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General College Information
Some preliminary college info, gathered from various sources by Michele Blaisdell, April 2006 Note: Please check back for updated and revised information a little later this fall (2008). In the meantime, feel free to use this as a starting place for your post-high school explorations
(1) The following, partially-annotated book list is in no particular order, but I’ve asterisked the titles I’ve heard positive comments about from several sources:
*Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different, Donald Asher. Recommended by Wes Beach.
College Match: A Blueprint for Choosing the Best School for You, Steven Antonoff. This short, well-organized book helps to guide a student to making good choices about college.
The College Finder: Choosing the School That’s Right for You, Steven Antonoff. This book is packed with listings of four-year colleges by a variety of categories such as majors, sports available, social life, and religious affiliation.
Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That is Best for You, Jay Mathews.
The College Board College Handbook 2006. This comprehensive book gives a synopsis of each and every four- and two-year college in the United States.
College Planning for Dummies, Pat Ordovensky.
Peterson’s Four-Year Colleges 2006, Thomas Peterson.
The Best 361 Colleges, Princeton Review. Colleges were selected for inclusion in this book based on student surveys. It is packed with useful statistics and information.
*Fiske Guide to Colleges 2006, Edward Fiske. This readable guide has fewer statistics and was compiled based on student surveys and interviews with administrators.
The Insider’s Guide to Colleges 2006, The Yale Daily News. Written and researched by college students, this book provides a relatively unbiased view of college life at four-year colleges.
*Looking Beyond the Ivy League: Finding the College That’s Right for You, Loren Pope.
*Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools You Should Know About Even If You’re Not a Straight-A Student, Loren Pope.
The College Board Guide to 150 Popular College Majors, Renee Gernand. What courses do you take as a communications major? How do you prepare for majoring in computer science? What kinds of jobs do a marketing major lead to? This book answers those and just about any other question you have concerning 150 of the most popular bachelor's degree majors at four-year colleges. Leading professors from colleges across the country tell you what it's like to study the subjects they know best and teach with distinction.
(2) Check out the Western Association for College Admission Counseling website: www.wacac.org. They’re sponsoring numerous National College Fairs, including one in San Francisco on next Thursday, April 27th, 3-7PM; one at Sonoma State University on Tuesday, May 2nd, 9-11:30AM and 6-8PM; and one in Marin at Dominican College on Wednesday, May 3rd, 6-8PM. Especially helpful links: FAQs, Prep for a College Fair, and Faring Well at a Fair.
(3) Also, look at the Colleges That Change Lives website (connected to Loren Pope’s work; see books listed above): www.ctcl.com. There is a related college fair coming to South San Francisco on Monday, August 7th, 7-9PM.
(4) Finally, the College Board website has plenty of info: www.collegeboard.com.
