Fiske Guide to Colleges 2020

After reading the product description and taking a peek with 'Look Inside', I was not disappointed. It's clear that it only covers 300 schools which is approximately 1/10th of all the colleges and universities in the US. Knowing that going in, and taking a look before I bought the book helped a lot to keep my expectations in check. --------------------- WHY I BOUGHT THIS BOOK There are so many college guides, but this one stood out to me as one I could easily look at with my college bound daughter and discuss the 'feel' of each college. I made sure that the main ones she's is interested in attending: Reed, Occidental, Lewis and Clark, Willamette and University of San Francisco, were all in the book (something you can do with the 'Look Inside' option) and knew that anything more was just good for conversation - or maybe a whole new plan. The book was to get our conversation rolling and keep it moving in a positive, proactive direction. She's an excellent student, but if you ask her 'what do you want to study' she says "everything". This makes it tough to choose a major. I like that this book talks about what the students are like on each campus as well as how they look at being at the university. It's certainly subjective, but it helps. ----------------------- WHY I THINK YOU MAY LIKE THIS BOOK The Fiske Guide to Colleges for 2105 offers up impressions and insights. When I looked at the Occidental College ("Oxy" they are also called) write up in the book, I got an immediate impression; within the first couple paragraphs, about what my daughter could expect to find on campus as her home and learning community. The highlighted quotes too gave me an impression of how the students that go there feel about the institution. Insights about the types of students that attend the college, the residence halls, sports teams and the social scene were helpful, but not overly fact-filled. "Strongest Programs" made it easy to note at a glance whether or not a school was the right fit, and a admission office emails and website info was right there too. SAT ranges, gender breakdown, percentage accepted, etc...is there at a glance too, but as stated before, there you can find that online. *College Board, Niche, College Confidential and others are good sources for info. There is some worksheet-type Q&A stuff, which helps if you're completely at a loss for where to start your search. It also helps to remind those who think they are on the right track to perhaps look a little further to possibly unearth some hidden gem schools they'd not yet considered. Some info on schools in Canada and Ireland, but that was minimal. Just sort of a tease really. The bottom line: If you're looking to get a feel for the right 'fit' for your student, this is a great book! The Introduction explains how to use the book, and that it's all 'Selective, Subjective & Systematic' in its approach. If you know that before buying this book - you won't be disappointed. -------------------------- YOU WILL NOT GET IN THIS BOOK... 1. A comprehensive rundown of all the stats for all the available universities and colleges in the US. (There are many online resources for that info.) 2. An overview of every college out there. It's a sampling and undoubtedly some of your favorites won't be there. 3. Every answer to every question you have related to getting your kid into college. ( Sorry. There's no book for that, I've already checked.)

If you are feeling overwhelmed, lost and unsure where to start researching colleges, this book is a great place to start. It’s informative and yet concise enough to give you an idea of each school. It offers a good range of different kinds of universities (though it doesn’t have NEARLY all of them, which would be impossible.). It has some schools for B students, larger and smaller schools, rural and city, big name and some smaller named. I found this helpful to determine what categories to write down and what information to search for on schools outside of this book. PLEASE only use this as a jumping off point, because there are soooo many great colleges out there that don’t make this book, but really helped us to narrow down our focus and make the whole college search process more manageable. Note, the numbers ( costs, SAT averages, etc) for many we’re definitely off, but it gives you a good enough ball Park, and that’s what the internet is for!

We have read through many of the colleges listed in this guide. What I like best about this guide is that they have gone to a lot of effort to illustrate in words the general vibe of the college and its students. I hope the descriptions are accurate, as my daughter has outright rejected (as have I) several colleges based on the various descriptions provided in this guide. We have also discovered several great colleges that we had not heard of and we will be investigating them. I do wish this guide had more colleges listed, and I really wish it included more good "average" colleges. I feel it is a bit lacking in describing, for example, colleges that might be average, but perhaps have great honors programs. I wish the guide listed colleges that dole out money for good students. I REALLY wish it provided information about how good the job and career centers are. At the end of the day, the student needs to get a job. I think Fiske mentions one or two institutions with good career centers, but I believe it needs to evaluate that for every college they feature. I sugegested this to them several weeks ago, but have yet to hear back, so I will update this if necessary. I think this is a great guide for excellent students, but for more average students, or kids who are looking for safety schools, it is a little lacking. I am sure combined with other sources, this guide would be more useful.

