Barron's Compact Guide to Colleges (Barron's Compact Guide to Colleges)

Rating:
Summary: Great resource for students looking for college options!
Review: I own the 11th edition of this book, and found it to be an extremely valuable tool while I was searching for potential colleges a few years ago. It lists over 400 four-year colleges and universities throughought the United States (in alphabetical order), and gives helpful information and statistics on each. The profile for each school includes its location, contact information, numbers of full- and part-time students, number of graduates, calendar structure (quarters, semesters, etc.), application deadlines, admissions procedures, the number of applicants versus the number of students accepted, percent of students that earn degrees, student/faculty ratios, tuition fees, room & board expenses, a brief history of the school, its objectives, degrees offered, special programs offered, SAT and/or ACT test score requirements and average student scores, computer and library facilities, and financial aid information. It is, of course, important to double-check the provided information with the particular schools you are interested in, as many of these things change from year to year.

Each school is also ranked as most competitive, highly competitive, very competitive, competitive, less competitive, or noncompetitive, to give you an idea of how hard it may be to get in. All the schools are also indexed by state at the back, making it easy to look for colleges in particular areas. This book is only intended to help you discover colleges that may fit your goals and needs, and to provide a handy reference to school statistics, and is certainly not the only source you should reference. Once you have a list of schools that interest you, the next step will be to contact those institutions for further, more detailed information. I also strongly recommend visiting the campuses of any schools that interest you. This book is, however, a great place to start looking. It is likely that you will come across options you hadn't been aware of before. The book is also relatively small (standard dimensions of most paperback fiction books, for example) and lightweight, making it easy to transport if need be. Overall I couldn't recommend it more highly, and I wish you good luck on your search for the perfect school!