<p>Colleges Worth Considering</p>
<p>By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 1, 2003; 10:25 AM </p>
<p>A year ago, in a column in this space [“Singing the Praises of Guidance Counselors”], I asked you to help me compile a list of colleges and universities that deserve bigger reputations. I called them the hidden gems, the lesser known jewels, the wallflower colleges that students fall in love with only after they get to know them. I hoped that readers would send the column to high school counselors or teachers they knew and ask them to send me names of colleges that their graduates rave about. </p>
<p>Below is the result of your efforts. Based on this very informal and unscientific survey I have put together a list of 100 schools that deserve more attention than they are getting. </p>
<p><strong><em>At a Glance</em></strong> </p>
<p>Jay Mathews’s list of 100 colleges that deserve a second look:</p>
<li>Elon University</li>
<li>Earlham College</li>
<li>Clark University</li>
<li>College of Wooster</li>
<li>Kalamazoo College</li>
<li>Rhodes College</li>
<li>Guilford College</li>
<li>Occidental College</li>
<li>Washington College</li>
<li>Illinois Wesleyan University</li>
<li>Trinity University</li>
<li>Kenyon College</li>
<li>Whitman College</li>
<li>Grinnell College</li>
<li>Wheaton College</li>
<li>Dickinson College</li>
<li>Christopher Newport University</li>
<li>Truman State University</li>
<li>Westminster College</li>
<li>Loyola Marymount University</li>
<li>Macalester College</li>
<li>Hartwick College</li>
<li>Goucher College</li>
<li>Hendrix College</li>
<li>Austin College</li>
<li>Berry College</li>
<li>St. Olaf College</li>
<li>Bates College</li>
<li>Allegheny College</li>
<li>Davidson College</li>
<li>Colorado College</li>
<li>Gettysburg College</li>
<li>Quinnipiac University</li>
<li>Millsaps College</li>
<li>Bard College</li>
<li>York College of Pennsylvania</li>
<li>Muhlenberg College</li>
<li>Keene State College</li>
<li>Ursinus College</li>
<li>University of Puget Sound</li>
<li>Spelman College</li>
<li>St. Lawrence University</li>
<li>St. John’s College</li>
<li>Savannah College of Art and Design</li>
<li>Wabash College</li>
<li>University of Tampa</li>
<li>Hope College</li>
<li>Evergreen State College</li>
<li>Centre College</li>
<li>Mary Washington College</li>
<li>Beloit College</li>
<li>Bucknell University</li>
<li>Depauw University</li>
<li>Flagler College</li>
<li>Ithaca College</li>
<li>Johnson & Wales University</li>
<li>Nazareth College of Rochester</li>
<li>Western Carolina University</li>
<li>University of Redlands</li>
<li>Paul Smith’s College</li>
<li>Saint Louis University</li>
<li>Santa Clara University</li>
<li>Western New England College</li>
<li>University of Tulsa</li>
<li>Lewis & Clark College</li>
<li>Manhattanville College</li>
<li>Willamette University</li>
<li>Texas Christian University</li>
<li>Birmingham-Southern College</li>
<li>College of St. Scholastica</li>
<li>University of the Pacific </li>
<li>Lawrence University</li>
<li>Agnes Scott College</li>
<li>Berea College</li>
<li>Augustana College</li>
<li>Bowling Green State University</li>
<li>Adelphi University</li>
<li>University of Denver</li>
<li>Hobart & William Smith College</li>
<li>University of the South</li>
<li>Xavier University of Louisiana</li>
<li>St. Andrews Presbyterian University</li>
<li>Saint Joseph’s College of Maine </li>
<li>Seattle Pacific University</li>
<li>Western Washington University</li>
<li>Eckerd College</li>
<li>Drew University</li>
<li>Chapman University</li>
<li>Alfred University</li>
<li>Carroll College</li>
<li>Loyola College in Maryland</li>
<li>Knox College</li>
<li>Miami University</li>
<li>Samford University</li>
<li>University of Scranton</li>
<li>Randolph-Macon College</li>
<li>Siena College</li>
<li>Lambuth University</li>
<li>Ohio University</li>
<li>Dean College</li>
</ol>
<p>This is, admittedly, a very fluid and idiosyncratic way to look at higher education. Reputations can change quickly. Schools that might have been on such a list a generation ago are now recognized to be first-class institutions that have nowhere near enough room for all the students who want to get in. Many schools listed below may soon find themselves in that situation, and some are there already. Colleges like Occidental and Grinnell have become so popular I was reluctant to include them here. But the counselors and teachers know more than I do. They say these schools are under-appreciated, so here they are. </p>
<p>I have ranked the 100 schools, but I would not put much stock in my order of merit. I did it mostly for fun. You can’t lure people into a friendly argument over which school is best unless you do some ranking. I have stacked them based on how often they were mentioned by counselors and teachers. I broke ties after assessing the fervor of the comments I received from the people I surveyed. </p>
<p>A complete account of this survey, with longer descriptions of each school, can be found in the appendix of my book, “Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That Is Best for You.” </p>
<p>Please be assured that all 100 colleges below are excellent and deserve to be put on your own list if they offer something that pleases you. The April 6 Washington Post Magazine will have a top-20 mid-Atlantic version of this list including St. Mary’s College of Maryland, which just missed the top 100 nationally. </p>
<p>Anyone who writes about schools that rise above name recognition owes a debt to Alexandria resident Loren Pope, former New York Times education editor and college administrator and now one of our nation’s leading educational consultants and experts on college admission. His books, particularly Looking Beyond the Ivy League and Colleges That Change Lives, identify many schools that put teaching and character development ahead of public relations and high placement on the U.S. News and World Report list. Colleges That Change Lives names 40 schools, many of which appeared on the lists counselors and teachers sent me. </p>
<p>In your own journey through the world of American colleges and universities, you will find splendid schools that I have not mentioned. Please give them serious consideration, and then tell me about them.</p>
<p>What do you al think about the article and the colleges mentioned?</p>