<p>No college guide is comprehensive enough to serve the need of every student/family looking for information. Additionally, while their agenda may or may not be hidden, this will influence the information and how it is presented.</p>
<p>I would rather a guide be straight forward with their slant, so I can take that into consideration when determining how the schools align with my own criteria, than try and give the impression that they are neutral & researched each school equally.</p>
<p>We have Popes guides, where the bias is obviously toward LACs, USNEWs, guide, with a bias toward "name schools", and an older but I think still useful guide by Thomas</a> Sowell,who is upfront with his conservative slant, but gives helpful information even for parents whose oldest daughter ends up attending that "commie hippie" school in Oregon. ;) ( those aren't his words- but a TIC viewpoint that I have run into in the Northwest)</p>
<p>That guide was recommended to me years ago by a college professor of genetics who is, to my best knowledge and belief, not a conservative but rather someone who would accept the designation "liberal." But he liked the book for its take on some issues that couldn't be found in any other college guide, a more parent-oriented approach. I've since received comments from former college admission officers who deride that book, so it is no longer on my</a> FAQ about college admission books, but I was glad I read it back in the 1990s. By the way, Sowell does NOT describe himself as conservative (even though everyone else seems to describe him that way), and cites with approval an essay by Hayek on why Hayek didn't consider himself a conservative either. The same professor who recommended Sowell's book on colleges recommended to me Sowell's book A Conflict of Visions, which explains why "conservative" versus "liberal" is probably not the best dimension for analyzing most disputes about public policy.</p>
<p>Well I didn't really call Sowell a conservative, but I would stick by my impression that his guide has a "conservative" slant.
Besides if the Hoover Institution isn't * conservative* what would it be * neocon? libertarian?*</p>
<p>I think lables can be helpful at times- while we might disagree with all the facets of a label, especially when the lable might have a negative connotation, it gives us a place to start.</p>
<p>But I would also say that if we get stuck on a label, it really narrows our information gathering. For example my * joke* about Reed being a "hippie commie" school. That came from listening to comments by other parents ( who are my age) who had wanted to attend Reed 30 years ago, but * the powers that be* had determined that " a school named after John Reed the infamous communist" * wasn't where they were going to send their son.</p>
<p>It didn't help that the school is known for expecting students to police their own behavior and act like adults, which also might result in( underage) freshmen having wine with their dinner in commons and pretty wild behavior during RennFayre.</p>
<p>But if those parents had taken the time to research the emphasis on academics including the "classics", they might have had a very different opinion.-although in those days they might have just wanted their son to go to a school with a viable football team ;)</p>
<p>(Im not really sure who Hayek is, an economist? dont forget I didn't go to college - Ill look it up though)</p>
<p>** Yes I know it wasn't named after John Reed & I haven't actually determined that they even had blotter acid in the pinatas at RennFayre- they do still have naked Pict running however*</p>