<p>Loren Pope was education editor at the NY Times for a time- he opened the Collegeplacement bureau to help families find colleges and has often writes articles and has written a few other college books.</p>
<p>this is from the CTCL website
*n Colleges That Change Lives, Mr. Pope seeks to provide college-bound students and their families with an alternative philosophy about college choice by educating them about the specific qualities and characteristics that are necessary for a meaningful, life-changing educational experience. Unlike many other guidebooks that rely on surveys completed by the colleges themselves or are a simple accumulation of public data on colleges and universities, Colleges That Change Lives offers the reader a more in-depth view of these 40 liberal arts colleges and universities, which have met Mr. Popes criteria for selection.</p>
<p>The schools selected for this distinction were, in many cases, neither aware of Mr. Popes stealth campus visits nor of his intention to write the book. The colleges and universities featured in Mr. Popes books do not pay to be included in his book. Conversely, Mr. Pope and Penguin Books do not fund the CTCL events or this Web site.*</p>
<p>We were very happy with his books. I also attended the “tour” when they were in town that represented a majority of the schools ( my D was out of town) I would have never heard of many of these schools-and it gave information about those schools that would have been hard for us to find.</p>