The Fiske Guide to Colleges is an indispensable book in any college counselor's library. When I recommend a short list of books to my families, this is included. The gigantic book profiles 300+ schools- from my experience, each has pretty accurate descriptions. I tell my students that each school has a "personality" and you need to find schools that are a "good fit." I really like the side bar with quick info about school, esp: SAT / ACT (they show mid-50% ranges instead of a simple average); the "Overlaps" to help students find similar schools, etc. Financial Fit is an increasing important factor in college selection. I appreciate that the Student Loan Info uses the Common Data Set as its source. But I think we need more detail than just Yelp-like $ signs for Average Debt or Expense. I don't think that the average family understands this. Does "Financial Aid: 70%" mean 70% of families qualified for some financial aid (even $1000 in student loans)? It's an oversimplification. I would like to see both the "Sticker Price" and the Average Net Price" included in the side bar, too! One of my pet peeves about this book is the er... "alphabetical order" of the schools. Ugh. Am I the only one with this problem? Regarding California schools: Fiske includes profiles of 8 of the 9 undergraduate UC schools (the new one UC Merced is not in the 2016 Edition). Some info is outdated (eg. UC Santa Cruz narrative evaluations are optional as of 2010.) I didn't see any comments about the UCs being in the middle of a court controversy over admitting more international students over domestic students. Our state also has another 23 California State Universities (CSUs). While they are not profiled in depth, they do highlight a few of the schools that are more likely to be of interest to out of state students. The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program should have been included, IMHO. Many reviewers are upset that schools in their state are not included, but I think that's inevitable. There are 4000 schools in the US! It makes sense to focus on the schools that attract the students who are most likely to consider schools beyond their 200 mile radius. That said, I would also like to see reviews of schools featured in Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) by Loren Pope (eg. St. Mary's College of California, Willamette U.) It's always good to cross reference reviews of schools. In spite of these short comings, Fiske is invaluable. Yes, a lot of this info can be found online these days, but still having a paper version is wonderful, because your fingers will stumble across new schools that you have never heard of. I still recommend the book highly for college exploration.

Have used this during the college process for my two oldest and about to use for our third. Best college guide I've seen (and I've looked through a number). Gives all the stats you'd expect but then goes on to give more holistic reviews of each school (usually 2-3 pages), covering everything from the ambience of the place to the quality of professors to the surrounding area to the dorms to the facilities to the social life and more. All to say, you get a real sense of each school and its distinctive qualities, both visceral and practical. Have given it to friends going through the process for the first time and it is the first book I recommend, hands down.

I have four college guides (Fiske, Tanabe's America's Best Colleges, Princeton Review's Best 380, and the Insider's Guide), plus I subscribe to the US News college rankings. Each resource has its strengths, but the Fiske Guide to Colleges is the one I reach for first when I want to look up a school. Instead of just putting statistics in narrative form, or quoting students who have little basis for comparison, Fiske places each college in context and delineates the school's distinguishing features. For each entry, Fiske gives a list of "overlaps," competing colleges that share the same applicants, which is helpful information during the discovery phase of a college search. Fiske opens each college's entry with a summary paragraph that seeks to distill the unique essence of the college, often by differentiating it from its peer institutions. There are many places where you can get the bare facts about a college, but Fiske gives you an informed opinion that is much more valuable.

This book is as thick as a dictionary, but very comprehensive for the various colleges mentioned or recommended. It is important to note that not all colleges are mentioned. It’s been a worthy tool to have at my teens disposal for her to flip through and absorb information. Lots of libraries or school counselor offices have these books, but because this is a reference book, it usually can’t be checked out, so we’ve found it helpful to have at home as to not feel rushed.

I'm a Harvard Grad (class of '02), professional test-prep tutor and college consultant based in San Diego, and I give this book my qualified recommendation. I've been using the Fiske guide to Colleges with my students for over 10 years now. Although it's not my favorite college guide (that honor goes to Princeton Review's College Guide The Best 380 Colleges, 2016 Edition (College Admissions Guides) ), the Fiske guide is still helpful and worth checking out for its unique perspectives. However, be forewarned that the Fiske guide is not exactly an unbiased, realistic source of information. If you're looking for honest criticism of colleges as well as glowing praise, then don't bother looking here--it makes every college look great. Yes, student interviews are included, but they are overwhelmingly positive--it's almost as if these entries are extensions of the admissions department from each school. The most negative kind of comments you can find are those such as "classes are demanding" and "this school is for people who want to make a lot of money after college." If you're like me, then as a college-bound student (or the parent of one) you don't just want to read the good news about your prospective schools, but the bad news too. If the dining hall food is lousy, the dorms are dreadful, or the town is not college-friendly, then this is something we deserve to know, rather than have glossed over in a sea of overblown praise. Look elsewhere for this type of critical information. Here are the statistics provided by the Fiske guide: Website, Location, Public/Private, Total Enrollment, Undergraduates, % Male/Female, SAT Ranges, ACT Ranges, % Financial Aid, % Pell Grant, Expense (they use categories, but why not just provide an exact full tuition cost?), % Student Loans, Average Debt (again categorized instead of a dollar amount), Phi Betta Kappa (Yes/No), # Applicants, % Accepted, % Enrolled, % Grad in 6 Years, % Returning Freshmen, Academics (rating), Social (rating), Quality of Life (rating), Admissions Phone #, Email Address, List of Strong Programs, Application Requirements. I wish you the best of luck with your college search!

Very helpful. Concise descriptions of colleges including admission statistics, quotes from students, campus size and demographics, social aspects including Greek life presence. Handy for quickly researching and comparing colleges, helped us create our short list

Il prodotto mi ha soddisfatto, è un testo esaustivo e ben preparato. Indispensabile nella fase di scelta di una università statunitense.

Great product with interesting and detailed descriptions, making it far more interesting a read then most college guides. We like the student comments as well. The only improvement would be if there were pictures. However, this book is thick and the pictures would likely make this a nearly 2000 page volume so we understand why this wasn't done. As well, pictures would be limited and an online look is easy once you find the colleges you are interested in. I would definitely recommend this product which my very analytical friend suggested for our teen.

Got admission and lot of information for my son

Excellent condition - no reason to buy a new copy - this one was totally fine