<p>Fiske's Guide to Colleges; it gives more info about colleges than Princeton Review.</p>
<p>i definitely agree with what nocousin is saying, but for me personally the most useful tool has been the internet -- there are a bunch of free sites out there who give you everything the books do, plus photos, videos, etc...theres no substitute for going to the schools though, but the sites help narrow down the list for me</p>
<p>You can get a lot of the PR info on their website with a free log-in.</p>
<p>Correct dbwes.....and I tell people, go there and read it.....but be certain to take what is said, particularly by students, and their silly rankings of best food or best dorms or worst food or worst dorms with a grain of salt. A LOT of that is highly inaccurate and outdated. For example, on their 2009 printed version I pulled off the shelf the other day, I saw stuff that I know was VERBATIM the SAME STUFF my D saw and read in their 2005 edition...the exact same quotes. Now we know those quotes likely came from some kid in 2002. A lot changes in 7 years.</p>
<p>Or gross generalizations about how kids dress. Silly stuff like that.</p>
<p>a campus visit can cure you of most of this stuff.</p>
<p>But its not just restricted to that either...avg. SAT scores and number of applications have increased at a lot of schools and they are still using data from 5 years ago? PUHLEEZE.</p>
<p>IPEDS is the official US Dept. of Education site that the schools report the information and you can see all the granular detail you want on admissions and scores that is updated every year.</p>
<p>and finally, even if you think you have found a nub of really cool information on "culture" or "dorm life", you may get there and have an entirely different experience or impression (good or bad). Its dangerous to judge a school by two or three quotes in a book or a book that is opinionated one way or another.</p>
<p>Going to college is stressful...its a big change in a student's life ...and no matter how hard they try to find the "PERFECT FIT" (and I am a big proponent of looking for fit), there is nothing you can do to prevent the shock and awe of freshmen year, no matter where you go. Whether its Ohio State or Middlebury. So you just do your best and make your best decision and then roll with the punches.</p>
<p>"Barron’s Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges" is very good. I like PR because they update their profiles every year or two, which is more than I can say for Fiske. He uses the same old write ups year after year with very minor revisions. Plus his editors don't fact check very well. For instance, in the new Fiske 2009 Guide, he claims Middlebury's yield rate is 9%, when it's really 44%. Not even close.</p>
<p>I like Fiske best. Princeton Review is stupid, as if they're trying to be hip and failing miserably.</p>
<p>haha thanks again! :)</p>
<p>If you want "hip and failing miserably," you should try the Insider's Guide to Colleges.</p>
<p>haha ok :)</p>