The Hidden Ivies

Book excerpt: Completely revised and updated with a dozen new colleges and universities, the essential guide students need to help them choose and gain admission to the outstanding schools that fit them best. Based on Howard and Matthew Greene’s years of counseling experience and research, The Hidden Ivies is an invaluable, in-depth look inside sixty-three renowned academic institutions. These private colleges and universities offer students a broad liberal arts education that will help them build a strong foundation for the rest of their lives. The Greenes help families understand what makes an Ivy League college so desirable, and why these Hidden Ivies (some less well-known than others) offer an educational and personal experience to rival that found on Ivy campuses. In this fully revised and updated edition—featuring new institutions, including Dickinson College, Fordham University, and Southern Methodist University—the premier educational consultants and authors of Making It Into a Top College take you school-by-school, revealing: Why these are unique institutions of exceptional merit What criteria to use in evaluating different programs The admissions requirements for each selective school How to approach the selective college admissions process today Student perspectives on their college experiences The value of pursuing a liberal arts education Choosing a college is one of the most important decisions every student—and their parents—will ever make. With costs rising and so many to choose from—and the competition for acceptance more intense than ever before—The Hidden Ivies offers invaluable insights and advice to help every student choose and apply to the right school: the place where they will thrive, academically, socially, and personally.