College and University Books

The author creates the most believable characters in Lauren's Line. The vivid descriptions of the characters and surroundings allowed the reader into the mind and body of each character. The names matched each person to a T!!!
Great book!

This was the funniest book I read all year. If you are an English major or an English teacher, you will fall down laughing at this satire of an English department. If you're not in academia, you'll still find it very funny but you'll never know how realistic it is. The humor is dark, and the writing style is subtle. One of my favorite parts was the memorial service for the dead Lauren (I don't want to give it away but it involves public nudity.)

I loved this book so much!!! I definitely recommend Lauren's Line. It was a totally original, fun read. It was actually a relief for me to find this book, because the last dozen books I read were all uninspiring. This was the first book in about a YEAR that I really "got into" in a totally natural, fun way. I literally couldn't put it down. I was even reading it in the bathroom and on the subway. It's just so funny the way the author creates a cast of characters at this university, and each person is SO believable. Anyway, I highly, highly recommend this unusual book!

If you're familiar with Sondra Spatt Olsen's work, you always know after the first paragraph that you're in for a good read.
And if you've taken English courses at a large urban school and wondered what goes on behind the scenes, Lauren's Line tells it all in a lucid trenchant way, skewering the characters and serving them really well done. You're sure to recognize your English 101 teacher.
Olsen's a professional. What you see is what you get and that's people in all their pettiness and all their bigness. Hooray for George Reilly! He gets my vote for English Department Chair.

Once I started reading Lauren's Line I couldn't do anything until I put it down. So many hilarious characters, so absurd their world at a public college.
In fact the other day I was at a dull oral review here at my state college as my mind wandered I snickered to myself remembering the professor in Lauren's Line who bought multiple canvas totes the year he graduated from Harvard so he could advertise his education for the rest of his life. Maybe that doesn't sound that funny in the awkward way I wrote it but Sandra Spatt Olsen really will have you in stitches when you read her take on the story. I mean when was the last time a book made you laugh a good six months after you read it?
Also the book is small enough to easily fit in my purse so I could carry it around. It's cute too. Its red spine looks good on the shelf.

Finally, a well thought out book for parents thinking about the college process! My favorite story is early in the book setting the tone for a great and helpful read. Early on, the author is clear that the process is out of control for many parents. As the Admissions Director for MIT, she makes it clear not to worry about college until it is time, rather than picking your preschool with intent to head to the IVYies....This book really tells us there is much more to learn on this road and truly this book is all about that journey in a healthier way!

Really grounded for both parents and teens. A must to read before any other books on college, including the guides to colleges. This gets you centered on what is important and aligns your values; then you can focus on the facts about colleges. A great duo.....a college admissions dean and a pediatrician....both care deeply about kids and speak to what they need.

I found this book to be useful. The author had several suggestions that we had not thought of and facts we were not aware of. The whole college admissions process is way harder than when I went through it, and I would say, there is a lot of negative as far as I can see. Her book is encouraging that the process can be a positive one, if you can step out of the frenzy that most other kids and parents seem to be embroiled in. The only reason I gave it 4/5 stars instead of 5 is because I felt there was some conflicting information between our school's college counselors and her and that's confusing.

As parents who have seen many of our friends completely lose perspective as their kids apply to college, my wife and decided that we would not go down that road when our time came. Forget all the books that imply they will get your child into a "brand name" school. It's about discovering together a place where they can grow, and strenghtening your relationship as you launch them toward their future. In the name of sanity, I recommend this book (and also a great one our own pediatrician recommended, "Getting In Without Freaking Out.") Stop hovering -- start helping your kids by not imposing your agenda.

Ms. Jones's advice on how the parents of high school juniors and seniors can reduce stress in the college admissions process is spot on.

I was lucky enough to receive Ms. Jones's advice when she spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at our Boston area high school. For those not so lucky, you can obtain the advice in her book, coauthored with pediatrician Kenneth R. Ginsburg.

Parents - and their children - will benefit from Jones's advice for two reasons: 1. Jones explains WHY current parents are so hyper about the admissions process (partly due to the fact that we parents are from the generation which mistakenly believes we can accomplish anything!) 2. And Jones gives practical advice on HOW each parent can reduce their child's stress in the admission process, including actions that can be easily implement right away.

