<p>I checked out from the library "Getting in" by Katherine Cohen based on a comment someone else here on cc stated about writing up EC info. I like the book but it was written in 2002 and I wondered if there was one single book you found invaluable to have/read in the college process. I really just want to have one book that I can give to my son to look over when it comes time next year to do his applications even though I know there are 100's out there. Thanks :)</p>
<p>We used only Fiske guide. There is a supplement to the larger book that is smaller bu a wealth of info about searching and applying to college. The financial section is great and easy to understand.</p>
<p>I know of no “one” book that will give you everything you may want. I probably bought about 12 books of various types, but I’ve given them to our HS guidance office so I am not positive about names. The Fiske guide (and others like it) tend to give you raw stats, so they may help you decide if you could get into a particular school. The Powler Guides aren’t particularly helpful with stats, but give a pretty good feel for what the college is like. I used “How to Find the Right College” (or something like that) which tends to be conservative, but contains a lot of useful information.</p>
<p>If you are looking for guides on how to prepare the applications, none of the selection guides will help you. I found a good, humorous book on writing college essays which is probably the only college book that my son actually read. I don’t recall the name, but they had examples of bad essays (the “Miss America” and “Thesaurus” for example) and good essays (and how to tailor one essay for multiple topics). The books on how to get in to a particular college are too late if your son is already a Junior (and I wouldn’t buy it just for the information on how to write up your ECs).</p>
<p>To get to a managable number of colleges, I used CollegeBoard’s college identifying program and fed in what my son was looking for in a college, his probable major, and stats. It gave me a list of about 25 schools and I let him take it from there to determine the ones he was most interested in. He did almost all of his research on the internet using the colleges websites.</p>
<p>I loved “Getting In” when I first read it. Very helpful. Liked the essays in it, too. </p>
<p>“Fiske Guide to Colleges” is fantastic. You can score an older copy on ebay for cheap - about the only thing that changes from year to year is the admission/tuition data. You can get that data on the college website that is more current, anyway.</p>
<p>My favorite guide these days for novices and parents - “Admission Matters”.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>I will look into Fiske guide and Powler Guides as I am looking for a book like “Getting In” that focuses more on the application process, interviews, essays, writing up extracurriuculars when they are non conventional ie woodworking, lists of what not to forget or to check etc.</p>
<p>I already have an idea of schools because my son is currently interested in a major that only 60 school have. Half are art schools and he wants to go to a LAC so we are already narrowed further.</p>
<p>I think the other poster meant “College ******* Guide”. I don’t know of a Powler Guide. :)</p>
<p>Why on earth won’t that go through? It’s not an obscene word, or anything. Hmm.</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> Schmarvard](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Schmarvard-Getting-Beyond-College/dp/0761536957]Harvard”>http://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Schmarvard-Getting-Beyond-College/dp/0761536957)</p>
<p>Maybe this will help:</p>
<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_*******[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_*******</a></p>
<p>The conservative book to which Hat referred is called “Choosing the Right College” and is edited by John Zmirak. I particularly appreciated the sections on campus life, as I have found more detailed information about campus life than in any other guide. The book also goes into detail about courses and professors.</p>
<p>In my case, I welcome the fact that the book comes from a conservative viewpoint. (I cannot imagine my very modest daughter being comfortable in a coed bathroom, for example.) However, even if you are looking for coed bathrooms and would be happy if your college welcomes sex shows but not Christian organizations, you can find out which colleges have which.</p>
<p>A is for Admissions I think is the best book on elite college admissions (make sure you get the most recent edition).</p>
<p>Nice try SamuriLandshark, but real name won’t show up here. Don’t know why. If I had written Powrler Guide maybe that would be more obvious.</p>
<p>I just previewed the Fiske guide on Amazon and it looks very solid full of info. Better than the Princeton Best 373 colleges book (which I got for free) Harvard Smarvard looks like a good read full of tidbits as does A for admission. What is funny is you can get a lot of these books used on Amazon for pennies!</p>
<p>Very strange, Hat. </p>
<p>Another helpful website for kids for virtual college tours is *****.com </p>
<p>There are a lot of resources on this free site also with reviews about colleges by the students who attend.</p>
<p>Ebay is always a good source of used books. Even with shipping, it’s still usually a deal.</p>
<p>I recommend parents read The College Admissions Mystique by Bill Mayher to maintain some balance in the process.</p>
<p>A is for Admission and Admission Matters are both good; Choosing the Right College will be helpful for many and Loren Pope’s Colleges That Change Lives can be useful to students looking for smaller schools across the country.</p>
<p>Ruggs Recommendations on the Colleges is helpful for identifying strong programs across a broad spectrum of schools.</p>
<p>Okay, I can’t believe that didn’t go through, either.</p>
<p>Google Jordan Goldman </p>
<p>or read this article for information about the free website his company runs. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/magazine/21*****-t.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/magazine/21*****-t.html</a></p>
<p>Competitor sites and products are usually not deemed appropriate. Imagine that. 
</p>
<p>I think all such books are out of date when published. From memory …Bauld’s essay book, the unfortunately named Rock Hard Apps, the data from the online USNews site and Collegeboard, individual college websites, the Common Data Sets from any school under consideration, and this site are the sources I’d recommend. And I’d still be making judgment calls on all data and suggestions made there, too. ;)</p>
<p>Curmudgeon,</p>
<p>Funny how that works. Yet, sometimes those “competitors” do a pretty good job. </p>
<p>I have found that when kids use multiple sites they get a better perspective than just staying focused on one site. I am often amazed at the college search engines that some sites offer - you put in one major and a specific set of criteria and pow - you get a list of all the best matches.</p>
<p>Only it’s not conclusive. You know that, say Engineering is at a bunch of other schools, but for whatever reason it doesn’t even pop up on the list.</p>
<p>You do it somewhere else, and find a whole other set of colleges. Yep, there is the one school you are looking for, but now something else has fallen off the list.</p>
<p>I swear it must be because the schools are providing kickbacks…or the computer programmers aren’t very bright when they set up the perimeters of the search algorithm.</p>
<p>* Follow the money.* ;)</p>