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Washington Post education
writer Jay Mathews includes counselors’ comments
that call Earlham “a wonderful jewel” and
a “sleeper.” The observations also note
the College’s Quaker traditions, its appeal
to students who are “not afraid to walk to
the beat of  a different drummer,” its “community
of learners” approach to liberal arts education
and its “highly regarded” Japanese Studies
program.
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Earlham Second among
100 Outstanding
(but underappreciated) Colleges
Jay Mathews asked readers of his online
education column “Class Struggle” to identify
the best, although understated, colleges in the United
States. He then took the 100 most-mentioned schools and
ranked them in his book, Harvard Schmarvard. Earlham
College, it turns out, ranks second in Mathews’ unscientific
poll, ranked according to frequency of mention. The respondents
included many teachers and high school counselors.
The
Top 10 in
Jay Mathews’ list of colleges that deserve a second
look:
1.
Elon University (N.C.)
2. Earlham
College
3. Clark University (Mass.)
4. College of Wooster (Ohio)
5. Kalamazoo College (Mich.)
6. Rhodes College (Tenn .)
7. Guilford College (N.C.)
8. Occidental College (Calif.)
9. Washington College (Md.)
10. Illinois Wesleyan University
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Admitting that he ordered the colleges mostly
for fun, Mathews is “convinced that the best college
to attend is the one that looks like an adventure, a place
that will take you where you have always wanted to go.… You
can't lure people into a friendly argument over which school
is best unless you do some ranking.”
Mathews’ new college reference guide
claims it “refutes the perception that image is everything
when it comes to college.” Instead it encourages
students to choose the college that is the best fit for
them and then to take full advantage of all that is offered.
Success and a productive life ultimately rest with students’ own
abilities and strength of character.
Newsweek’s senior
editor David
A. Kaplan calls the book “a smart, contrarian
perspective on the pressure-filled college admission
process,” and Mathews himself “one
of the country’s best education writers.”
Loren Pope, author of Colleges
That Change Lives, says “this
book will free teens and parents from the stupid
myth that college quality is measured by selectivity
or name. A badly needed public service that
lays bare the rankings fraud and the complicity
of colleges in it.”
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Harvard Schmarvard offers prospective college
students many helpful tips about search letters, the
early decision process and admissions interviewing, as
well as about assessing colleges. Driving home his belief
that success is not based on the origin of a college
degree, he remarks, “The worst college to attend
is the one your friends say you cannot turn down.”
Matthews, Jay. Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League
to the College That is Best for You. Roseville, California: Prima
Publishing, 2003.
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