Customer Reviews

Discounts and Deals at the Nation's 360 Best Colleges : The Parent Soup Financial Aid and College Guide

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
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Overall the book was comprehensive enough in the sense that it covered about 360 summaries on individual colleges and the types of unique financial aid that they offer. It also acts somewhat in part as a college guide because the author separates the colleges according to the most competitve, the highly competitive, and the competitive ones while also listing their individual acceptance rates. There is also significant info on FAFSA and PROFILE forms and a history on the federal government's policy on giving financial aid. The only thing that I warn potential readers is that the deadlines listed regarding the colleges are dreadfully outdated in many of the universities included here. Also, it would've been helpful if he had included the average financial aid package per college or the address of the college just for reference. This is a pretty sufficient book though for those who want to get the whole scheme of things and a little bit more, and for those who want to get a head start on the financial aid game. When I applied for financial aid to my colleges, I always had this book handy - so the money spent in buying this was overall not wasted.

This book is divided roughly in half between a savvy analysis of recent trends in college finance and financial aid and thumbnail sketches of over 300 of the top colleges and universities in the country. The balance seems about right. When one's eyes begin to glaze over from the sheer volume of acronyms and hair splitting definitions of "need-blind" and and other terms of art, one can always flip to the college profiles and read a refreshingly frank exposition on, say, the difference between Wesleyan, Amherst and Williams. The fact that no one description exceeds one paragraph makes for exceptional doctor's office or short sit reading.

I was impressed by the amount of information in this book. Wish it had been published last year when we were going through the admissions process. It is a book I will highly recommend to my online parents group who have students in the college admissions process. It is great to have a book that addresses school specific scholarships.

This book allows you to zero in on a college that gives out scholarships. Merit scholarships are the most plentiful and this book outlines what each college expects and also gives the amounts each college will award. Most other scholarship books I found a waste of time and money. This book does need to be updated though.

This is a precise, insightful reference for people seeking relevant information in readable form about the complex topic of financial aid. It has been a popular resource among our high school seniors. Highly recommended!