<p>Hello. I'm a new member and am enjoying reading through all the posts. My daughter is going into Junior year so the hunt is really starting. I just read the 2000 version of Pope's book. In doing additional research, I found out that 4 schools were in his 1996 book and not in the newer edition since they were not considered to be "lesser known". I know that Grinnell is one of them. Does anyone know what the other 3 were? I'll have to admit that we've been focusing between Boston and DC for schools since we live in NJ, and Pope's book really opened my eyes to options in the midwest. Susan</p>
<p>I believe Bard was one of the schools dropped.</p>
<p>Thanks, now I only need the other 2.....</p>
<p>I don't have the original list at hand, but you can check the Colleges That Change Lives website for the complete current list.</p>
<p>Patfs, thanks for the reply. I have the current list and book. I was just curious what the four schools were that were dropped off between revisions.... Susan</p>
<p>Sorry, freshstart19. I read the 1996 version... I seem to remember Franklin & Marshall and Wooster on that list. Can anyone confirm this?</p>
<p>Is Allegheny dropped from the list?</p>
<p>Allegheny is still on</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ctcl.com/index.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.ctcl.com/index.php</a></p>
<p>Has the current listing</p>
<p>okk, why would a school want to be on that list, no offense, its not like such a prestigious list. I mean where are the ivy leagues (Cornell, Penn, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, etc, Duke, Northwestern)))</p>
<p>Uh, because they're cosy LACs with cool kids?</p>
<p>but the best LACS are not even on there--Amherst, Swarthmore, Williams...plz explain, yo no comprendo..</p>
<p>collegekid1988, the book details colleges (mostly LACs) that people may not have heard of. There are colleges outside of HYP etc. plus top LACs. While those well-known colleges are great colleges for many, they are not for everyone. Some programs are available at smaller colleges even if they don't top the rankings list--many colleges refuse to give information to US News and the like because they believe those types of rankings don't matter. It's silly to base your college decision on that. Also some cannot get into/afford the most well-known colleges. Others prefer the smaller atmosphere. It is a personal choice. </p>
<p>And saying no offense doesn't mean that you can knock other colleges, okay?</p>
<p>I think books like Loren Pope's are far more important than the USNEWs rankings. I mean, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Harvard is prestigious, right?</p>
<p>It is much harder, IMO, to separate the good from the mediocre in the less selective ranges of schools -- you know, for kids who didn't score 1500+ on the SATs and finish top of the class at a wealthy suburban magnet high school.</p>
<p>Interestingly, many of Pope's choices show up consistently high on the list of per capita undergrad PhD producers, a good indication of a rigorous academic clientel and environment.</p>
<p>Some schools are poor admissions values, i.e. harder to get into than they should be (out of state at UVa is a good example). The schools in Pope's book are good admissions values: probably easier to get into than they should be. Nothin' wrong with that!</p>
<p>Mr. Popes philosophy is to find the best match for each and every student with a college environment rich with opportunity and where faculty were focused solely on undergraduate teaching and advising. The most prestigious colleges are well known and can be found @ college confidential website.</p>
<p>Coolegekid, you may not klnow about those schools, but they are special. Schools like Beloit, Centre, Earlham, Goucher, Kalamazoo, Reed, St Olaf etc... Academically, they are not quite as strong as AWS or the Ivies and their peers, but they are still very sound and give some of the best educations.</p>
<p>I think that Pope was also looking at schools that feed the mind and the soul</p>
<p>Many of the schools listed are schools that will admit many B students and some C/C+ students. I believe that his philosophy is that it is easy for an A student to continue to do well and get into a grad program. He is looking at the colleges that can take a C-B student and teach them the needed skills, so they too can enter a very good grad program (phd, med, law school etc.). Many schools that he lists, he believes have resources it takes to make it happen for many of their entering more average students.</p>
<p>from my experience it isn't that Reed for example targets B-C students, but that it does look at other criteria than grades and test scores for admission.(average GPA is 3.8 ACT composite is 30-combined mean for SAT is 1368)
Their average GPA and SAT score is still quite high, but they also seem to pay attention to interviews and essays perhaps more than a school which has a higher application rate.
I think it is perhaps an overstatement to assume that an A student will have an easy time being admitted into a grad program
Students really need to look at level 2 and lower schools for grad school as well as much more competitive universities.
When a student who has graduated magnacumlaude from Colgate university can't get into any of her grad school choices, I suspect it is a little more difficult than undergrad students want to believe.
While the average man on the street is likely more aware of brand name schools like the Ivy leagues, students for whom name recognition is not a top criteria will be well served by expanding their research.</p>