The Bottom Line
Pros
- Well-written descriptions capture the flavor of the featured schools
- Manageable size with 300+ profiles and about 800 pages
- Good variety of schools - top tier, women's colleges, religious affiliations, and so on
- Useful indexes by state, price, and professional programs
- Quick and easy self-assessment for figuring out personal preferences
Cons
- Little data on costs and financial aid
- Student contributors don't always provide fully accurate information
- Little representation of colleges from many states
Description
- 300+ colleges profiled
- 1,000 to 2,500 word essay for each college
- Data presents middle SAT and ACT scores, acceptance rates, enrollment, retention rates, and strongest programs
- Ratings of each college's academics, social scene, and quality of life
- $22.95, but often discounted to around $18 including shipping
- 816 pages
Guide Review - Fiske Guide to Colleges 2008
I'm a fan of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Each profiled school is described by a well-crafted 1,000 to 2,500 word essay that draws on information from students, administrators, and independent research. The book is pleasingly readable with concise side boxes containing numerical data on SAT scores, retention rates, acceptance rates, and so on.Don't expect a ton of objective data in the Fiske Guide to Colleges. The lover of numbers would do better with the U.S. News and World Report Ultimate College Guide or Peterson's Four-Year Colleges. That said, numbers rarely tell the story of a school effectively. The essays in the Fiske Guide employ both subjective and objective information to capture the real "feel" of a school. Since picking the perfect college is more about a personality match than anything numerical, Fiske's efforts to capture the personalities of the schools should be applauded.
The book does have a few shortcomings. With around 300 colleges profiled, a couple thousand 4-year schools get no coverage. The Fiske selections reveal a bias towards east and west coast colleges. For students set on certain states, the book has limited use. For example, West Virginia, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas and Idaho each have just a single entry. Compare that to the 22 schools listed for Massachusetts.
A final minor point -- the reliance on student surveys can introduce a few errors. As an example, a quote from the Hobart and William Smith entry states that "freshmen are always taught by full professors." They aren't. I assume the student meant to say that freshmen are taught by full-time faculty members rather than adjuncts or grad students. I'm pretty sure assistant and associate professors teach freshmen, not just full professors. But this is just nitpicking.
For most prospective college students, the Fiske Guide will be $20 well spent.
