Princeton Review Best Colleges and Fiske Guide

College Guides for High School Students. Schools Ranked by Category

Jan 17, 2009 Christine Welter

Fiske Guide to Colleges and The Best 368 Colleges are top-rated guides to the best colleges with insider tips by current students, ranking criteria and data on admission.

Before making an important decision and a very substantial investment in your education it is essential to research your options. Princeton Review's The Best 368 Colleges and Fiske Guide to Colleges are two of the best college guidebooks to get started. Both offer more than 700 pages of college profiles and are packed with tips from current students about the ins and outs of their schools.

Fiske Guide to Colleges

For more than 20 years, the Fiske Guide to more than 300 colleges and universities has been an indispensable resource for college-bound students. Edward B. Fiske, former education editor of the New York Times, and his team update the handbook every year. The introduction has the following chapters:

editors explain how "the best and most interesting" colleges are selected
a section called "sizing-yourself-up" to find your personal criteria for choosing a school
a list of "best buys" with the 40+ schools that deliver the best education at the most reasonable cost
a guide for pre-professionals listing colleges that offer the best programs in each of nine pre-professional areas

The main part is the alphabetical list of well written 1.000-2.000 word essays on the individual colleges. Fiske's school profiles employ subjective and objective information to capture the "feel" or the personality of a college. The profiles draw from student surveys, administrators and independent research. They talk about the academic climate, social life and the composition of the student body. Sidebars highlight ACT and SAT ranges and selectivity statistics.

The Best 368 Colleges Princeton Review

The Princeton Review, a New York City-based company best known for its test preparation courses, education services and books, first published its “Best Colleges” guide in 1992. The handbook’s ranking lists are based on The Princeton Review’s survey of 120,000 students (about 325 per campus on average) attending the featured 368 colleges.

Compared to the more individual profile essays in the Fiske Guide, the school profiles here are organized in a uniform format. Each college's information is detailed on two pages.

Page 1 titled "Students say" cites students on academics, campus life, and anything else they consider worth mentioning
on Page 2 under "The Princeton Review Says" the editors speak and an additional paragraph The School Says has the inside scoop from the admissions office.
Sidebars address statistics on student body, selectivity, freshman profiles, deadlines and financial facts.

The Best 368 Colleges has a fun section of unique school rankings in 62 categories. They range from academics/administration, quality of life, politics, demographics, extracurriculars, parties and schools by type. The lists include: "professor get low marks/professors get high marks", "students study the most/students study the least", "dorms like dungeons", "best campus food".

Fiske and Princeton Review Compared

The campus descriptions in the Fiske guide are written in a traditional, journalistic style, which makes for a smoother read. The student comment section in The Best 368 Colleges resembles a string of chatty quotes coming straight from the source.

After compiling a list of favorite schools it might be worthwhile to compare their profiles in both guides. Both books offer a wealth of statistics and helpful information. For the price of $23.00 each book is a bargain.

Fiske, Edward B., Fiske Guide to Colleges 2009, ISBN:9781402209598, $22.95.

The Princeton Review, The Best 368 Best Colleges, 2009 Edition, Random House, ISBN:978-0-375-42872-2,$21.95.

Further reading: Greenes Guides to the Hidden Ivies and the Public Ivies focus on small liberal art colleges and public universities with strong programs.

The copyright of the article Princeton Review Best Colleges and Fiske Guide in Reference Books is owned by Christine Welter. Permission to republish Princeton Review Best Colleges and Fiske Guide in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Fiske Guide to Colleges