Customer Reviews

Unofficial Biased Insider's Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges

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

 

 

After going through literally dozens of lugubrious, dripping-with-sincerity college guides, I bumbled across this outrageous piece of tactless, opinionated, politically-incorrect--and absolutely indispensable--commentary. It provides all the basics parents or students need to know, plus the sort of pithy remarks that describe a school in one vivid image, such as, "There are a lot of school spirits at Clemson (100 proof)" or "1600's on your SAT's may not be enough to get in at Harvard. Get a hobby--like winning Pulitzer Prizes."

I used to think this college guide was one of the best around - it was witty, fun to read, seemed that the author's had actually VISITED the colleges they were talking about and interviewed students who currently attended those schools.

Imagine my disappointment when I recently discovered that many of the student "quotes" used in this book were picked up word for word from comments on sites like epinions.com and studentsreview.com. If guidebook authors are going to say or imply that they have actually TALKED to students or visited campuses, then the authors should actually SPEAK to current students not just regurgitate previously published quotes. This is especially true when those same quotes are available FOR FREE on college review sites.

Not all of the quotes in the book are taken from web sites like these, but enough are to make me feel that the authors aren't the "insiders" they claim to be. What a shame - great concept, fun to read, but I can't recommend a book that "borrows" from other sources so blatantly. At the very least, they could have credited the web sites they used to lift their quotes from.

There are thousands of colleges and universities in the US. These 320 are mostly the ones worth concentrating on. However, the list is still unfortunately incomplete. Where's Olin? Where's the University of Tulsa?
Where's New Mexico Tech? Where's Colorado School of Mines? They list several others in the category lists and put an asterisk by them to indicate that they are NOT profiled... admitting their incompleteness. Don't make this your only guide or you might miss out.

There are so many colleges, and each one has something that makes it different and interesting. How do students choose which one is right for them?

The book, "Unofficial Biased Insider's Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges," by Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili, is one guide you don't want to miss! In this book you'll find: profiles of the 328 most interesting colleges, which includes but is not limited to: demographic & general information; information about classes; campus environment; student life; tuition & financial aid information and much more! You'll also find a self-assessment quiz; recommended schools and advice from the experts. And did I mention, there is a lot of advice :)?

MyParenTime.com highly recommends this book -- if you are planning on entering college, you're sure to find out a lot of information from this book. Even if you don't apply to any of the colleges listed, you'll learn enough about college life and will be better equipped to ask the right questions about the colleges you do apply for.