He received an A.B. in Economics (magna cum laude) from Harvard in 1958, A.M. in Economics from Columbia University in 1959, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1968.

Sowell has taught economics at various colleges and universities over the last 25 years, including Amherst, Cornell, Brandeis and the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also been associated with two research centers other than the Hoover Insitution. He was Project Director at the Urban Institute from 1972-1974, and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in 1976-1977.

Sowell has published extensively for over 20 years. His most recent books are Preferential Policies: An International Perspective (William Morrow & Company, 1990), Choosing a College, A Guide for Parents and Students (Harper & Row, Publishers, 1989), and Judicial Activism Reconsidered (Hoover Institution Press, 1989). He writes a syndicated column that appears in major newspapers throughout the United States.

CONTENTS

• Introduction

PART I: WHAT TO CONSIDER

• Chapter 1: An Important Decision



• An Important Decision


• Differences in College


• Sources of Advice


• Tests and Admissions


• Personal Factors


• Paying for College


• Financial Aid


• College Jobs


• Expectations




• Chapter 2: Universities



• Introduction


• Teaching versus Research


• Size




• Chapter 3: Liberal Arts Colleges



• Size


• Colleges Vs. Universities


• Finding Small Colleges


• Combined S.A.T. 1200+


• Combined S.A.T. 1100-1199


• Combined S.A.T. 1000-1099


• Weeding Out


• Strengths and Weaknesses




• Chapter 4: Specialized Schools



• Engineering


• Lists and Rankings


• Quantitative S.A.T.S. in the 700s


• Quantitative S.A.T.S. in the 600s


• Quantitative S.A.T.S. in the 500s


• Specialization


• Military Academies




• Chapter 5: Kinds of Education




• Kinds of Education


• The Curriculum


• Course Requirements


• "Interdisciplinary" Fields


• Teaching


• Indoctrination and Irresponsibility


• Faculty Scholarship


• Vocationalism




• Chapter 6: Kinds of Environments



• Location


• The Sexual Environment


• Toleration




• Chapter 7: Minority Students



• Black Students


• Asian Americans

PART II: WHAT TO DO

• Chapter 8: Getting Started



• Test Scores


• College Guides and Rankings




• Chapter 9: Weeding Out



• Weeding Out


• Brochures


• Catalogues


• Financial Weeding




• Chapter 10: The Campus Visit



• Professors


• Dormitories


• The Local Community


• Libraries


• Food




• Chapter 11: The Admission Games



• Introduction


• Rules of the Game


• Players in the Game


• Strategy and Counter-Strategy


• Councelors and Coaches


• Essays and Inerviews


• The Colleges' Strategies




• Chapter 12: Your Choice



• Income and Career Prospects


• The Unthinkable


• Financial Aid


• A Choice of Futures

Copyright © 1989, Thomas Sowell. Used by permission.