College and University Books

If you're new to creative writing, or if you teach an introductory creative writing course, I strongly recommend that you read this book. It uses a structured approach to the different aspects of writing (writing about places, situations, people, etc.) and includes many thought-provoking exercises at the end of each section. The book also includes many excerpts of autobiographical writings from well-known male and female authors, including Annie Dillard and George Orwell. Finally, the editor ties it all together with several essays that help teachers and students get the most out of the excerpts and writing exercises. I have used the book successfully for many years to refresh my own writing skills and to build the skills and confidence of my writing students. I only wish that a newer edition would be published.

B.A.S.I.C. is an excellent publication which provides clear and effective information for building community in Residence Halls. It is an excellent resource for anyone working in a residence hall with students, particularly RAs. Great job!

This book is so incredible. All Duke fans HAVE to have this one! The pictures are amazing and the game summaries help to keep that great Duke season fresh on the brain. With the 98-99 team soon to win their NCAA title, it makes this book all the more special!! If you don't buy it, you are a fool!

The Adlers use a qualitative research study w/Peter becoming a participant observer to study the socialization of college athletes and the social psychology of the self. I believe this piece of research is valid research. It saddened me to read what our materialistic world is doing to the young individuals that are recruited for college basketball. It also proved to me that college basketball is about big business, and not really a sport. Unfortunately, it continues today and not only in basketball. Thank you Patricia and Peter for opening our eyes. Anyone interested in knowing the real truth about college athletics should consider reading this book.

I've read all of Jean McGarry's novels and story collections and this one ranks at the top. The assured, sometimes whimsical but always well-controlled style is here, but there's something about the characters Siri and Esther: they are ingratiating young women who grow on you as they themselves grow. In fact, Ms. McGarry's story works as a double bildungsroman, a chronicle of the intellectual growth spurt that can invigorate one's early college years. Although Ms. McGarry is an esteemed professor there is nothing of the usual academic musk: the college is too odd, the story too focused on underclasswomen's mental life to rehase the fixations of the conventional college novel. What starts as a variant on The Odd Couple evolves into a type of quest with both girls breaking free from their roots and trading intellectual places. Dare we ask for a sequel?

I own the 11th edition of this book, and found it to be an extremely valuable tool while I was searching for potential colleges a few years ago. It lists over 400 four-year colleges and universities throughought the United States (in alphabetical order), and gives helpful information and statistics on each. The profile for each school includes its location, contact information, numbers of full- and part-time students, number of graduates, calendar structure (quarters, semesters, etc.), application deadlines, admissions procedures, the number of applicants versus the number of students accepted, percent of students that earn degrees, student/faculty ratios, tuition fees, room & board expenses, a brief history of the school, its objectives, degrees offered, special programs offered, SAT and/or ACT test score requirements and average student scores, computer and library facilities, and financial aid information. It is, of course, important to double-check the provided information with the particular schools you are interested in, as many of these things change from year to year.

Each school is also ranked as most competitive, highly competitive, very competitive, competitive, less competitive, or noncompetitive, to give you an idea of how hard it may be to get in. All the schools are also indexed by state at the back, making it easy to look for colleges in particular areas. This book is only intended to help you discover colleges that may fit your goals and needs, and to provide a handy reference to school statistics, and is certainly not the only source you should reference. Once you have a list of schools that interest you, the next step will be to contact those institutions for further, more detailed information. I also strongly recommend visiting the campuses of any schools that interest you. This book is, however, a great place to start looking. It is likely that you will come across options you hadn't been aware of before. The book is also relatively small (standard dimensions of most paperback fiction books, for example) and lightweight, making it easy to transport if need be. Overall I couldn't recommend it more highly, and I wish you good luck on your search for the perfect school!

For people looking at how colleges have changed and developed in the last 20 years, using an old Barron's guide is a great tool. Current Barron's guides have changed very little so an apples to apples comparison is fairly easy. The one caveat is that the SAT was re-centered in 1996 so you'll need a conversion chart. (For example, a 570 v 580 m is now about 640 v 590m.) As most colleges have become more difficult to get into as the college-age population rises, it can be wise (and perhaps important) to check to see if a school under consideration isn't one of few colleges that haven't improved. While it may be inconsequential, parents might want to investigate such a school more carefully to ensure there's nothing that indicates you're sending your child to a sinking ship.

This book covers all you could ever want to know about Baylor University. It is a MUST for potential students and their parents. This book is relevant, informative and very well written. Topics covered include Nightlife, Campus Dining, Transportation, etc. Each section has the basic facts on each subject area, but the best part are the quotes from current students that provide an accurate description of the true nature of each subject. The author manages to provide humor in what would otherwise be a dry subject. Way to go Kyra Mitchell for a very insightful guide!

This charming small volume is an alphabetical dictionary of terms common to and distinctive of Cambridge University in England. Stubbings is a Classicist by profession, and he explains both the origins of the terms (many of which come from Latin of course) as well as their present and past meanings. Far from being a simple dictionary, many of the entries are delightful small essays on some aspect of university life, from colleges to fellows, from gowns to orators, from scholars to sizars.

While many of the terms in the volume refer to practices and offices that no longer exist, others are very much alive today, and some deserve wider currency. My own favorite is the verb "to be progged" (to be caught by a proctor while committing some offense).

If you are fond of life in the academic world, or of the history of education, or of odd dialects and strange vocabularies, you will derive much pleasure from this volume. It is a window into a rich and often quirky social environment that is very different from the bureaucratized and slogan-filled universities of today.

By the way, "bedders" are (or were) college bedmakers, largely supplanted today by modern custodians of one sort or another; "bulldogs" are university constables; and "bedells" were once the attendants of the head of the university but now their office involves little more than carrying the university mace on ceremonial occasions.

This guide is easy to read and to the point, yet it is packed with inside information and helpful hints. The author really knows what college is all about and gets you to think about creating a plan for success. He has a knack for pointing out all the trouble spots of college that most students don't realize until they are in trouble.

I highly recommend this book!