Customer Reviews

U.S. News Ultimate College Guide 2009, 6E

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book and went to activate the free 10 day pass to the Premium Online Edition and kept getting an error and could not access the site. I tried for 5 days! I called their customer service and spoke ( on two separate occasions) with an extremely rude person! She was zero help and didn't care that I could not access this College Guide. She told me to contact the webmaster and I did and never heard back from them and they actually tell you in an auotmated email not to contact them again that they will get back to you within 48hours. Sure! I called again and got the same apathetic response from customer service that she could not do anything for me. So I returned the book ( it has all dated information anyway) and bought Barron's Profiles of American Colleges which I am very happy with and they give their college ratings in the book!
US News is a total rip-off and they lure you in with free offers that they have no intentions of giving you.

The "U.S. News" approach is to use numbers...and that can be very useful. For example, the book includes a chart of the graduation rate at various colleges. Not surprisingly, more than 90% of Amherst students obtain a degree four years after enrolling. At many public colleges, that number is 30% or 40%. Most public colleges do such a poor job with first and second year students, the majority of them drop out...a sad fact that this book documents.

However, numbers can be misleading. How do you rank one college as the "Number 87" liberal arts college in America and another as "Number 107". That sort of ultra-precise numerical ranking borders on fantasy.


To learn about the personality and flavor of each school, you need to supplement this book with one or two books that focus on those factors...numbers are only a small part of the story.

This is definitively the best college guide on the market. Ranks the school by academics, by financial expense, by retention ratio, by major, by state.... it's all in there. Should you buy just one college guide , that would be the one !

The best source of information for the college-bound student. This book containes everything you need to know about each college in the US as it relates to GPA and SAT requirements, financial aid, student size, majors, and tuition cost. A must-have for preparing your college selection.

I used this guide when I was applying for college 25 years ago, and it is still very useful as a summary of what's out there, now for my daughter.

Great price, great college guide. I got this for my sister who is beginning to look at colleges and its full of all the information you need to narrow in on schools you are interested in. Doesn't hurt either that its $19.99!

This has always been and always will be the best and most comprehensive college guide on the market. It has everything we need to find the best colleges for each of our kids. It was great 20 years ago and it is even better today.

THIS PRODUCT WAS FOR 2009 - THUS A REVIEW IS PRETTY IRRELEVANT NOW. BOOK WAS IN PERFECT CONDITION WHEN IT ARRIVED.

I am a High School Counselor and this book has been very helpful when working with students. The reference allows the students to see firsthand what colleges and universities are looking for in a perspective Freshman. The students are also able to see what they need to bring in an application. Having the statistics from the prior class provides facts that I am able to show students how they may stack up against admission criteria.

We purchased this book when our daughter was a senior and it was used several times. It answers all of the questions we had when looking for the right colleges to visit. It has information for parents and students. I would recommend this book for high school students trying to pick a college.