Customer Reviews

The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2003 (29th Edition)

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The information in this book cannot be trusted to be accurate. For example, the write-up on Bryn Mawr claims that students there call themselves "Bryn Mawrians," when in fact Bryn Mawr students refer to themselves as "Mawrtyrs." Such evidence of sloppy research makes me wonder from where the writers get their information - and what else is just plain wrong.

As an independent educational consultant, I advise my students to do their own research into a college - and to avoid sources such as this one.

...because this one has all of the information they offer and much more.

Written by the staff of the Yale Daily News, this is the ultimate guide to colleges nationwide from a student's prospective. It covers all the basic information- tuition and costs, test scores, percentages of regarding minorities and women, etc. However, it also offers information difficult to find on official university websites, such as the quality of cafeteria food, popular things to do in the cities, the influence of Greeks, how dorm rooms are selected (lottery or senior status?), political tendencies, popular professors and their habits (numerous professors are popular for throwing chalk at students), and school traditions.

For instance, did you know that on Commencement Day, Carleton College students blow bubbles from the balcony down at their professors? That at Rice University students have a day where they run naked (modesty provided by shaving cream) through their campus? That Reed College students are forbidden to tell non-students and faculty about their mysterious Pict ritual?

These tidbits and many more are to be found in the best college guide I have ever read. As a prospective college student, this guide has been infinitely helpful to me in narrowing down my choices. The only fault I could see with this book would only bother state-university bound students, for with the exception of the main state university (i.e. University of Wisconsin, University of Virginia, etc.), other state universities suffer a lack of representation, with the exception of the New York City College system and the California state schools. However, purchasers of this book are not likely to be state bound after reading the abundance of choices our great country offers.

So use this phenomonal guide to explore universities and programs throughout the United States. Good hunting, everyone, and God Bless America.

This is a great reference book. Statistcs. Commentaries. Lots of information. But, not within the scope of a reference book is knowledge and understanding on what the real purpose of higher education is. It's what I, and I expect, most Americans never realized. A book recommended to me, and I am now recommending to everyone, that deals with that is "West Point: Character Leadership Education...." by Norman Thomas Remick. If you don't want to make a decision that is a lifetime mistake as you get into the nitty-gritty of specific colleges in "The Insider's Guide To The Colleges, 2003", you need to get a hold of this book.