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  Paul Allaer
  January 29th, 2010 on 5:59 pm

  Is it just me or are these college search/guidance books coming out sooner every year? I mean, we are still in June, and here already is the 2010 edition of The Insider’s Guide. I am well aware that the publishing business on college search/guidance books is a multi-million business, but still. That said, let me state upfront that I am done with the college search process. My youngest just finished her freshman year in DC. That said, I saw this book at my local library, and curiosity got the better of me and I picked it up.

  “The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges” (952 pages) is a curious book. It brings an assessment of about 300 colleges and universities, but it never explains how these places are actually selected from the thousands of colleges and universities out there. I am most familiar with colleges in DC (where my youngest is going, and where I went myself) and Ohio (where I live, and where my oldest went to college), and while I perused some of the other chapters (they are listed state by state), I read the DC and Ohio chapters very carefully. First the good: the assessment of the colleges in DC seem right on target. I asked my daughter about some of the statements made in here about her particular college, and she agreed with them (I attended the same place, 25+ years ago). As for the Ohio chapter, some curious things: Antioch College closed its doors for undergraduate students due to financial problems (it is still open for graduate studies), yet there is a review on it. Huh? The review on the college my son attended seems on point. But inexplicably, Xavier University (a fine Jesuit college here in Cincinnati) is left out of the book. Huh?

  The book prides itself on providing “insider” information from students, and from that perspective it seems to do well. It also gives you some very brief and basic statistical info on what ACT and SAT scores need for the school, and how many are accepted and then actually enter. That said, this is not a book for HS students looking to start their college search (check out instead the Fiske Guide to Colleges, the 2010 version of which will come out soon). If anything, this book might be helpful AFTER they have narrowed down their choices and then looking for some further insight. Another college search/guidance book I would recommend in a heart-beat would be the 2010 edition of “371 Best Colleges” (also coming out soon).
  Rating: 4 / 5