US News Ultimate College Guide 2006 [Paperback]

Staff of U.S.News & World Report (Author)

Book Description

Series: U.S. News Ultimate College Guide | Publication Date: September 29, 2005

Featuring complete data on more than 1,400 college and universities, U.S. News Ultimate College Guide 2006 is the best source for the information students and parents need most. Equally important, it also includes the essential step-by-step guide to the often stressful process of choosing a college, getting in and finding the money, plus exclusive lists and indices to help compare the schools.

Exclusive lists and customized indices help students and parents make the best decisions, including:

--The hardest and easiest schools to get into

--Schools that award the most need-based aid

--The best values: great deals at great schools

Step-by-step advice from the nation's leading education writers includes:

--How to choose the right school for you

--What colleges look for in you

--How to find the money to pay for college

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Founded in 1933, Washington D.C.nbased U.S.News & World Report delivers a unique brand of weekly magazine journalism to its 12.2 million readers. In 1983, U.S. News began its exclusive annual rankings of American colleges and universities. The U.S. News education franchise is second to none, with its annual college and graduate school rankings among the most eagerly anticipated magazine issues in the country. Anne McGrath is senior education writer at the magazine and former editor of Americais Best Colleges.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1776 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc. (September 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402205961
• ISBN-13: 978-1402205965
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,507,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 Stars... the most complete "objective" college guide, July 4, 2006

By 

Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: US News Ultimate College Guide 2006 (Paperback)

There are many, many college search guides and books out there. The Princeton Review has a couple of good ones. But if you are at the very beginning of the process for your son or daughter (as I am currently with my daughter), you should absolutely take a look at this book.

"Ultimate College Guide (2006 Edition)", issued by US News & World Report, "the leader in college rankings", is a mammoth 1739 pager, which basically lists all colleges and universities alphbetically, state by state. This book is not a subjective evaluation on which schools are "the best", but rather a "just the facts, ma'm" type of book. It provides detailed information on everything from tuition and room/board costs, how many applied, were accepted and actually enrolled, what the average scholarship grant is, etc. etc. My daughter, who is starting her junior year when school resumes after the summer, has spent a lot of time flipping through this book (which she has not done with some of the other college guides we've gotten).

As to those rankings, if you think they don't matter to schools, think again. We recently did a campus visit and tour of Vanderbilt University. In the presentation, the Vandy rep highly touted the fact that Vandy's ranking in the last couple of years has risen from 21 to 18, and hoping to crack the top 15 within 3 to 5 years. We later checked it out in this book, and yup, there it is: ranked 18 among National Universities...

The new 2007 edition of this book comes out in October, and we'll probably check that out as well, just to get updated numbers on tuition and room/board expenses. Meanwhile, the 2006 edition will do. Highly recommended!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars These Encyclopedia Guides are All Great, June 27, 2006

By 

Miami Bob "Resurgent Reading" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: US News Ultimate College Guide 2006 (Paperback)

As someone who has been through the process, personally and for children and nieces and nephews etc, I have this advice: Get an encyclopedia guide for colleges. There are a few great ones and each has strengths over the others. But, basically each is good enough and complete enough where owning one will do the trick. Your choices are Fiske Guide to Colleges 2007 (Fiske Guide to Colleges), Best 361 Colleges, 2006 (College Admissions Guides) and this book. You must have one!!!!

Then, if you want to learn more about schools and the process of college -- and believe me it has drastically changed in even the most recent decade -- buy any one of the following: Colleges That Change Lives : 40 Schools You Should Know About Even If You're Not a Straight-A Student; A Is for Admission : The Insider's Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges (Paperback);The College Admissions Mystique (Paperback) and Pope's classic Looking beyond the Ivy League : Finding the College That's Right for You; Revised Edition (Paperback).

That list is all you need. Avoid the "How to Write an Essay that Gets You Into Harvard Even Though Your Grades and Scores Stink" books; avoid the "I Can Get Anybody In" books, avoid the "This is the Trick to Making Up for the Last 4 Years of Slovenly Laziness" books.

In the end, you will realize that you will constantly go back to the encyclopedia college guide as it is there where flashcard fast facts often accurately depict the social and other aspects of the school which "make or break" your child's decision in applying to that school.

If you choose this encyclopedia -- it will be money well spent. It has as many if not more details than the others and offers some insights into the character of the schools: something which the other encyclopedia college guides also provide -- but in a different manner.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just right, December 25, 2007

By 

Jim Frankel "Jim" (Irving, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: US News Ultimate College Guide 2006 (Paperback)

This is especially helpful for my son and I trying to determine the colleges that will best for him considering every aspect.

Thanks.

Jim