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Very useful resource for those looking at top colleges February 17, 2008
Our daughter is in high school, and we've been researching possible college choices for a couple of years now. This is the first time I have read Fiske's guide, and I was very happy with it. The other guide we have relied on heavily is The Best 366 Colleges, 2008 Edition (College Admissions Guides). Taken together, I feel these two books give you the best understanding you're going to get from just reading college guides. At the end of the day, you're still going to need to visit the campuses and talk to people familiar with the schools you're interested in.

But what schools are you, or should you be, interested in? Which schools are a potential "fit" for your future college student? The guides are a great way to narrow your choices from 2200 to a manageable handful. While some reviewers here complain about Fiske's "subjectivity", I found very valuable the subjective judgment of this seasoned observer. Sometimes the Princeton Review guide is too numbers heavy, and many of the comments from students just seem way too anecdotal. With Fiske, I get the feeling that the student comments fit better with the overall impression that the Fiske staff gets from the school.

Where Princeton uses numerical rankings in many categories (academics, quality of life, etc..) I think Fiske's 5-star ratings are more meaningful. It seems to me that it's unrealistic to differentiate between schools on a scale of 1-100. Is a school rated 95 on academics really "better" than the school with a 93? Better for your child? I think it's easier to understand if you're talking about a 4-star school versus a 5-star school. 4-star is well above average, 5-star is elite.

Fiske does include all the essential numbers (SAT & ACT ranges for the middle 50%, enrollment, admissions percentages, etc...). But the narratives in Fiske are more thorough than those in the Princeton Review. There tends to be more detail on the important basics of student life (dorms, cafeterias, classes, professors). Fiske does a very nice job flagging potential problem areas for your child. If a school environment is very liberal (or very conservative), very religious (or anti-faith), hard drinking (or dry), hand-holding (versus sink-or-swim), Fiske identifies that for you so that you can avoid environments that aren't suited to your student. I found especially helpful Fiske's inclusion of a short list of strongest departments or majors at each college. If you're already considering a particular field of study, that is invaluable information.

I highly recommend this guide for families searching for the right place for their future college student among the top schools in the country.

3 out of 5 stars

Nahh February 8, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

It does have tons of information, but a newbee to the college search process, may find the book overwhelming and confusing.

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Fiske Guide To Colleges 2007