Pope's book, "Colleges That Change Lives," (Penguin Books, 1996, 2000 & 2006) lists McDaniel College as one of 40 schools nationwide that "... will raise trajectories, strengthen skills, double talents, develop value systems, and impart confidence because they do a much different and better job than the Ivies or the universities."

If you think that all colleges and universities are the same-think again. Deciding where to go to colleges is the first major decision you will make.

If you are hyper-intelligent, self-directed, late blooming, or just plain different, you will need an extraordinary school where you'll be challenged and inspired.

The college guidebook, "Cool Colleges" (Ten Speed Press, 2000) by Donald Asher has got the answers for you.

Author of such bestselling books as "Graduate Admissions Essays" and "The Overnight Resume," Asher spent ten years visiting colleges and universities across the United States and Canada to collect the information in this book.

He agrees with another highly acclaimed college guidebook author, Loren Pope, by stating that "the culture and feel of a campus cannot be reduced to a ranking or a unilinear measure of any kind."

Pope's book, "Colleges That Change Lives," (Penguin Books, 1996, 2000 & 2006) lists McDaniel College as one of 40 schools nationwide that "... will raise trajectories, strengthen skills, double talents, develop value systems, and impart confidence because they do a much different and better job than the Ivies or the universities."

Asher shares Pope's bias in that large universities do not provide the best undergraduate educational experience.

"Finding the right college should be a process of discovery," says Asher.

This book provides excellent information not easily found in traditional guidebooks and its style is friendly, well-researched and just plain better than most books that rely on statistical ranking formulas.