<p>Most guidebooks are like that. They don’t change the descriptions every year but every couple of years. The admissions data changes every edition, though.</p>
<p>I read the two books by Loren Pope, Colleges that Change Lives and Looking Beyond the Ivy League. You could read either one and get similar information. Pope felt strongly that most students would get the best education at small liberal arts colleges, and he tells you why. He spent alot of time on campuses, attending classes, sitting in libraries, interviewing students and teachers. He tells you what impressed him (engaged students, small classes) and what didn’t (big prestigious schools that don’t deliver for the undergraduate). He came up with a list of 40 colleges that he particularly liked- the Colleges That Change Lives. Even if you don’t end up with any of those schools on your list (DD visited one CTCL but decided not to apply), it helped us alot with refining what it was that we were looking for.</p>
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That information is all available online in a more customizable, up-to-date fashion. And it’s free 
Two criticisms:</p>
<p>1) Surveys (especially those with relatively small sample sizes) tend to lean toward both extremes, because people who either love or hate their school are the ones who choose to write in. That is not true in all cases, but it is still a flaw.</p>
<p>2) I’m sure that PR does make some attempt at accuracy - for example, I doubt that they would choose someone who says that “this school is in a violent urban ghetto!!” when everyone else praises the safety of the campus. However, I suspect that they DO choose the quotes for their book based on the goal of amusing or surprising rather than informing. It is entertainment, little more.</p>
<p>That does not mean that Fiske or any of the other books is superior. There are just too many excellent colleges and universities in this country to make your initial list based on descriptions in one of these books. In many ways, building your broad list is the easiest place to mess up your search. Most people filter their lists over time - eliminating schools based on hard and soft factors. If somewhere doesn’t make it on your long list, it will not have the chance to appear on your short one. The overwhelming majority of applicants can find 30+ excellent schools that fit their needs with numbers and statistics. Human beings are adaptable creatures - I’m sure one of those would fit with almost anyone.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t discount surveys entirely. One of the most important things to do when trying to find out about colleges is to ask current students. Many important factors, such as the general political leaning of the campus, can only be found in the school descriptions.</p>
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Yes, and that’s why you should always aim to visit before enrolling. Forums such as this one are also useful because they allow us to debate and force those offering opinions to defend them.</p>
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<p>Wouldn’t it be better to buy a book and get opinions from students before even applying or visiting? Applying, getting in, and then visiting is a time consuming and expensive process, and it’s much more convenient to rule out schools from the beginning with obvious incompatibilities with a book. I’m defending my own opinion too, so no need to get so defensive yourself.</p>
<p>I don’t know what grade your D is in or if she’s taken the SAT yet, but I’m just going to throw this out there because it’s such a gem. “Hack the SAT” by Eliot Schrefer is an amazing book to use when studying for the SAT. It’s written by an ex-SAT tutor (the kind that costs a load of money, haha) and has tons of amazing tricks and tips that make the SAT make much more sense. Very useful.</p>
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Most “obvious incompatibilities” can be detected with only minimal research. For example, students not looking for a religious atmosphere on campus could probably rule out BYU, Liberty, and some of the more traditional Catholic schools with only cursory planning.</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t necessarily oppose the use of guidebooks at the stage you are referring to - elimination time. I just think they are a very poor tool when creating an initial list because factors of social fit require research that is too time-consuming for an initial list - find a large number of schools that have the hard numbers to fit your needs and then narrow them down with qualitative stuff. None of the books offer the same power as free electronic software for filtering statistics. Just grab a bunch of data from IPEDS, stick it in a spreadsheet, and get to work.
That line wasn’t directed at you :). My point was that a quote in a guidebook cannot elaborate or justify itself if you have questions, while someone on a forum can.</p>