Customer Reviews
Fiske Guide to getting into the right college 
2008-05-26
This book gives an excellent overview of the college process from searching, interviewing, evaluating to financial aid. Very valuable is the "One hour college search" chapter which exposed us to many great colleges that we were not familiar with. I had checked this out from the library and then bought my own copy as it's definitely a great resource. If I only could read one book, this would be it. My college bound daughter will benefit from reading it.
over rated guide 
2007-12-06
This guide is more of the same. Basically tells you about the colleges you already know have good reputations-- ivys, and the ones just below them. Not helpful for kids who want to follow a non-liberal arts path. Not an in depth book, more just a glossary of colleges and universities. Big disappointment
Fiske Name attached 
2007-12-03
Good Purchase? - Would be a Great Purchase if More Majors were included. Sort of a back and forth college match up of information. I am not certain if I would have purchased this book - knowing what I know.
It does have the Fiske bits of helpful information!
Great beginning resource 
2007-09-19
We are just beginning our college search, and based upon prior reviews decided to purchase this book. While I am not sure if I concur with the opinion of the author on how he categorizes certain schools, most of what is written is informative and actually, written in an entertaining way. Many of the other books on the subject are 100s of pages of statistics, in contrast, Fiske provides detailed information and resources in which to expand your search, while making the read entertaining.
For those just beginning the search, this is an invaluable book, cleverly written and informative. I would recommend it as well as other Fiske books on the subject.
Extremely reassuring, keeps you from getting overwhelmed 2007-01-29
I am finding this book very helpful in my college search. It is written fairly colloquially, which makes it easy to get excited about reading it. It provides "insider info" about college ratings, admissions, and searches, giving you the "big picture" and encouraging students to find a college that is a good match. Before I read it, I was uncertain/confused about "this whole college thing" and got overwhelmed often. The thoroughness of the book is helping me stay calm and feel confident, because it dispels the mystery behind every facet of the college search. I would recommend it to any college-bound student.
Walking you through the process 2006-09-17
Find the college that's right for you!
An A–Z of admissions secrets, The Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College takes you behind the scenes of the college application process. The expert advice and tips in this book will help you get accepted at the schools of your choice. This clear, accessible guide takes students and their parents step-by-step through the admissions process.
Learn:
--How to choose the right college
--How to get off a waiting list and get accepted
--How to write winning essays
--How to use the Internet in the application process
--How admissions officers really rank applicants
--How to interview successfully
--How to construct a successful application
--How to get the most financial aid
--And much more!
This is the best resource for helping students get into the schools of their choice.
Edward B. Fiske served for 17 years as Education Editor of The New York Times, during which time he realized that college-bound students and their families needed better information on which to base their educational choices. He wrote the bestselling annual, The Fiske Guide to Colleges, to help them.
Bruce G. Hammond was editor in chief of The Insider's Guide to the Colleges and was managing editor of four editions of The Fiske Guide to Colleges. He is the author of Discounts and Deals at the Nation's 360 Best Colleges and is the school and college expert at Parent Soup, a division of iVillage.com.
Must read 2006-04-04
As a parent of a hs junior, I found this book enlightening and wise. It not only outlines the search process but gives great reasons for not being swayed by the hype of "name brand" institutions. I highly recommend this book to parents and students before embarking on the college search process.
Best at Explaining the Admissions Process 2006-04-03
I'm going to agree with the other reviewers that this is an excellent book that is clearly and intelligently written. It stresses the "fit" of the college and helps both parents and students easily understand the admissions process. It also does a good job with explaining the ins and outs of financial aid. I feel some books like Get Into Any College by Gen and Kelly Tanabe offer advice that I wouldn't recommend and others such as How to Get Into The Top Colleges by Richard Montauk and Krista Klein are guilty of panicking students about the necessity of getting into a prestige school instead of the best fit. I feel the Fiske book helps families relax and feel informed. There is a self-assessment quiz at the beginning that does much to help students figure out what kind of college is best for them.
I have no complaints about this book at all, but if they wanted to improve it, they could expand their section on popular majors and the listings of schools that are strong in those majors. Fiske's other title, The Guide to Colleges, does a fairly good job of detailing each school's best departments, but it would be terrific to have more of that information here as well.
CollegePlanGuy@aol.com
volunteer counselor
(free college counseling available to economically disadvantaged students)
Needs updating, but still valuable 2005-09-21
This is one of the most comprehensive, all-in-one college guides I've seen and it a very good starting point because it packs a lot of information into a concise, readable package. However, with a copyright date of 2002 it is time for an update. The SAT information refers to the "old" SAT and the scores are accordingly out of date. Because of the 2002 copyright date I was also suspect of the otherwise valuable list of other college guide book titles and websites. Nevertheless I found plenty of information, insights and advice that was worthwhile. The tone of the guide is practical and calm, and I think the Fiske Guide is helpful and a good resource overall.
Best all-in-one college guide on the market 2003-04-06
Let me depict the most outstanding features of this book by the worth of dollar amount to the students and the parents:
1) Chapter 6 - list of colleges - worths at least $20,000 dollars. The discriptions of the colleges are right on the target. It takes years of experiences and observations on each college to be able to provide such succinct descriptions.
2) Chapter 1 - concerning liberal arts education - worths at least $10,000. Liberal arts education is the true enabling education for everyone, whether you are a humanities or science major.
3) Chapter 2 - Sizing-Yourself-Up survey - worths at least $10,000 dollars, especially p. 14 -- p.17, which explains the results of the survey. When you have answered this survey honestly, you can then proceed to find the colleges that match you. This will save you not only months or years of wasted youth (when you are in wrong institutions or majors), but also tons of money. Much more importantly, This chapter emphasized the most important concept in this book: College searching is a matching process. You are not begging the colleges to accept you. You trying to find the ones that match you.
4) Chapter 7 - Where to Learn More - worths at least $2,000 dollars. The authors provide a good brief description for each college guide publication.
The other chapters in this book are good, but you can find them in other college guides. So, in this sense, they are not unique.
Having read through a lot of college guides and done a lot of research on colleges, I can say that this is an excellent, top-notch college guide. This is an excellent all-in-one college guide. The value of this book far exceeds its price. Highly recommended!!!
