This guide, published for the first time, provides prospective college students detailed information on 190 United States colleges and universities identified as having very strong track records in the sciences and mathematics. Following a description of how institutions were identified for inclusion by David Davis-Van Atta, and a discussion on pursuing a career in science, are the in-depth profiles of each institution. These are listed alphabetically by school and each includes institutional name, geographic location by city and state, detailed descriptions of undergraduate science programs, and brief descriptions of graduate science programs. The program descriptions include "fast facts" about the program, data on the department's founding, enrollment, faculty, degree information, program details on course components, scholarly journals for which faculty members serve as editorial advisers, fieldwork opportunities, special features, facilities, career outcomes, and graduate study and employment. A section on unique program features allows each institution to convey special messages to students or to showcase distinctive aspects of a particular program. Also included are three articles on specific topics: "Choosing a Program That's Right for You" (Mary Alice Yund); "Financing a College Education" (David Levy); and "Issues for Women and Minority Students: Diversity is a Sign of Strength" (Catherine Didion). Additional features include a selected list of private sources of financial aid and a geographic index. (JB)