The Hidden Ivies: 63 of America's Top Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities

by Howard Greene, Matthew W. Greene

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 Greenes’ years of counseling experience and research, The Hidden Ivies is an invaluable, in-depth look inside sixty-two 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.

Genres: Professional Development, College, Education, Nonfiction

576 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad this book exists, but I'm a numbers person and I found myself wanting more standardized statistics on each school (although I realize the point is to go beyond that). But each schools narrative contains several of the same statistics: % in greek system, % professors with terminal degree (newsflash its always just shy of 100%), % students from out of state and % international students. If you're going to say it each time, just put it in a table.

The descriptions are funny in how repetitive they are. At least 5 schools are called "the quintessential" liberal arts college (maybe that's what quintessential means, the 5 most typical examples?? brain is hurting). They spend a paragraph talking about each schools "honor code". Umm... even Enron, Haliburton, and Trump University have honor codes, it doesn't mean bleep.

They say they want to let the students know each school's personality, but having skimmed the whole thing I could barely tell you what's different about each from memory. A few are female only, some are urban set versus rural. Some have very popular Greek systems, others don't have it or it is smaller.

Also, and I think I wrote this elsewhere, you have to be a pretty big elitist to think Stanford, Northwestern, U Chicago and a few others on here are "hidden" or inferior to the Ivies in any way. Stanford is probably more desirable that half the Ivies already anyway. Dartmouth and U Penn are more like Hidden Ivies, except they are also actual Ivies.

Still though, I'm glad this book exists because I think it's very important to question the conventional wisdom when it comes to college and life in general.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

These school are not that “hidden.” They’re known enough that are they are highly selective and competitive. To me, a “hidden Ivy” would be a college or university or honors program at a big state university that is a hidden gem with great profs, personal attention, great research or creative opportunities, merit aid, and not impossible to get into. The Fiske guide covers the same info more succinctly. Still a good resource to read in addition to other books you may reading for college research.

[Sandy B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource for anyone looking into the process of applying to competitive colleges and universities. Detailed descriptions of each of the 63 “hidden ivies” and tips for navigating the application process.

[Jonah Willard. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful and informative with certain schools

[Ab · Rating 4 out of 5]

helpful content

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Hidden Ives" is pack full of information that will help those looking to attend one of the 63 colleges and universities listed. I won this copy on GoodReads and like I do with most my wins I will be paying it forward by giving my win either to a friend for his high schools children or to a library for others to enjoy.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't get my high school daughter to read this book - she prefers the books that give more social information, and read a bit more gossipy. She loves The Insider's Guide, even though it hasn't been updated recently.

But I have found some really good unknown-to-me gems in this book - primarily on the East Coast. Truly worthy Western schools like Whitman College are mentioned in the index, but not fully explored, and that's really a shame. But if you're looking for a companion book to those big hefty tomes, and want small liberal arts colleges located primarily in the East, the book has some good information. Geared more toward the stuff parents want to know (special programs, etc), less to what the kids want to know (will I have fun). I especially love the Ideal Student sections.

I do hope the authors try harder in upcoming editions to look westward, and maybe skip places like Stanford and Duke (hardly hidden schools).

[Hong Deng · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an extremely resourceful book. Students, especially juniors and seniors would find it absoutely handy when they want to learn more about the means of higher education. I was engaged in the detailed explainations of the components in which liberal arts colleges posses. I learned a great deal about what makes an Ivy Ivy. In addition, the book provides insightful descriptions of the 13 hidden Ives that it proposed. By reading through the descriptions of the academic criteria, students' perspective, and the missions for the different colleges, I realized my preference toward a small liberal arts college in a suburban setting. I have found several colleges that I decided to consider in the future from the hidden Ivies.