When I was a teacher, I had a poster in my classroom that said "Start With What You Know." I wanted my students to realize that they have a baseline of knowledge from which they can and should draw. The same principle can be applied when beginning the search for colleges. Students often tell me that they are interested in a certain college because their parents attended it or a friend goes there. Their knowledge about individual colleges provides students with a place to start.
However, when it comes to college selection, the baseline of knowledge generated by parents' and friends' anecdotes can only go so far. I encourage students to go beyond what they've heard by seeking out other sources of information about colleges, and a selection of guidebooks is a great place to start.
I polled my colleagues — other counselors who work either at high schools or with private clients — and created a list of favorite books about specific colleges and the college admission process. Many are available at libraries, so it's not necessary that you buy them. Moreover, although they are often updated regularly, things don't change too quickly on most campuses, so you don't really need the latest edition. High school counselors can lend many of these books, too.
Here are some of the books that my colleagues and I find valuable and reliable. Happy reading!
"Fiske Guide to Colleges 2007," Sourcebooks Inc.
Revised annually, it is the go-to guide, the college bible, the book that is dog-eared and ragged long before the year ends. I call this "the grown-up book" because colleges are evaluated with an overtly adult perspective. I think every family should get a highlighter and a pack of Post-its and sit down with this book.
Every college gets an extensive analysis of its physical, academic, social, political, cultural and geographic attributes, as well as a brief synopsis (a bit biased, but pretty accurate), and a sidebar with admissions data, academic, social and quality-of-life indices. I especially like the Strongest Programs listing, which will help students who are looking for specific majors.
"The Best 361 Colleges," 2007 Edition, Princeton Review
This book is my personal favorite, because it contains so much student input and because each college is uniformly evaluated on the same criteria: academics, life, student body, admissions, financial aid and "the inside word" about admissions.
Everything about this book is authentic and credible. It is packed with anecdotes, and closely matches both what I've seen on campus as well as the personal experiences of my former students. It also contains a sidebar with statistics about admissions, demographics, academic ratings, deadlines, financial aid and popular majors. My favorite part is what I call the "crossover" list, because it designates other colleges that applicants liked or attended.
"The Big Book of Colleges 2007," College Prowler
This is the most comprehensive of the College Prowler guides. All College Prowler books are based on reviews written by student authors, so readers will get recent and relevant information about life on campus. College Prowler also publishes regional guidebooks (New England, California and the South) as well as small guides about individual schools.
These three books are the best guidebooks available with honest and pertinent information about many popular American colleges. My only complaint about them is that even updated admission and demographic data can be as much as two or three years old. That means students who are curious about profiles of recently admitted students or information about policies such as early decision, should consult either the college Web site or call the admissions department directly.
FOR FURTHER READING:
— "Colleges That Change Lives," Loren Pope (Penguin)
— "Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges" (Barron's)
— "The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2007" (Yale Daily News Staff)
Joanne Levy-Prewitt is an independent college admissions advisor who works with students in the San Francisco area. E-mail her at jklprewitt@gmail.com.
© Joanne Levy-Prewitt, Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate