Rugg's Recommendations On The Colleges-17th Edition [Paperback]

Frederick E. Rugg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1883062322 | ISBN-13: 978-1883062323 | Edition: 17th

Lists quality departments at quality colleges

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brutally honest-top rated." -- The College Choice Report

"Straightforward info that can assist you in your beginning phase of the college application process." -- College Bound Magazine

A great guide and a great place to begin." -- The Book Reader

About the Author

Rugg is a nationally known guru on college admissions. A 1967 Applied Math graduate of Brown, he is the only one giving monthly seminars on the colleges who draws a crowd. Rugg is a former secondary school guidance director and has been based in New England, Colorado, Florida, and California

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Ruggs Recommendations; 17th edition (January 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883062322
• ISBN-13: 978-1883062323
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,349,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

111 of 115 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rugg's Recommendations - a perennial favorite, March 30, 2000

By 

Brad MacGowan (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rugg's Recommendations On The Colleges-17th Edition (Paperback)

Rugg's Recommendations On The Colleges is now in its 17th edition. New and updated editions have been published every year since 1988 (every 2 years before that). The book's enduring popularity is testimony to its usefulness in the college search process, especially in the list-building phase. I buy multiple copies every year for my college counseling office and always keep it within reach when working with students. The book is a staple in high school guidance and college advising offices nation-wide.

The author is a former counselor and is well-respected by members of his former profession. He is also well-known for the seminars that he presents for counselors around the country. As a former counselor, Rugg knows what information students and parents need and he provides it. The foundation of the book is the 83 lists of colleges grouped by majors and divided into three levels of selectivity. The colleges on each list are "recommended" for each major based on discussions with students at the colleges and counselors across the country, and on Rugg's own research and visits.

To the author's credit, he does not rank colleges the way that the national magazine (the one with two names and the ampersand) does. This is also a factor in the respect that counselors have for his work. Also to his credit, he states that the "book is not perfect." No publication in this field is, although a couple of them would like us to believe that they are.

The book also includes other helpful hints and information such as a list of the 100 colleges that he hears the most nice things about, colleges that "offer students the best opportunity to maximize their education." It also includes a list of colleges that offer "wellness" dormitories. Rugg's approach encourages students to find colleges that will be good fits while smartly avoiding the "more selective the college the better it must be" approach that fuels the magazine rankings mentioned above.

Rugg's Recommendations On The Colleges is a helpful tool that contains good and current information. It has always been available through guidance catalogs and from the author. I am glad to see it becoming widely available.

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad, But Not The Best, November 18, 2004

By 

Darshan "darshan1" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Rugg's Recommendations on the Colleges, 21st Edition (Paperback)

I do agree that guidance counselors probably do need a copy of this book, and the author was wise to avoid the increasingly discredited practice of re-ranking schools each and every year. It's perfectly reasonable to list colleges in general selectivity categories, which he does, but more and more people are realizing that schools don't change markedly in the period of one year and the annual ranking lists are simply bad journalism.

However, I feel that this book is not as useful as Fiske's Guide To Colleges. Rugg's basically groups under each major a very long list of schools that are purported to be strong in that field. It's not a very stylish book, but it's effective and no-nonsense.

Here's the problem: If you pick any major (say art) and then find a school that is strong in that field (say Vassar) you're probably going to want to know a lot more information about Vassar and the only thing Rugg's will tell you is whether its student population is small, medium or large, and if you search through the back of the book you may find what other majors are strong at Vassar and their average SAT score. That's pretty much it.

Fiske also includes a similar list of majors and schools that excel in each field near the front of the book. Then each college is profiled in depth similar to books such as The Princeton Review Guide to Colleges. (Fiske is also better than Princeton Review for recommending strong departments.)

One thing to note is that Fiske covers about 300 of the most prestigious and best-known colleges which is great but not exhaustive. If the schools you're interested in aren't included in Fiske then Rugg's can probably still help because it lists about a thousand schools. Barron's Profiles of American Colleges also includes over a thousand schools and offers much more information on each school than Rugg's. However, with Barron's I do think you will need to at least browse through Rugg's because Barron's frequently only lists "most popular majors" as opposed to most recommended.

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REAL help for parents and students!, August 17, 2000

By 

bookfreak "mjm55" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rugg's Recommendations On The Colleges-17th Edition (Paperback)

Most of us know (or think we know)the top schools around the U.S. But if your high school student already has a solid interest in a particular major, this guide will open your eyes to possibilities you never knew existed. Rugg's extensive research finds those smaller regional and private schools which excel in a particular field but do not get the same publicity as the big name universities.

If your child is leery of taking on a campus of 40,000 students or doesn't want to be 2,000 miles from home, this guide will help you find outstanding institutions of all sizes and in nearly every part of the country. Our son will be pursuing some area of computer science, and we found many highly-rated schools in this guide which were completely new to us. What is also interesting is to look at the listings for some majors and see what "name brand" schools are missing from the list. Don't assume that just because a particular college or university is of general high quality that it truly excels in the field your child wants to study!

Give your college-bound child a REAL choice and eliminate much of the guesswork by using Rugg's.