Every parent of a high school junior or senior should buy her book today.

This is an outstanding resource book for OSU Buckeye football fans. It offers detailed accounts of each season, including scores, stories, and much more.

However, there is one important shortcoming with this book. After watching the HBO special about the OSU-Michigan rivalry, it is clear that this book leaves out several important details about OSU football, usually details that tend to portray OSU in a somewhat negative light.

For example, absent from this book is the fact that one year during the 10 year war, in the midst of an OSU blowout, Hayes ordered his team to go for a 2 point conversion after a touchdown, and when asked by the media why he had gone for two, Hayes replied "Because I couldn't go for 3!" Michigan then used that as motivation as they took revenge upon OSU the following season when they won the rivalry game. This entertaining and important story is absent from the book, perhaps because it portrays OSU in a negative light. However, I prefer to read an objective account of what happened, and I like to hear both the good and the bad. This book offers much of the "good," but doesn't say much about the "bad" things that have happened in OSU football.

One further example, Hayes' career notoriously ended when he punched a Clemson player following an interception in a bowl game. This book covers the story, but really goes easy on OSU and Hayes, and fails to capture the type of shock and scandal that ensued following that incident. It may be a dark chapter in OSU history, but it was an important moment, and this book doesn't delve into the details, but rather defends Hayes as having acted "in an obvious fit of frustration" (paraphrasing). This was a disservice, as this was an excellent opportunity to present both sides of the story, from Hayes' supporters and his critics. Instead, the book glosses over much of the info, says that Hayes left, later spoke at a graduation, and leaves it at that. Hayes' impact on the school merited a more detailed explanation of what had happened, and the incidents that led up to Hayes' resignation. The lack of information, and the lack of objectivity detracted the book.

The book also does not go into much detail regarding the 10 year war, and the relationship between Hayes and Schembechler. I would have liked to see some more coverage in that area, as there were many terrific stories from that era.

Having said all of this, I would still recommend this book as a strong source of OSU football history. I would only caution that the book does not always tell the full story, and therefore should not be referred to as a "complete" history of OSU football.

A great book filled with everything and everyone of Ohio State Football lore. I recommend Highly.

In the great state of Ohio, football is a year-round fixation. Especially for fanatics of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who measure each season's success with the ghosts of its legendary past. When not anticipating the current team's fortunes, they're busy mining for factual nuggets reaffirming the program's glory years.

Buckeye enthusiasts have struck gold with the latter. THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA is an informational jackpot, a whopping 683 pages of pure pigskin bliss, chronicling the entire history of one of sports most storied traditions. Either a lifelong follower or an Ohio State alumnus could architect such a massive undertaking; fortunately, it fell into the able hands of Jack Park, who is both, in addition to his duties as a commentator and columnist. With over four-hundred college football games to his credit--including nearly every OSU home contest since the late-1940's--he is simply the foremost authority on Buckeye football.

Unlike most proverbial encyclopedias with the A to Z format, this one is chronologically recorded, from their humble beginnings in 1890 through the modern-day mania of the 2000 campaign. Amazingly, not one season or game slips through the cracks; each one is vividly recalled with various accounts and statistics.

What really distinguishes the book from the typical almanac, though, is Park's inclusion of the many colorful anecdotes scattered throughout. Within the gray-shaded blocks lie some wonderful tales involving famous and little-known individuals whose passion and spirit have helped to shape the Buckeyes' saga as much as the many great coaches and All-American players. If the myriad of information isn't enough, the appendix offers twenty-four more pages of records and statistics, while the feast concludes with an alphabetical listing of every letterwinner in their illustrious 111-year history.

Bringing the sea of words and numbers to life are the visuals, beautifully arranged with scads of archived photos, newspaper headlines, game programs, and ticket stubs. Rather than clutter the path, they perfectly enhance its charm, balancing the formality of a textbook with the casualness of a scrapbook.

Park's warm but direct approach works effectively. Although his own experiences with OSU date more than a half-century, his reports on each season prior are equally as fresh and seamless, as though he were actually there. These recollections also subtly echo the sentiments of true Buckeye loyalists while still remaining neutral, a deft touch for a work of this type. That personal flair ensures that it's not just compiled by some factory or computer; it makes the whole experience less like a rigid research and more similar to a batch of stories told by a friendly old neighbor.

