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Title: The Best 311 Colleges: 1999 (Annual) by Edward T. Custard, John Katzman, Edward Custard ISBN: 0-375-75166-1 Publisher: Random House Inc Pub. Date: 01 August, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.65 (17 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent reference book for the college-bound
Comment: Being an 11th grader in high school and experiencing the college process firsthand, I have purchased various college guides in the past few months and have decided to enlighten other students and parents of my opinions regarding these books.

For students wanting to narrow down the list of over 2,200 four-year colleges, I strongly recommend The Princeton Review's "The Best 331 Colleges." This book provides invaluable information concerning some of the best institutions in the nation, covering crucial topics such as academics, student life, the student body, admissions, and financial aid. What I loved about this book in particular was its sincere and straightforward look at how the students feel about their college, since much of the information is based on actual responses from attending students. Contrary to other types of college guides, The Princeton Review gives you the essential statistics and information (median SAT scores, average GPA, percentage of applicants accepted, number of undergrads, etc.), and goes above and beyond that by including student reactions and descriptions which make you feel as if you were actually there. Of course, nothing can substitute an actual visit to a college, but the Princeton Review book is one of the best ways to start your college search and decide which universities appeal to you.

Another book that I purchased was the enormous 3,257 page "Peterson's 4 Year Colleges" guide. This book is adequate for finding copious amounts of statistics regarding every 4- year college in the United States, as well as a few international universities. The introduction is fairly informative, and the second half of the book provides brief 2-page descriptions of various colleges listed in the beginning of the book. This guide is ok for people who want to consider ALL their options, but it is probably not necessary at all if you at least have a vague idea of where you want to go and what you would like to do.

"The Fiske Guide to Colleges" is truly exceptional. Although it may not include every college out there, it does have over 300 of the best ones available. Similar to the Princeton Review's guide, Fiske gives actual ratings to academics, social life, and quality of life, but on a 5-star scale. What is helpful about this is that it gives the reader a modified perspective of a college which may have been otherwise thought of differently. For example, a college which has a five-star rating for academics may seem great to parents and students at first, but then you might realize that the quality of life and social rating might be horrible and students hate living there. This is not the case all the time, but it is a helpful warning that elucidates what exactly the life at a college may be like. Another great thing about Fiske's guide is that his college summaries really bolster his rankings, and he covers everything from the effectiveness of classroom academics to the abundance of frat parties.

The last guide I will comment on is the "Insider's Guide to the Colleges," which was written by actual college students. This book is pretty good and gives insight to quality of academics, student body, and social life, but mainly focuses on the latter. It is fun to read and has lots of humorous quotes from students at the individual colleges. The introduction was pretty good as well, and contains important information for people not too familiar with college applications or terminology.

Overall, I believe if you want to buy only one or two books, I would opt for either The Princeton Review's "The Best 331 Colleges" or the "Fiske Guide," primarily because of the books' forthright approach to assessing the colleges based on various factors, not just academics. And to all students applying to college this coming fall, I wish you all the best of luck.

Rating: 4
Summary: Great Guide For Narrowing The College Field
Comment: This is a good start for parents and students looking to generate that initial list of candidate colleges. The Princeton Review balances the normal statistics with author and student narrative logically grouped by category. This provides a good feel, however subjective, for what you should find on the critical personal campus visit. Especially helpful are student ratings of professor interest and accessibility as well as summaries on the quality of life. Students rate their school as "what's hot" and "what's not" on such criteria as dorms, politics, Greeks, alcohol, food, registration, etc.

This book helped us get past the "view book hype", and prepare specific, sometimes pointed qustions to asked administrators and staff during campus visits with our son. It pays to be an informed and aggressive consumer. The guide gives equal attention to the "usual suspects" -- Harvard, Rice, Stanford, Duke -- as well as emerging or "quiet quality" schools like Truman State, Valparaiso, Santa Clara and James Madison. On the down side, some student annecdotes are stale (repeated from last year's edition) and predictable (love the faculty, loathe the adminstration). It would also be helpful to have found information on schools with programs for the learning disabled. Overall, Princeton gets a narrow nod over Fiske because of its format and organization. It's fun to read, informative, and arms you with insight to take to campus.

Rating: 1
Summary: Horribly inaccurate, entirely subjective, abuse of quotes
Comment: I have never seen such a horrible book produced under the Princton Review name. Judging from the surveys they took of a few of the schools I am acquainted with they may have gone to a drunken frat party at the schools they personally disliked to get quotes for their book. Others that they did like they just had their editors write up a rave review. I am disappointed to say the least and would give the book negative stars if possibly for it's inaccuracy and lack of depth. A particular reviews that are inaccurate are for Virginia Tech and the university of TN. According to the this book the two universities have comparable standards and reputation. To that I say hogwash. Also, under the Virginia Tech review the school is made out to be a campus of drunks and drug addicts who have nothing to do but party. The reputation of the university and the workload at it say the polar opposite. I think for this review they must have used quotes from persons who were either kicked out or dropped out of the school. They also managed to get the whiniest bunch survey-ees. Could someone please name three colleges that don't have a parking problem? Without thinking more than 1 minute. I just pray that parents of high school Seniors are not using this book as a reference on where to send their children to school. If you really want to know the real deal about a school don't trust Mr. Custard to give you accurate representation. If you really want to know about a school, visit it, ask questions, do your own research. I think that the book was constructed using the Q&D principle. Quick and Dirty. Exactly the research methods used in the creation of this book.

Bottom line: If you are researching prospective schools for your future, DON'T RELY/READ/LOOK AT THE COVER/BE WITHIN 10 FEET OF THIS TRASH.