Looking Beyond the Ivy League: Finding the College That's Right for You,   ISBN:9780143112822

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This book states the same few things over and over again. Small is good, status is unimportant in the long run, research universities dont care about undergrads... I agree with most of it but i want more!!!! Did she say anything different in her other book or just repackage the same ideas?

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The author's philosophy is simple: Small, liberal arts colleges can provide a life-changing experience where the student will actually be immersed in learning and be taught by a faculty that actually cares about the student's growth. On the other hand, Ivy League schools, large research universities, and state schools do little or nothing to enhance a student's education. This is because classes are taught by foreign teaching assistants rather than professors themselves, and the schools are simply too big and impersonal for a student to ever get any benefit out of them.

I am not kidding you... the book takes up 250 pages just to reiterate this information over and over again. I understand the value and merit of a liberal arts education, but I don't think the author should be so quick to condemn other schools. I know many people who have graduated from the types of schools that Loren Pope seems to dislike with a vehement passion, and they all loved their college experience and feel like they got something out of it.

I don't think that this book is for everyone. If you have your heart set on a large school, the author's nuances will probably bother/anger you. However, it does feature some helpful advice regarding putting together a good application, making a good impression during your interviews, figuring out whether a school you are interested in is truly right for you (most of this section, however, seems very propaganda based; it suggests asking questions such as "Who does a majority of the teaching- professors or teaching assistants?" Obviously, we all know this question favors small colleges, which the author is a strong advocate of.)

The author's fervent and passionate advocacy for liberal arts schools is great, but I feel as though he's saying they're the ONLY places you can get a good education, when that's not true.

Customer Rating: 

Wonderful book! My husband, our daughter and I found this book helpful and challenging to take a broader look at college opportunities beyond just the top tier schools. Even though our daughter has the grades and the ability to attend such a school she will also apply to some other schools she may not have considered prior to reading this book.

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When I was a parent of a senior, I became engulfed with the gossip and happenings of college admissions. It really became a chronic habit to ask others about their child's latest quests. And, when I investigated, I started with this book - start with the best.

There are many other good books with clever names. But after reading most of those, I would always return to this book.

I may know more than the average person about the topic. I had applied to schools at various levels. My siblings had too. We had attended good to great schools. And, our father was a professor at two major universities -- those with ivy on their walls.

When I read this book, a bulb lit. That epiphany reminded me of that one clear day in my childhood when I thought my father was not nearly as dumb as my teenage attitude knew him to be, and I had the nerve to ask him, "Dad, where are the best students for your graduate studies coming from -- name the schools." He immediately spat out many of the small ivies in the northeast. I did not want that as mother would be too close. Then he said these strange words, "Grinnell, MacAllister, Carleton, U Chicago, Pomona, Pitzer, Occidental . . ." Loren Pope would agree - one hundred percent.

I then knew dear old dad was not so dumb after all. And, neither was Loren Pope when he delivered this grand endorsement of the liberal arts education.

This book tells you why small liberal arts schools are not second fiddle to the larger and better known universities. The well known liberal arts schools are pearls. They are where Ph.D.'s go to teach. And the students, through that amazing nuturing process, mature to become much better minds than when they walked their first steps on the campus grounds. They are truly "learning institutions."

Liberal arts schools epitomize the concept of higher education. And, many have become so beloved by their alumni that tuitions are not as forbidding as they may have been in the years of sweater-clad bobby-socked coeds. Many of the schools loved by Pope are so well endowed that they are "need blind" with their admissions. Perfect admissions concepts at what are deemed nearly perfect learning environments.

His simple advice -- the ivies (for undergraduate) are overrated and liberal arts schools are either underrated (those we know about) or HIGHLY underrated (those we know little if nothing about).

Chock full of statistics and years of experience, Pope basically created a new image for many liberal arts schools. He is the Don for arguing the merits to liberal arts education. He unfortunately died recently, and should probably have a scholarship named after him at most of the liberal arts schools in America. He is the progenitor of liberal arts educational superiority. His written beliefs were contrarian to the ivy state. He was the original. This book was the original's original publication of these beliefs. This is the bible of why liberal arts education is one of America's greatest resources.

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Loren Pope's Looking Beyond the Ivy League debunks dozens of myths about college selection and admissions, arguing against common views informed by intuition and old wives tales and encouraging families to be open to a new perspective on what constitutes a good college.

According to Pope, the colleges with the most competitive admissions standards or biggest names aren't always the best. Reed and St. John's, for instance, feature engaging intellectual environments but have admissions rates multiple times higher than at many Ivies. Smaller schools across the U.S. cultivate closer professor-student interaction than is feasible at larger universities, helping students grow and often gain an edge in graduate school admissions. Many schools "in the middle" of the U.S. are undervalued because many students don't deign to examine the region's options.

Pope encourages extensive reflection. He suggests self-examination among students, with chapters dedicated to helping them consider what they want to get from a college and whether a gap year might be advisable. Pope also queries, "Do [families] do some probing consumer research? Do they ask for performance data? Do they sample and test the merchandise? No." Arguing against this sad trend, he advises students to critically "test the merchandise." He suggests reading up on statistics (commuter students, graduate study admissions rates, etc.), poring over the requirements, asking tough questions, visiting campus, attending classes, interviewing students, eating the food, checking out the facilities, and staying over. He justifies the time it takes by citing the high cost of attendance and high rate of transferring and dropping out.

Throughout the book, Pope supports his claims about what makes a good college by drawing on evidence from varies sources: statistics on graduate school admissions, profiles of people in "Who's Who," economic research documenting the change in employment criteria from degrees to capabilities, and so on.

After a thorough drilling on how to be an informed college consumer, Pope offers favorite college picks in categories such as "for the self-sufficient self-starter" and "for late bloomers or those who need help." He also offers additional insight on relevant topics such as financial aid and selecting a counselor.