An essential bible for Buckeye nuts, THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA should be required reading for even the remote sports fan curious to gain insight into the history of a major collegiate athletic program, and in Ohio State University's, one of the nation's proudest.

In the great state of Ohio, football is a year-round fixation. Especially for fanatics of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who measure each season's success with the ghosts of its legendary past. When not anticipating the current team's fortunes, they're busy mining for factual nuggets reaffirming the program's glory years.

Buckeye enthusiasts have struck gold with the latter. THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA is an informational jackpot, a whopping 683 pages of pure pigskin bliss, chronicling the entire history of one of sports most storied traditions. Either a lifelong follower or an Ohio State alumnus could architect such a massive undertaking; fortunately, it fell into the able hands of Jack Park, who is both, in addition to his duties as a commentator and columnist. With over four-hundred college football games to his credit--including nearly every OSU home contest since the late-1940's--he is simply the foremost authority on Buckeye football.

Unlike most proverbial encyclopedias with the A to Z format, this one is chronologically recorded, from their humble beginnings in 1890 through the modern-day mania of the 2000 campaign. Amazingly, not one season or game slips through the cracks; each one is vividly recalled with various accounts and statistics.

What really distinguishes the book from the typical almanac, though, is Park's inclusion of the many colorful anecdotes scattered throughout. Within the gray-shaded blocks lie some wonderful tales involving famous and little-known individuals whose passion and spirit have helped to shape the Buckeyes' saga as much as the many great coaches and All-American players. If the myriad of information isn't enough, the appendix offers twenty-four more pages of records and statistics, while the feast concludes with an alphabetical listing of every letterwinner in their illustrious 111-year history.

Bringing the sea of words and numbers to life are the visuals, beautifully arranged with scads of archived photos, newspaper headlines, game programs, and ticket stubs. Rather than clutter the path, they perfectly enhance its charm, balancing the formality of a textbook with the casualness of a scrapbook.

Park's warm but direct approach works effectively. Although his own experiences with OSU date more than a half-century, his reports on each season prior are equally as fresh and seamless, as though he were actually there. These recollections also subtly echo the sentiments of true Buckeye loyalists while still remaining neutral, a deft touch for a work of this type. That personal flair ensures that it's not just compiled by some factory or computer; it makes the whole experience less like a rigid research and more similar to a batch of stories told by a friendly old neighbor.

An essential bible for Buckeye nuts, THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA should be required reading for even the remote sports fan curious to gain insight into the history of a major collegiate athletic program, and in Ohio State University's, one of the nation's proudest.

My husband Lance went to Ohio State and wathches football and follows his alma mater, of course. I bought one of these books for him and for his dad. Wow...I finally bought a gift they both like, which meant a lot to me.

He likes different parts about the book, especially reviewing the years from when he attended OSU up through the most recent football campaigns. His father most enjoyed reading the section on Paul Brown, whose success at Ohio State was just part of a great coaching career.

They both liked the abundant photos throughout the book. My husband gets into sports stats, and this book was full of information on the teams and the individual players and coaches.

They both liked reading about Woody Hayes, Ohio State's legendary coach. My husband, who was a journalist at OSU, said he was able to interview Woody twice and the famous coach was extremely cordial both times. Of course, my husband said he never had to interview Woody after an Ohio State defeat.

So thank you for helping me make this holiday season successful and memorable.

Loved the book which is full of anecdotes, history and pull out items pertaining to the legend of Alabama football. Arrived sooner than expected and in perfect condition.

this the book to own! Jay Barker did a great job of assemebling the history. It will be a book to pass down to my two sons....opps, I forgot! I gave both of them one for Christmas.

Bought this for my dad for Christmas and he cannot stop talking about it! He loves it! I highly recommend this as a gift - the receiver will think you spent $100 for it.

This book is more than a book. It has everything you could imagine and is very well written by former alabama QB Jay Barker. I sat, totally amazed by everything in this vault for over 2 hours, reading stories, talking to my dad about games he'd been too, having travia matches with my "know-it-all" brother, and wishing I had another book for myself. This book looks great on the coffee table of my moms house and is a suitable sub for the Bible (until mom saw it there, Apparently "The Bear" isn't God after all.). If you like 'Bama football then, this book will make you love it. This is THE GIFT for the holidays or any other special occasion.

