<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: To many mistakes
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.Our daughter (heaven help her) wants to become a physician. Right now she is applying to college, but this book was very helpful in focusing her college choices, as well as realizing what kind of effort will be expected of her should she be successful in getting into medical school. Much of this review is about the college process, but this book is useful for seniors in high school as well as seniors in college. 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard hitting advice. Much truth.
Review: I am definitely a non-traditional student. This book has taught me many things I would have never known about. Like the fact that I should volunteer, be a leader in school clubs, etc, etc. I haven't applied to med-school yet, but I definitely know more about what it does take to get in.
Rating: 
Summary: it really worked twice.
Review: I gave this book to my daughter in the middle of her freshman year. She was a premed major and did not do very well her first term. after reading the book she changed her major, became a volunteer EMT, did research and joined a women's Rugby team at school. These positioning steps resulted in her being admitted to medical school early in her junior year. She is now a third year medical student and attributes the book to getting in. we then gave the book to a family friend whos daughter had good grades but did poorly on the mcats. after reading the book and following the sugestions she was accepted by 4 medical schools. The book really worked, twice.It is best to read thye book in your Freshman year.
Rating:
Summary: it really worked twice.
Review: I gave this book to my daughter in the middle of her freshman year. She was a premed major and did not do very well her first term. after reading the book she changed her major, became a volunteer EMT, did research and joined a women's Rugby team at school. These positioning steps resulted in her being admitted to medical school early in her junior year. She is now a third year medical student and attributes the book to getting in. we then gave the book to a family friend whos daughter had good grades but did poorly on the mcats. after reading the book and following the sugestions she was accepted by 4 medical schools. The book really worked, twice.It is best to read thye book in your Freshman year.
Rating:
Summary: To many mistakes
Review: Now that I have made it I can tell you that this book had many mistakes. It doesn't give information on the different schools and the phone numbers that they do give were wrong. The advice on course selection was wrong as well. It devotes half a page to the MCAT and I can tell you this test is worth more than half a page of commentary.
Rating:
Summary: Limited Amount Of Information
Review: This book has a limited amount of information. However, it should be used along with other sources to provide the package of information that is required to get into medical school. This book is best read in the freshmen year of college as getting into medical school is really a 4-year process.
(Hamden)
<< 1 >>
| 
