Customer Reviews

Fiske Guide to Colleges 2000

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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.

As a parent of a college sophomore and a high school senior, I have used and appreciated Ed Fiske's books for several years. The task of evaluating and comparing different schools is a very difficult one, so both of his books have been wonderful resources. The Fiske Guide 2000 is dog-eared from the hours that my daughter and I have gone through it, and because we trust Fiske so much she will apply only to the schools he reviews. My older daughter attends and is greatly enjoying Beloit College. Fiske's reviews of Beloit and the other schools she had applied to were tremendously helpful in guiding her to that decision. My younger daughter (Julie) and I have visited over a dozen schools that Fiske has reviewed, and I have found his descriptions to be accurate and thorough. I would like to mention, too, that The Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College is a wonderful resource for students, but is even more essential for parents. It really walks you through the college decision process beautifully, and is a great complement to his other book.

All in all, I don't know what we would have done without the expertise of Edward Fiske. Julie will be choosing her college within the next 6 months, and I have confidence that her choice will be a wise one, in large part because of the guidance of Edward Fiske.

I have both the Fiske Guide to Colleges and the Princeton Review version. The Fiske book focused more on the strength of certain academic programs at the various colleges. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not certain what I want to study in college-this info really isn't important to me right now.

The Princeton Review had a more accurate view of the students social life, conclusions which were reaffirmed when I visited college campuses. I'd buy both books, but the Princeton Review 331 Best Colleges is easier to read, has more information on financial aid and important statistics, and is almost totally based on student surveys.

I must be sick. I've bought every Guide since 1988. I have 2 daughters who graduated from high schools in 1992 and 1998. I still enjoy reading them and while I haven't read about each school, it's close. The essays are fun and with my daughters attending Connecticut College and Boston University, quite truthful. My only question has always been, why is there such a slant against Catholic Universities. While you find a way for giving 5 stars for Academics at state universities, private universities and liberal arts colleges, how is it that Notre Dame and Georgetown cannot obtain 5 stars for Academics. Otherwise the guide is in a class by itself.

This is a good start for parents and students looking to generate that initial list of candidate colleges. While the contents of any "best colleges" list can be debated, the information here is informative and easy to read. Although I prefer the Princeton Review's format, Fiske is similar in that it is not a book of statistics but a narrative combining facts with author observations and student annecdotes to give you a good "feel" for what you'll find on the all important personal campus visit.

On the down side, Fiske appears somewhat arbitrary in identifying it's Best Buys. For example, it includes Baylor, Kansas and the University of Texas-Austin while omitting Truman State, Florida, Dayton, James Madison, and Texas A&M. The latter are quality institutions and outstanding values. Overall, Fiske is a good way to get acquainted with the schools you've heard of but never really known.

I bought this book a really long time after I started to give final thought to those colleges who had accepted me. I still had yet to hear from one school, but I was pretty set in my ways concerning where I'll end up fall. Several of the schools that I had considered and had been accepted at were contained in the Fiske Guide. It was interesting reading the evaluations of those colleges and it taught me some I didn't already know. Before I knew it, this book had opened my eyes. I really liked the way Fiske used an easy to read format in preparing his guide. Instead of focusing entirely on academics, he focuses on many other issues, as well. It's truly interesting to read and understand some of these college's and university's histories. Fiske also sets the reader off by compiling his most interesting schools. Somehow, all three schools that I'd been accepted into and was considering were best buys. He gives a graphic, in depth description of how the students revolve around a particular school on a daily basis and questions them on what they like and what they don't. There is no exchange for the actual campus visit to the school you might be interested in. However, the Fiske Guide is a fantastic starting off point. Let it broaden your horizons on higher education in different parts of the county like it did for me.

I like this book because it goes beyond more traditional college guides in that it discusses social life, ethnic makeup of the student body and even the political mix of the students. It delves into the academic rigors of the school and whether there is any time left for socializing after the studies are completed. It describes the architectural style of many campuses and in general, as well as giving the essential information as to admission, expenses and course offerings, it also gives a fairly detailed glimpse into what student life is like. It even points out the relative stregnth and weaknesses of academic departments. This book is great for both parents and prospective students. The list of colleges covered is not exhaustive but, the way the schools are covered is great. As the father of a prospective student, I highly rate this book. In addition to my review as a parent, I hope prospective students also post reviews to see how the book rates from their viewpoint.

One of the amazing things about this guide to colleges is that for every school I know about personally, Fiske's has always been exactly on target. It describes, not just the academic basics, but the social climate of the school in a way that I immediately recognize and say, "Yes, someone has actually been there, seen it, talked to the students and gotten a balanced view of the place."

I run an educational advising center, and the Fiske book is one of the most popular tools in my library. Students can look at any other book to see what classes are offered at various colleges, but what they often want and need to know is what will life be like when they get there. Often, parents and students are too hung-up on the reputation and image of certain schools and forget that the physical and mental well-being of a student also makes a difference in grades. This book tells you about the social life on campus, about the localities where the schools are located, about the student body, about the professors... all essential information. The only criticism I would have is that too few schools are included in the book, even if it is already quite thick, and often Fiske excludes some schools which are either of high-quality or in great demand.

This is undoubtedly the most comprehensive refrence available. As a college-bound student I have come across many college reference guides, at was most satisfied with Fiske's. The amount of detail, as well as the spectrum of info covered makes this the only college book you'll ever need!