My husband is a diehard Bama fan, and this was just to be an addition to the collection he already has... But, this could be the best one yet. I was amazed at the amount of information, history, memorabilia, quality, everything. I was expecting another "book", not a scrapbook of Alabama football history. Way to go Barker!

This book has a chapter about Goddard College, where I am a graduate student. This college (Goddard)is definately "Utopian" and progressive. These colleges have made higher education both interesting and challenging for individualized education. This book is helpful in focusing on this unique type of education.

As a young student in the late 70's, I attended what was then called an "alternative education" school for two years of my elementary education. The knowledge I learned in this progressive school is a valuable part of who I am and what I have become. My fondest learning experiences came from these two crucial years. I am a strong advocate for progressive education and feel that new methods need to be examined and implemented in order to give students a proper education; reading Constance Cappel's Utopian Colleges gave me a glimpse into some educational institutions that are doing just that. I found it to be both interesting and intriguing in showing how some colleges are trying to change how we educate young adults in our country. An easy yet informative read, Utopian Colleges will introduce students and educators to some alternative teaching methods and educational philosophies; more publications such as this should be offered so students can be aware of the different choices they have for selecting a college for their higher education experience.

Dr. Cappel's book addresses both the history of utopian education and its present incarnation in Utopian Colleges. Speaking from personal experience, I know many of the stresses that provide for both compromise and solidarity within a utopian educational community do exist and have been greatly affected by their manifestations. The underlying work ethic the author shows to be true in the diverse selection of educational institutions featured in Utopian Colleges is a very important aspect of education that is generally ignored in mainstream education. Utopian Colleges shows that the utopian ideal in American post-secondary education was not a counter-culture product of the 1960's, but a long-held tenet which has sought to nurture the creative and intuitive genius to be found within each willing student. The extensive background information provided as a prelude to the present-day and historical outlines of several utopian colleges, along with the discussion of the nature of "utopia" itself are of great enough value alone to offset the cost of this book. This is a great text with which to begin a critique of the American educational system.

At this time when large universities such as Harvard accept money from bin Laden, the need for smaller "Utopian Colleges" becomes evident. Not only are the missions of these colleges more ethical, but their history of progressive education and its values give hope to American higher education. This book examines these colleges that create independant thinkers rather than the corporate robots of the major U.S. universities.

Dr. Cappel's book provides a comprehensive glimpse into the higher education system at work in America today. She clearly explains what her criteria for a "utopian" environment are, and then goes on to describe how each of the chosen colleges reflects these. Her mode of investigation is fascinating, and it is apparent that she made the most of her experiences at all of the institutions she visited. This book proves that, even among the widespread mediocrity that has become evident in American colleges and universities today, there are a few schools out there that still insist on following a dream and a vision, and creating the perfect learning environment that provides students with the finest education possible.

When Elizabeth's friend,Nina Harper and her boyfriend,Bryan are attacked.They investigate.It's a cult,William White is behind it.Mike and Jessica elope in Vegas because she felt left out her best friend,Lila Fowler got married and is now Countess Something.Isabella Ricci is closer to Danny,than to Tom Watts.

This was great! My favorite part was when jessica and Mike elope in Vegas. I would never do it, but I thought it was good for them. None of her family or friends know yet. Elizabeth and Tom are trying to deny their feelings for each other. Liz is still with William. Liz is trying to find out the leader of the society who attacked Nina and Bryon. Tom is afraid for her safety and doesn't want her to do it.

I liked this book because it has romance, suspense, plenty of suspicion and of course, a very unexpected ending. This is one of the best Nancy Drew books I have read since I started reading them last year. I couldn't put it down

This book was great! This is one of my favorite Sweet Valley University books. Jessica Wakefield and Michael McAllery get married, but Jessica's too scared to tell anyone. Elizabeth Wakefield loves Tom Watts, but WIlliam White loves her. Nina Harper suffered an attack along with Bryan Nelson. But will she ever get close to him? Isabella Ricci wants Danny Wyatt to help her get closer to Tom Watts, but they end up getting closerto eachother. Todd Wilkins is starting to realize that Lauren Hill isn't as wonderful as he thought she was, plus he's going through some hard times due to the scandal. This book is great!

