Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth About ... (ISBN 0802845371)

While You Were Out:
This college guide is based on what have become on many college campuses today radical premises: 1) There are some important things to learn, and not all college freshmen already know these things (or what they are) before they even get to college; 2) before you criticize, condemn or just ignore all "Western" culture, perhaps you should actually know something about it; 3) colleges should encourage critical thinking and balanced study over simple absorption of commonly accepted points of view; and 4) the First Amendment should be allowed free exercise on college campuses. It does a good job of describing to what extent the colleges profiled in the book fit these premises. If you haven't followed the changes in the American university in the last 30 years, while you were out some big changes have happened. The confluence of postmodern, poststructuralist theory and radical leftist politics have converted many universities into ideologically-driven intellectual killing fields. The misuse of the PM/PS discoveries of linguistic and cultural contexts to justify "deconstructing" all "truths" except those asserted by whomever is doing the deconstructing have led to the notion that there are no universal truths, only points of view and culturally-relative constructs. Of course, that point of view is asserted to be universally true across all cultures, but never mind. Why is this relevant to choosing a college? The rise of PM/PS relativism has been used as the intellectual justification to abandon core curricula and the study of Western cultural heritage. If there are no truths, then there are only power elites pushing their culturally constructed points of view. In the case of Western civilization, this has meant the dominance of the oppressive, racist, imperialistic patriarchy. If Western culture is to be studied at all, it is only to be "deconstructed"," which means attacked and discredited in toto. Chaucer, Plato, Homer, Plotinus, St. Augustine, Kant, Milton, and all the rest are relevant only as examples of a culture that is corrupt and illegitimate at its core, end of discussion. Under this point of view, the shortcomings of Western civilization are the ONLY aspects of WC worth studying. Not merely that these may be valid aspects to study, but that they are the ONLY aspects worthy of study. This book attempts to root out colleges (and programs or departments within colleges) that still offer at least the option of studying the non-politically fashionable aspects of the Western canon. That is why the premises of this book have become radical on today's campuses. You can glance through some of the other reviews of this book here and find evidence that these premises have also become associated with the dreaded "right wing." According to that point of view, this book should be stamped out, just as its premises should be purged from our college campuses, which they largely have. The fact is, this book does not advance right-wing political doctrine, but only the notion that there is a body of knowledge (the Western canon) worth learning, even for the purpose of knowledgeably criticizing it, and that people who do not agree in every respect with whatever political point of view is in fashion on a campus should not be silenced, intimidated or threatened. Radical, huh? "Choosing the Right College" reports on the absence or existence of a core curriculum (as opposed to near or total lack of any curricular structure), in case you too cling to the archaic notion that colleges should offer some guidance as to what used to be called a "liberal" education might consist of. It attempts to describe the political environment and free speech climate. Free speech and the ability to critique the political views of professors are in notorious short supply on campuses these days. The term "politically correct" was first coined to refer to the curtailment of free speech on college campuses. Contrary opinions are routinely literally shouted down, purged from print or public discourse and labelled as "hate" speech or the like. In case you think this is not conducive to education, much less freedom, this book will give some hints as to which colleges allow more, or less freedom of expression and thought. This book gives the college searcher a tool to get a clue as to the contentof the education they (or their progeny) are likely to get at the colleges profiled. It gives the reader a quick screening device for colleges most (and least) likely to meet the criteria set out in its premises. It will help the reader start formulating questions to find out more, as their college search progresses. No other college guide does this, that I am aware of, and I have looked at dozens. As for this book advancing "right-wing" values? Well, it does alert the reader to the existence of core curricula in such right-wing bastions as, say, Columbia University. If you think that kind of thought should be stamped out, don't buy this book. Or better yet, buy it and stage a burning.

Magnificent!:
I got this book when I was in high school as an aid to colleges, and I could not put it down. It was so entertaining and enlightening that I found myself reading every article for the sheer fun of it! Long after I had chosen my college, I still continued to read this book for pleasure. Most college guides are superficial fluff; this book takes you inside each college, exposing its cultural and political atmosphere. Yes, the book is written from a right-wing perspective; that's why I personally found it so refreshing. Anyone who picks up this book should be warned of the book's orientation; perhaps the title should be changed? At any rate, I hope the editors of this wonderful college guide continue to issue updated versions in future years.

Misleading:
This book is terrible. I have two cheif beefs with it. First, I can only vouch for my schoos but the book misleads leads you about it. First at Davidson (where I attend) there is no sensitivity training as the book claims, the faculty is not 95 percent liberal democrat, the core curriculium is not 10 courses but 12 and the humanities department is not under fire in fact it is one of the most uniformaly praised departments on campus. My second problem is with the tone of the author. The author finds fault with my school for offering classes on Africa, South America and gender related issues and for the presence of a sexual harresment code. This kind of anglo-male centric attitude and the devaliution of women and minorities that comes with it is not only offensive to those who think but dangerious

Misleading:
This book is terrible. I have two cheif beefs with it. First, I can only vouch for my schoos but the book misleads leads you about it. First at Davidson (where I attend) there is no sensitivity training as the book claims, the faculty is not 95 percent liberal democrat, the core curriculium is not 10 courses but 12 and the humanities department is not under fire in fact it is one of the most uniformaly praised departments on campus. My second problem is with the tone of the author. The author finds fault with my school for offering classes on Africa, South America and gender related issues and for the presence of a sexual harresment code. This kind of anglo-male centric attitude and the devaliution of women and minorities that comes with it is not only offensive to those who think but dangerious

Extremely biased:
I rented this ook at my local library after seeing that it discussed the colleges in an essay style. However, upon reading it, I found that the guide was much more focused upon politics than anything else. It looks at the political side from an extreme right wing view, making nasty comments about most schools, including the whole of the University of Michigan. That is why the top reviewers include Laura Schlessigner, Michael Medved, the National Catholic Register, a Fox News analyst, the author of Tenured Radicals: How Politics has corrupted our higher education and the author of How I Accidently Joined the Right Wing Party. This is not a college review book but a biased cynical look at liberalism at colleges from a radical view.