A new book by Jay Mathews, education reporter for the Washington Post and one of the leading writers on the college search process, ranks Elon University #1 on a list of 100 outstanding (but underappreciated) colleges. Details...
The book, published in March 2003, is titled “Harvard Schmarvard: Getting beyond the Ivy League to the college that is best for you.”
Mathews’ book is based on his 20 years of reporting as well as a survey of high school guidance counselors and teachers from across the nation.
A Harvard graduate, Mathews’ maintains that students and parents should look beyond the big “brand name” schools. He suggests young people consider his list of 100 excellent schools that “deserve more attention than they are getting.”
In ranking Elon first on the list, Mathews quotes guidance counselors from Saudi Arabia, Massachusetts, Alabama and North Carolina. Sally O’Rourke, a counselor at Andover (Mass.) High School is quoted as saying that students she sent to Elon thrived on its “emphasis on leadership, service, hands-on learning, and study abroad.” Other counselors remarked on Elon’s outstanding campus, commitment to students and forward-thinking leadership.
Mathews’ book includes endorsements by former U.S. education secretaries William Bennett and Richard Riley, as well as Newsweek senior editor David Kaplan and James Fallows of The Atlantic Monthly.
Mathews writes on what really matters about choosing a college, the SAT and other high school stresses, campus visits, essays and other parts of the college application process. He suggests students focus on whether a school fulfills their personal desires and dreams.
Among the other schools on Mathews’ top 100 list of “hidden gems” are Agnes Scott College (Ga.), Bard College (N.Y.), Bates College (Me.), Bucknell University (Penn.), Centre College (Ken.), Davidson College (N.C.), DePauw University (Ind.), Dickinson College (Penn.), Grinnell College (Ohio), Ithaca College (N.Y.), Kalamazoo College (Mich.), Loyola Marymount University (Calif.), Macalester College (Minn.), Occidental College (Calif.), Rhodes College (Tenn.), Saint Louis University (Mo.), Texas Christian University, Truman State University (Mo.), University of Redlands (Calif.) and the University of the South (Tenn.).