6 OUTSTANDING "BEST BUY" COLLEGES

1. California Institute of Technology -- Pasadena, CA. Smaller than MIT, but no less selective in admissions or demanding of its enrolled students. Techies galore, with Top SAT scores and decidedly tech-speak vocabulary. Total enrollment (approximate): 2100; Undergraduate enrollment: 930. If you love science and discovery and you have the credentials for admission, this may be the place for you. www.caltech.edu

2. Cooper Union -- NYC, NY. Looking for a top notch college at a barain price? How about FREE. Get yourself admitted to Cooper Union and you won't pay for your education. Geared toward art, architecture, and engineering. Total enrollment (approximate): 900; Undergraduate enrollment: 870. www.cooper.edu

3. UC, Berkeley -- Berkeley, CA.

4. Georgia Tech -- GA.

5. UNC, Chapel Hill -- Chapel Hill, NC.

6. University of St. Andrews -- Scotland. Highly rated education across the pond. Established in 1413 -- oldest in Scotland, third oldest in UK, and way older than Harvard (1636). Total enrollment (approximate): 6500; Undergraduate enrollment: 5500. "High standards, picturesque, historic." www.st-andrews.ac.uk/

THE 10 BEST COLLEGES IN THE UNITED STATES

With the understanding that "best," like "beauty," is in the mind of the beholder, and that the most important element in college selection is to find not the most prestigious but the best "fit," here are the 10 colleges that rise to the top in terms of faculty resources, class size, student-faculty ratio, financial resources, and selectivity. Yes, they are all highly selective -- for good reason. Also weighed in here is feedback from current and former students, which accounts for some highly-touted schools being conspicuously absent, and others slipping in under the radar.

1. Yale

2. Princeton

3. Harvard

4. Stanford

5. MIT and Cal Tech*

6. Wellesley

7. Dartmouth

8. University of Virginia

9. Notre Dame

10. Williams

* MIT and Cal Tech: Twins. So much the same brand of students and similar environment, except, of course, that one is on the Atlantic and the other on the Pacific.