Admissions Books

I think Peterson's Competitive Colleges is somewhat less successful than its rivals such as Princeton Review, Fiske, and Kaplan because the book is very dry and uninteresting. Some may appreciate that there is no student opinion to subjectively cloud a reader's view of the schools. It's almost entirely factual statistics although some schools have small self-promoting blurbs that are potentially helpful. Overall, you don't get more information on each college than you do in Barron's mammouth Profiles of American Colleges, and in Barron's book, you get about 1200 more schools. Almost every page has some blank space so Peterson's could do a little more to describe a school, but its policy seems to be "only the facts."

(I should note that all of these books are far superior to US News & World Report's annual rankings which does nothing but provide statistics that are re-calculated every year so they have something new to report. There is no way to ever know if US News was right last year or this year or if they will finally be right next year. I feel it's an example of journalism at its worst.)

What are the good things about Peterson's? The book is honest in that it calls itself "competitive colleges" as opposed to "best colleges". It states pretty clearly that these schools admit above average students but doesn't claim that every school in the book is a national powerhouse. Because of this Peterson's has about 50 more colleges than Princeton Review and 70 to 100 more than Kaplan or Fiske. The good thing about this is that if you feel your academic record is only a bit above average, you will have more schools to choose from than the other books. The down side is that one might think that being in a book such as Peterson's means a college will help you get a job, but you may find that there are a couple dozen schools here that a lot of employers haven't heard of.

Peterson's guide also has a very helpful section on figuring out what your financial aid situation will be. I also find their website to be a very good resource.

Peterson's does a much better job than the other books with religiously-affiliated schools. Most of the schools that aren't in the other books are Baptist, Catholic, nondenominational Christian, etc. If you are specifically interested in Christian schools, I think you'd do best with this book. However, if you buy Peterson's, you'll still get almost all the schools that the other guides cover. The one notable mainstream exception I can think of is Babson, a business college. A bit more glaring is the fact that Peterson's only has one Historically Black College, Morehouse. I imagine Peterson's would defend itself by saying that the strongest African American students often go to "mainstream" schools so Historically Black Colleges just aren't that competitive. However, if you are interested in schools such as Howard, Fisk, Spelman, Tuskeegee, Hampton, Xavier of Louisiana and Florida A&M then some of the other books like Princeton Review will be far more helpful.

Being almost midway through highschool, I thought it'd be wise to begin looking at options for college. The book is helpful in that it includes thorough information about life on campus, the student body, and admissions statistics. I found many of the ratings confusing, such as the educational and financial ratings. I wasn't sure what they were comparing these schools to. Overall, the book was a great investment. However, I will buy a different book for 2006.

I bought this book because I like princeton review in general. It turns out that you can get the same exact info off of their website by looking up the school. Save your money and go to their website or buy another book.

want to know exact subject

For want to read exact subjects

I think this is a good source for who are interested in passing NAVLE.

It demonestrate some questions styles , however , some other books could be useful.

This book definitely helps when preparing for the MCAT. Good indication of what the actual "MCAT" is all about. My friend recommended, and I'm glad I listened to her advice.

This book is a general guide to the graduate admission process. It does not give you any edge besides telling you what is the procedure to apply to graduate school. It gives you many common sense recommendations aimed at preventing you from choosing your school, or applying to your schools at the last minute... Common sense advices on the graduate admissions procedure. You could independently derive many of the recommendations featured in this guide by thinking methodically and reading the admissions page of Average University. That being said, if you have no clue on the graduate admissions process, this book is for you !

This might be a great guide, for all I know, but we barely used it. I bought it more for local lodging and restaurants than for the college visit itself. Our focus came down to 11-14 colleges, and you can get updated information on visits from the college website. I was also surprised that all but one college had at least one virtual tour on their website--though sometimes you have to do a little searching to find it.

Essential: Princeton's Best 361 Colleges and Fiske's Guide to Colleges. All-but-essential: Students' Guide to Colleges. All three highly recommended.

I went to the library and went through pretty much the whole book. There really isn't anything unique this book has to offer, as most of its tips are rather practical and known.

The longest section of the book deals with the LSAT. The advice in this section mirrors what you would read when you register with the Law School Admission Council -- when the LSAT is administered, when you should take it, how to prepare, etc.

The most helpful section in this book discusses the value of volunteering during college, or doing internships with the local attorney's office. However, you can read this section at the library in less than 15 minutes.

I do not recommend buying this book. If you are really curious about its contents, just go to your library and check it out.