I liked this book, it wasn't boring and it continues what was left off in "What Your Parents Don't Know" I just wish that ELizabeth and Tom could at least find out that one of them have feelings for the other because it's beginning to get irratating that they always get jealous of one another when they are with another person or when they get interuppted by someone when one of them are finally going to confess that he likes her and vice versa.

Weidlich's study of how and why Lord Bertrand Russell was denied a teaching job at New York's City College is definitive.

It is difficult to see how anyone else could have written a clearer explanation of the embarrassing decisions made by the college's and the city's officials in denying Russell the right to express any views whatsoever on a college campus.

Appointment Denied: the Inquisition of Bertrand Russell. By Thom Weidlich. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY 2000.

Weidlich, a journalist and former reporter for the National Law Journal, has described in lucid detail how famed philosopher Sir Bertrand Russell was denied a position on the faculty of City College (CCNY) of the City of New York. The 1940 incident has been compared to the "monkey trial" of John Scopes. I have read widely from Russell's work as well as about Russell and find Weidlich's book is definitive about Episcopal Bishop Manning's successful efforts to gain support from Catholics and politicians to keep Russell from teaching. Also, Weidlich explains Russell's views in layman's language that is understandable and on the mark. If the Vatican can apologize for Galileo, one wonders when will the Episcopalians apologize for their egregiously narrow-minded bishop?

This book is a story of how our society treats people who think they are smarter than everyone else. Most of the action takes place in New York City, where John Lennon also discovered that he was not entirely welcome, possibly for some of the same reasons that Bertrand Russell was a problem. While there is some concern in this book for free speech, the opposition to Russell was mainly a problem for people who might be held responsible politically for the taxpayer dollars that Russell was so concerned about getting. The British earl (3-times-married, twice divorced) needed enough income to provide for his child of two, at a time when "probably the world's most renowned living philosopher" (p. 10) was only two years short of the mandatory retirement age. This book was written before the events of September 11, 2001, and seems totally unaware of the possibility that anyone who disagrees with the financial control exercised by New York City over global economics could hijack airplanes and use them to reduce large buildings to rubble. America is fortunate that a plane on September 11, 2001 also struck the Pentagon, so the federal government had a direct military attack which it could respond to in a like manner (air superiority being a prime consideration in superpower planning for geopolitical dominance). The military use of aircraft has become an American obsession as critical to American geopolitical machinations as intellect is a distinguishing feature in the ideology which thinks it rules in New York City and in the mind of Ralph Nader.

The index has a lot of distinguished names, including Augustine, Bruce Barton, Bismarck, Giordano Bruno, Neville Chamberlain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Euclid, Sigmund Freud, Galileo Galilei, Hegel, Werner Heisenberg, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thomas Jefferson, James Joyce, Lenin, Martin Luther, Karl Marx, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Plato, St. Joan of Arc Holy Name Society, Socrates, Baruch de Spinoza, Stalin, Trotsky, Voltaire, Woodrow Wilson, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. There is only a single entry for the Communist Party, none for the Democratic Party, and only a few pages are cited for Young Communist League and Young People's Socialist League. I am not related in any way to the Bruce Barton whose views on religion are so well known that the president of Hunter College, George N. Shuster, a lay Catholic, could describe other Catholics as "`like a blend of' the Daughters of the American Revolution, advertising man Bruce Barton, `and a random devotee of Torquemada,' the evil medieval inquisitor. Of their moralizing, he said that Catholics could see `nothing in the universe but middle-class primness--an order to avoid shocking some imaginary schoolgirl' (these were prescient words concerning Russell's predicament)." (p. 86).

