Rating: 
Summary: Get this book for the high schooler in your life
Review: After reviewing this book and finding its advice practical and far-reaching -- everything from SAT testing to dating at college -- I gave it to our family friends' high-school son at the start of his senior year. He said the book was easy to read and helped him to focus and decide on what he wanted. As a result, he selected a school that is tailored to his needs, rather than the local college that most of his friends will attend.Perhaps the book's biggest strengths are that it explains clearly WHY it is important for students to choose a college suited to them, and HOW to choose such a college. Next year, I'm giving a copy to his little brother, when he starts high school.
Rating: 
Summary: A summary plus how this book got its title
Review: As a counselor in private practice to college-bound students and parents, I've seen hundreds of clients come in confused or overwhelmed. This book provides the information you really need to know. For example, based on your answers to 12 questions, the book actually generates a list of colleges at which you're likely to be happy and successful. In addition, the book distills ideas from dozens of other college guides and from my own experience to give you the best possible advice on how to choose, get into, find the money for, and make the most of college. I've tried the book out on many clients and they so frequently used the word "love" in describing it. That's how I came up with the book's title
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Summary: This vital guide should be a must for high school students.
Review: As a parent of a high school sophomore, this book provided excellent insight and advice as to how begin the college search: the critical advance preparations needed to finance higher education, and even how to help the high school student sharpen study skills, a lesson that is often learned too late if one waits for the college years. The reader is provided with the pros and cons of varying types of college experiences plus a "how-to" guide which is geared to assist all freshmen in adjusting to their new environment. The final checklist (what high school students should be preparing well in advance of college) is a necessary organizational tool that will make the "college process" much less formidable. I would recommend this book to every parent of freshman in high school; the advance preparation that is made possible by this guide are invaluable.
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Summary: An awesome book for students too!
Review: As I was reading through much of the information in this book, it became very clear to me how easy the college experience could be with the right preperations. This book allows the reader(students and parents) to 1) Ask the right questions 2) Not be over anxious 3) Be confident when asking for items. I recently wrote 6 emails requesting information on certain colleges asking for the information that Marty Nemko advised. Viola! I recieved all of the information. This book is full of useful things and guides and isn't overly dry. Different sections for parents, and insider's tips etc. Overall this is a great book for the college bound.
Rating:
Summary: We did love it.
Review: As the title promises, we really did love this college guide. If a parent or prospective college student could read one only book about colleges, this would be the one. With one child in college and another getting ready to apply, we've read about a dozen college guides. This one has information that none of the others has, including recommendations of other guide books that contain more detail on particular topics. We recommend this book without qualification.
Rating:
Summary: We did love it.
Review: As the title promises, we really did love this college guide. If a parent or prospective college student could read one only book about colleges, this would be the one. With one child in college and another getting ready to apply, we've read about a dozen college guides. This one has information that none of the others has, including recommendations of other guide books that contain more detail on particular topics. We recommend this book without qualification.
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Summary: Great! Every student should read it; it really helps.
Review: Getting your kid into a good college is a nerve-racking process for most parents. It certainly has been for us. We have found the customer reviews in Amazon very helpful. That prompts us to distill our ratings of the various guidebooks. The best short reference on each college is the Princeton Review of The Best (311) Colleges. It gives ratings of academic quality, difficulty of admission, percentage admitted, etc. There is also a brief summary of college life and what each place might be looking for. Peterson Guide is comprehensive, and has long write-ups for each school. There is a front section for each school, listed alphabetically within each state, and a back section with detailed profiles of selected institutions. Fiske's guide is interesting, but he basically has something good to say for each school, so careful reading between the lines and for "damning with faint praise" is called for. The Yale Insider's Guide is extremely subjective, with different students writing various reviews. We did not find it too reliable, except in conjunction with other books. Likewise for Barrron's Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges. Recent alumni write of their (invariably positive) experiences. Take it with a grain of salt, or read carefully between the lines. Choosing the Right College by ISN was extremely helpful. Some readers criticized it for being allegedly right wing. We did not find it so. Rather, knowing the point of view of the authors helped us evaluate their observations. Other books do not make their biases explicit. A feature of the book we found particularly helpful was the naming of excellent professors and departments in each college. Antonoff's College Finder was interesting only in conjunction with other books. Three books written from the perspective of college admissions officers were very interesting and helpful. They are The College Admissions Mystique, by Mayher, Getting In, by Bill Paul, and most of all A is for Admission by Michelle Hernandez. We strongly recommend that parents and the kids who are the applicants read at least one of these. Another very helpful book was You're Gonna Love This College Guide, by Marty Nemko. It takes the student through the decision process of big vs. small, urban vs. country, elite vs. the level just below, geography, and so forth. That really got our daughter unstuck in her thinking process. Loren Pope is another helpful author for those who think that not getting into Harvard is the end of the world. Three books we did not find to be particularly helpful are Getting Into Any College, by Jim Good and Lisa Lee, The National Review College Guide, by Charles Sykes and Brad Miner (too out of date), and The Real Freshman Handbook, by Jennifer Hanson. One book we found to be unexpectedly useful was Getting Into Medical School Today, by Scott Plantz, et. al. Even if your child is not interested in medical school, this book puts college in perspective for any post-college program. We hope readers find our review helpful.
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Summary: Marty in the first review or not, truely life changing book!
Review: I give it five, but only because I can't give it a 6 or 7 or more.
Whether it really was Marty or not in the October 12, 2004 review, (judging from his other review and my knowledge of his writing style, it looks like it) this book is truely life changing. Gotta love his no-bs style and just-the-facts approach. His book has made the idea of a cool, innovative, private school a possibility amid over a year of dissillusionment from my in-state university choices. Along with Cool Career's for Dummies and his website http://www.martynemko.com , he has forever shaped my choices in college, career, major, and even politics.
-Joanne M. Sawicki
ElusiveTruth.com
Rating: 
Summary: Lukewarm reception
Review: I was so excited when I initially bought this book and honestly, when I read it I was disappointed. I thought it was a bit dry and boring to read through, despite the useful tips. Although the authors try hard, they really don't convey the spirit and fun that college life has to offer!
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: If you want bad advice, and out of date internet links, buy this book. Marty Nemko will lead you astray. He will have you start your SAT testing later than you should, while pumping you up with shallow information. This book is not a college guide. It's a trick for a quick buck from the unsuspecting.
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