The Smart Way to Use College Reference Guides

Avoid the Easy Trap

You face many questions as you decide which college to choose: Public or private? Big school or small? Down the street or halfway around the world? Which colleges offer the best programs in my area of interest? Where will I find the most challenging academics? Which colleges offer the social, athletic, and cultural experiences that interest me?

Determining which college is the overall best fit for you is complicated by the fact that your range of options may seem overwhelming. In the United States alone, there are more than 4,000 colleges and universities competing for the best and brightest students. It's no wonder choosing a college can be a daunting task! And it's no wonder prospective students and their families crave tools that will make the process simpler.

Enter the college guides

These magazines, books, and websites fill the demand for synthesized information about colleges and universities by publishing a summary of each school's characteristics and, in some cases, by ranking and comparing them based on varying criteria. While many of these courses can be useful as you begin the college search process, you do not want to fall into the easy trap of placing too much faith in the guides as arbiters of what your "best" college choices are.

After all, selecting a college is an inherently individual process. Therefore, the greatest strength of the college guides—is also their greatest weakness. They are, by their very nature, incapable of adequately addressing all of the questions and concerns you should be raising as you undertake the complex and personal process of selecting a school.

That's why it's good to know the smart way to use college reference guides.

The most important thing for you to realize about the college reference sources is that there is no single set of criteria for evaluating the marvelous diversity of colleges and universities. A school can be distinguished from its peers by its name recognition, its financial strength, the quality for its incoming students, the dedication of its faculty, the success of its graduates, its physical facilities, the surrounding community, and so on. But since it's impossible to reduce colleges' multifaceted people, programs, activities, and goals into on magic formula for determining which college is "best," perhaps the most practical route you can take when utilizing college guides is by following these steps.

Step 1: Consult a variety of sources.

The college reference guides are based upon information gathered and presented in different ways. Some guides attempt to quantify and rate colleges; others simply present data. Some mix subjective and anecdotal data into their reviews of colleges; others do not. Rather than hoping for a one-stop source where you can find all you'll need when deciding where to apply, you'll develop a fuller picture of your options if you explore several guides.

Step 2: Consider the reliability of the information presented.

Take a few minutes to understand the methodology used by a guide in evaluating colleges. An introductory section to the guide should explain how the included colleges were selected and what variables were considered. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you judge a guide's reliability:

  • Don't take numerical rankings too literally. Sources that try to place colleges in a precise rank order are trying to quantify the quantifiable. That's why you'll see, for example, Willamette University ranked 96th by Washington Monthly but 63rd in U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" — because these publications each consider different factors in their ranking formulas. Only you can decide how to weight certain criteria in determining whether a college has the characteristics you desire.
  • Note when the data is anecdotal. Sometimes guides rely upon subjective opinions that are not gathered in a scientific manner, so you should assess the value of anecdotal data accordingly. For example, you will find quotes like these from students in The Princeton Review's The Best 366 Colleges:
    Willamette University is an "academically rigorous," intimate, and "seriously gorgeous" liberal arts school in Oregon. "Outstanding" academic programs include the sciences, a "great focus" on the arts, a popular Japanese Studies Program, and "a highly acclaimed political science program." Across the board, undergrads report "a lot of school work," which includes a first-year seminar and a senior project.
  • Realize that even objective data can be distorted. Statistics like enrollments, freshman academic profiles, retention and graduation rates, and financial aid ratios and amounts are often reported to the guide writers by the colleges themselves, and colleges may define or calculate this data differently. You'll find fact-based information such as this in the Fiske Guide to Colleges:
    Willamette University, founded in 1842, was the first university in the Pacific Northwest... The 61-acre campus lies across the street from the Oregon state capitol building and the state Supreme Court... Classes small; 96 percent of those taken by freshmen have 29 or fewer on the roster... Willamette offers talent tan academic merit scholarships each year, ranging from $2,500 to full tuition... Seventy-one percent of students live in campus housing... Thirty-two percent of men and women go Greek.

Step 3: Pay attention to the overlap.

As you consult a number of college guides, look for the areas of convergence, where guide after guide suggests the same attributes of a particular college. Conversely, on points where the guides seem contradictory, take it as a signal that you should probe more deeply into those areas on your own. Consider also what your high school counselor, teachers, parents, and friends have to say about each campus, and try to speak with faculty and students at the schools on your short list.

With so many colleges from which to choose, the odds are high that many outstanding schools can be a good fit for you individual preferences, needs, and objectives. College guides can be helpful in the matching process, but ultimately the only ranking that really matters is yours, so you should base it on a personally tailored and comprehensive search.

Partial Listing of College Guides