My own interest in the role of the Democratic party in this book is a result of the situation for the appointment of federal judges, now that the Democrats no longer have control of the U.S. Senate, which has the power to approve such appointments and have tried to make this seem like an important role for protecting the rights of people who think that there is more to life than just getting married and having children. Prior to the appointment of George Shuster, the president of Hunter College was Eugene Colligan, "a political hack, installed when Tammany Hall, the notorious Manhattan Democratic machine, was still running the city (though not for much longer). . . . At the college's 1935 commencement exercises, the rowdy audience held placards charging `Colligan Lives Up to Mussolini's "Order of Merit"' (the fascist leader had bestowed upon him the Italian Medal of Merit for `distinguished educational accomplishment')." (p. 11). Throughout this book, the leadership of Protestant Episcopal Bishop William T. Manning of the Diocese of New York combines with the kind of politics that Democrats have spent years using, appealing to popular animus to try to avert the kind of confusion which the future is bound to run into sooner or later.

Those who learned the most about political advantages were students who had the opportunity to promote their own interests. At the time, the student body was pretty bright. ". . . and because of the Ivy League's limits on how many Jews it would take--during this period that Russell was to teach, `the City College student body represented perhaps the purest intellectual elite in the country.' Of the eight Nobel Prize winners the college has produced (more than any other public institution), three came from the class of 1937." (p. 54). Those who were there just a few years later might have resigned themselves to the belief that being born with a brain wasn't really all that great, if this book is any indication of how the world will treat you.

In the case of the Young Communist League, who "viewed it as a case of academic freedom . . . but we don't really give a hoot about Russell and this case," (p. 55) others "begged the YCL representative on the student council to keep the Communists out of the Russell controversy so they could win it. `Everything the Communists touched was the kiss of death. . . . the Hearst papers depicted the Communists fighting to get Russell in. This contributed to an extent in keeping Russell out. The irony was that the next fall, the YCL used their fighting for Russell to recruit new members among the incoming class.'" (p. 56) Now that the U.S. Supreme Court can be anyone who the President picks, we shall see how soon the people who placed obstacles in the way of those who wanted to count ballots for his opponent can be replaced by incoming justices, using the term loosely, of course, in the time-honored manner.

weidlich provides a stimulating and briskly-paced account of a seemingly minor historical event, which nonetheless serves as the springboard into a wide-ranging and meticulous consideration of deep, difficult issues: how much intellectual freedom in academia is too much? do individual taxpayers, as the ultimate funders of public academic institutions, get to answer this question? or is it their elected representatives? or neither? and can our society allow the answer to find its fundament in one particular religion's belief system? or in a morality that transcends particular religions? does such a morality exist?

the historical coverage of the russell controversy itself is thorough, carefully documented and generally unimpeachable. weidlich is conscious of the story's amusing, sometimes ridiculous components, which adds to the enjoyment. the book is worth the price for that analysis alone. the treatment of the bigger themes is gravy.

Weidlich's cogent historical narrative crisply sets up a seminal event in New York politics, and how the members of the power structure, for various reasons, conspired to better or preserve their political positions by opposing Russell's nomination to teach philosphy at City College in the 1940s. But in a larger context, Weidlich's book provides a prescient analysis of an event that was a harbinger of things to come - of the familiar debate over unpopular uses for taxpayer funds, and how educational priorities often fall victim as a result. While the book does not aspire to be anything more than a clear picture of a 1940s New York controversy, it would seem that this clear vision has made the more timeless aspects of the debate rise to the surface. Appointment Denied is a must for anyone with an interest in the political dynamic that ran New York's system of higher education, and the theological dynamic that still seems to govern the politics of the city - and the nation.

Lauenstein gives more facts than a schoolmarm.

This book compiles information from a wide variety of resources - including excellent experts in the field - and presents it all in one place in an easy to follow, common-sense approach. Key principles for all aspects of life are discussed - financial, emotional, educational, not just how to throw a better curve. For any student athlete, male or female, in any sport, this author provides insights and keys to laying a foundation in school which will be of great benefit no matter what career path is eventually taken. This is an excellent guide which should be available in every school in the nation for every student. I wish this book had been available when I was in high school.

Ray Lauenstein has put together the first comprehensive guide for high school athletes bound for college. Trying to get into the right college is a difficult process, but for the student-athlete there are additional challenges, and Mr. Lauenstein provides an excellent roadmap to navigate the process. If your goal, or your child's goal, is to play sports at the college level, this book is a must read.

This book is great! I gave it to my cousin who's on the high school baseball team, and he loved it. I would definitely recommend this book.

