Go to Barnes and Noble and browse through the college guide section…then buy your book there. You will have a better chance of finding a book you find useful for YOU, than by reading the reviews online at Amazon.
We used the Petersens Guide to the Performing Arts for one kid.
We borrowed a book from our guidance office for the second kid, and got info on this site.
Keep in mind…any info in an already published book is several years old already.
I like Fiske, Princeton Review and the Insiders Guide although others were fine as well. Either see if you can find the table of contents/some sample pages on for each on a site like amazon or else go a bookstore like B&N or even a library (how old fashioned!) and page through some options to see what interests you.
They all take a slightly different tack, but whatever you do, make sure you check the publishing date to ensure as up to date as possible. We had Princeton Review and Fiske, and they were nice foils for each other. If there had to be one, I’d probably have to go with Princeton Review. However, I ditto what previous posters have said about going to B&N to leaf through them and see which format/information presentation you prefer first. You can still buy it cheaper on Amazon but I like going to Bricks and Mortar first to see it in person. Good luck!
The funny thing is we liked reading the guides although my son only applied to California schools and was pretty set on a UC. The Prowler guide to UC Berkeley was fun and informative. They write similar guides for other schools.
For those with a short attention span, I liked Fiske Guide Getting into the Right College. I gave the book to my daughter, told her to go through the One-Hour College Finder chapter and highlight those that looked interesting to her.
That got her started on the search. Then I used other search tools and books to come up with other schools that matched her schools.
Some books are dry accumulations of data and statistics. Fiske’s has a bit of data, but mostly has descriptions with verbs and paragraphs and everything!!! Would much rather read a narrative than data readily available online.
Whatever book is chosen, do not forget it will NOT replace a deep personal investigation / research of each place under consideration. The book criteria may not be in synch with the personal criteria, may not be any close and may steer the focus in the “wrong” direction for a specific student. Personal criteria must take a great precedence over any criteria in any book. If not, you may hear the “transfer” request in a future. I have heard many, but. thankfully from other parents as we stayed clear from anybody’s advice and from any rankings and publications, D. was at the wheel of her navigaion after she chose using my list, that took me 2 years to compile based on D’s goal and her croteria. She was pleased so much with the results, that asked me later to compile the list of Med. Schools to apply, again, based on her personal criteria. She dismissed all advice from GC and pre-med advisor at college. The approach agian was a complete success story.