128
Eco Schools	p. 129
College of the Atlantic	p. 130
The Eco League	p. 134
Audubon Expedition Institute	p. 135
New College of the University of South Florida	p. 136
Cool Web Site! National Center for Fair and Open Testing	p. 137
Is the SAT Realty Fair?	p. 138
Average SAT Scores as a Factor of Family Income
Average SAT Scores as a Factor of Race
Cool Book Alert! This Way Out: A Guide to Alternatives to Traditional College Education in the United States, Europe, and the Third World	p. 142
Cool Book Alert! Major in Success: Make College Easier, Fire Up Your Dreams, and Get A Very Cool Job	p. 143
Hampshire College	p. 144
Essay: "What Is Intelligence?"	p. 147
Cool Book Alert! How College Affects Students	p. 150
Schools That De-emphasize Grades	p. 151
Cool Book Alert! Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities	p. 151
Prescott College	p. 152
The Prescott College Mission	p. 155
Mahatma Gandhi's Seven Sins	p. 156
Essay: "Why Kids Aren't Happy in Traditional School"	p. 157
Better Late Than Never	p. 160
Cool Book Alert! College Unranked: Ending the College Admissions Frenzy	p. 160
Marlboro College	p. 161
Suicide and the Smaller College	p. 163
The Block Plan Schools	p. 164
Colorado College	p. 164
Cornell College	p. 165
Blowing Smoke	p. 165
Tusculum College	p. 165
The Co-op Schools	p. 166
University of Cincinnati	p. 166
Antioch College	p. 167
Northeastern University	p. 168
Kettering University	p. 168
Keuka University	p. 169
Entrepreneurial Studies	p. 171
Babson College	p. 172
Essay: "The Big Meeting"	p. 175
On Choosing a Major and Launching a Life	p. 176
Essay: "The Filene Center for Work and Learning"	p. 179
Oglethorpe University's Career Exposure Program	p. 182
Kansas State University Academic and Career Information Center's Peer Counselors	p. 184
Coolest "Jobs" on Campus	p. 185
Beloit College	p. 186
Principia College's Career Summit	p. 186
The Five Highest and Five Lowest Paying Majors	p. 186
Junior Decision Programs: Santa Clara University and Washington University in St. Louis	p. 187
Wellesley College's Management Basics	p. 188
The Engineering Schools	p. 189
Harvey Mudd College	p. 190
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	p. 192
Really Cool Science!	p. 194
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	p. 195
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	p. 197
Colorado School of Mines	p. 198
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art	p. 198
More Engineering Specialty Schools	p. 200
Some Other Schools of Engineering to Consider	p. 200
Most Millionaires Come from the Middle of the Pack	p. 200
Murphy's Law	p. 201
80/20 Rule	p. 201
Think Small Colleges Don't Have Much Clout?	p. 201
Flying, Sailing, and Militarizing	p. 203
The Military Academies	p. 204
Webb Institute of Naval Architecture	p. 205
Aviation and Aeronautics	p. 206
The Merchant Marine	p. 207
Maritime Colleges and Academies in the U.S. and Canada	p. 208
Cool Books Alert! From F to Phi Beta Kappa: Supercharge Your Study Skills by Lance O. Ong and The Complete Guide to Academic Stardom	p. 209
Motivational Deficiency? Or Just Plain Lazy?	p. 210
Cool Book Alert! My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student	p. 210
The Work Colleges	p. 211
Essay: "A Life of Work and Learning"	p. 212
The Work Colleges	p. 214
Alice Lloyd College	p. 214
Berea College	p. 214
Blackburn College	p. 215
College of the Ozarks	p. 215
Goddard College	p. 215
Sterling College	p. 216
The Saga of a Mountaintop School	p. 216
Warren Wilson College	p. 217
Cool Word List!	p. 217
Berry College	p. 201
Cool Books Alert! Our Underachieving Colleges: A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More by Derek Bok and Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition	p. 218
More Cool Ideas	p. 219
Thomas Aquinas College	p. 220
A Spiritual College? How Can That Be?	p. 221
Naropa University	p. 222
Soka University	p. 222
Should You Go to a Religious or Church-Affiliated School?	p. 222
Special Programs for Nontraditional Students, Single Parents, and Women	p. 224
Frances Perkins Program at Mount Holyoke College	p. 225
Cool Books Alert! Traditional Degrees for Nontraditional Students by Carol S. Fungaroli and Bears Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning	p. 225
Alverno College	p. 226
Heritage College	p. 227
More Cool Ideas: Specialty Schools	p. 229
More Cool Ideas: Cool Classes and Programs	p. 229
Computer Game Studies	p. 230
Interpreting and Translating	p. 230
Art	p. 231
Music	p. 231
Cooking	p. 231
Auctioneering	p. 233
Modern Railroading	p. 234
School of the Building Arts	p. 234
Tom Savin's Special Make-Up Effects Program	p. 235
Comedy School	p. 235
Americorps	p. 236
Take a Year Off	p. 236
Semester at Sea	p. 236
Even More Unusual Classes, Majors, and Programs	p. 237
Cool Book Alert! Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds	p. 238
Cool Scholarship! The Left-Handed Scholarship	p. 238
Men's, Women's, and Minority-Focused Colleges	p. 239
Essay: "Why I Finally Chose to Attend an Historically Black College"	p. 240
Cool Book Alert! Been There, Should've Done That	p. 241
List of Historically Black Colleges	p. 242
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Member Institutions	p. 247
Nobel-ity	p. 250
The Hispanic Colleges	p. 252
The Tribal, Indian, and Native American Colleges	p. 261
Mascots	p. 265
Top Ten Colleges with "Substantial Proportionality" for Women's Athletic Programs as Defined by Title IX	p. 266
The Women's Colleges	p. 267
The Men's Colleges	p. 271
Index	p. 273
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