"Baseball, playing outside the lines" is the book every parent needs, to guide their student athlete through the maze of college recruiters. The author has been there, done that, and is able to focus on what is really important, "an education should be the primary focus". This book should be mandatory reading for every student who aspires to playing baseball, or for that matter any sport at the college level.

The alternate title of this book should be: THE ~COMPLETE~ AND ONLY GUIDE TO COLLEGE DEGREES BY MAIL AND INTERNET YOU WILL NEED TO READ. Excellent and up-to-date information regarding courses, tuition, residency requirements. I will FINALLY be able to confidently and comfortably select 'THE' Masters Program that is right for me! Tuition is quite varied and ranges from low to very high...Bears' Guide saved me the time and frustration of looking at schools with astronomically high tuition rates. If you are just beginning to look at Distance Learning programs, have been looking for awhile and are not able to make a decision, or you are just thinking about a DLP, this book is essential.

As I have been contemplating receiving my Bacherlor's degree through a University's Distance Learning Program, I was lost as to where to start. That is, until I found this book. BEARS' GUIDE TO COLLEGE DEGREES BY MAIL & INTERNET. John Bear's book contains listings of tons of colleges, that offer correspondence, independent study, and internet degrees. With information about each school, website addresses, e-mail addresses, etc. that make it easy for the interested party to find out everything they need to know. One thing that I recommend to everyone is to find out the accreditation agencies that support the schools listed before you sign up with them, as not all are regionally accredited. Overall, this was a fantastic book, and a must have for anyone who is interested in pursuing a degree through distance learning.

Erika Sorocco

I have read this book, as well as a number of Bear's titles, and I find it very well researched (and quite readable), considering the fluid nature of the topic. John, daughter, et al are to be commended for a fine project!

John Bear is a nationally recognized authority in school accreditation and has appeared as an expert witness in many trial venues. His list of enemies is quite long, as he has been partly responsible for the closing of a large number of diploma mills and con-game colleges, hence the slanderous reviews. He has also been involved in advising (and occasionally running) non-traditional schools (no crime there) that never claim an accreditation they don't have. Some of these schools have done well, others have not. Some are still around, others are not. (Still - no crime there.)
College is nothing if not market-driven. (Welcome to America; that's how it is done here.)

It should go without saying, but anyone foolish enough to believe everything they read in a Google search is certainly in need of an education!

Books by John & Mariah Bear have literally changed people's lives. This is no less true for this book. Although not quite the behemoth that the larger "Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning (14th ed.), this book instead provides a tight focus on specific programs for those who either need a little more guidance or for whom smaller/less expensive works better. It still provides the same solid advice that readers have come to trust from the Bears.

College Degrees by Mail and Internet provides all of the information necessary to earn a degree (BA, MA, PhD) through distance learning. Now in its eighth edition, this book has stood the test of time.

If you're looking to change your life (more money, better work, etc), you need to check this book out.

If you want to get your education and not go into slavery with your student loans. Then get this book ASAP, it covers just about everything one needs to know on how to get your degree. I really think the future of higher education is going this way. But if you want to spend a lot of time, money, grief and get a real ration of manure. Then don't read this book!

My order was easy to make and was shipped to me very quickly and in perfect condition. I was very satisfied. Thank You!

Excellent book - easy reading as it chronicles his "miracle in Manhattan." A must reading for every Wildcat fan and great material for young and/or aspiring coaches to see "that it can be done!"

Our experience was great, no problems, book came in timely manner, and the book itself was in great condition and was great reading material.

i'm always in perspective of a successful coach.this book provides great insight into what made bill snyder the positive influence that he was.

What Bill Snyder did at Kansas State is easily, the greatest coaching job, in any sport, at any time, EVER......

Beyond belief is the only way I can even start to describe how BAD Kansas State football was before Snyder took over.

Bill Snyder is maybe the greatest coach of all-time, in any sport. This book should be required reading for ALL business leaders and employees in America. Follow Snyder's steps to success, and apply them to your own life, and you CANNOT fail. Total comittment, goal setting, respect, loyalty, persistence, serious organization, and believing in others, are key components to Snyder's winning formula. The man worked 100 hour weeks, 12 months a year to make this miracle a reality. It's amazing, and it's true......