This forum provides an opportunity to exchange a lot of information. One aspect I've noticed, is that there are many students and parents sharing ideas and challenges. I found two sites with helpful information (free)--I am not endorsing their paid services, although my year's subscription to the UN%WR college site was most useful.

There are a plethora of sites with college information--the number is overwhelming and brings on information overload quickly. I have used two sites that have been very helpful eliminating much of the market place confusion, IMHO:

http://www.princetonreview.com/home.asp

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

Of course, please work with your parents, school counselors, first. And take advantage of the colleges' home pages. Good luck!

Here's an article that may be of interest and useful for parents and students thinking about college:


"Playing Your Cards Right"

'The stakes in the financial aid game are higher than ever, but savvy students can still haul in a jackpot'

See: http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/paying-for-college/2007/09/07/playing-your-cards-right.html?s_cid=et-0910

Meh...do some more research into the 'research' and you will find that the USN&WR rankings are highly gamed. Many schools opt not to participate in the surveys and data collection process, the peer rankings are dubious, and college administrators have learned how to answer the questions in order to improve their standing. While the information may not be wrong or misleading, there are a lot of ways to tell a story.

What is my basis for stating this? My father and two uncles are senior college administrators and have worked at a number of schools including Penn, Allegheny, Boston University, Marshall and Lehigh over the past 20+ years. They have firsthand experience responding to these surveys and have felt the pressure from trustees and others to make things look good.

Is there some valuable information in the referenced books? Absolutely, but selecting a college involves a bit of leg work visiting campuses, talking to current and former students, and engaging faculty. While not a guidebook per se, "Harvard Schmarvard" by Jay Mathews (Washington Post education writer) is a MUST READ for parents and students. The Fiske Guide is an outstanding college guide, much better than Princeton Review.

I know that a lot of students (and their parents) have their heart set on VT, but is that really the best school for them? Even in Virginia there is a lot of variety between schools and CNU and Radford, for example, offer programs not available anywhere else in the Commonwealth. I hear a lot of parents complain about the cost difference between in-state and out-of-state schools and encourage them not to use this as the ultimate litmus test. While Boston College or Duke are going to cost you $45-50K and aid is limited, awesome schools like Lynchburg and Dickinson have a lot more merit aid and can bring the cost to within a few dollars of UVA.

I encourage college-bound juniors and their parents to attend the college fair this fall at Fair Oaks Mall and talk to school representatives from outside Virginia. This is a great opportunity to make a list of schools worth a visit next summer.

Excellent points, Lester, and thank you for your interest. I was a bit concerned that the subject line was not of interest to most people in the FU (low numbers viewing). I do have another source of very good information and I have received the newsletters for several years:

College Planning News 9-15-2007
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This issue features the following valuable topics:

- "Picking The Right College The First Time!"

Click here to read these articles:
http://www.tuitionrx.com/n/v/pr6onkkc5oec6/fwsunvrud6aca

I've never used the commercial aspects behind this newsletter, since I felt that I could "figure it out." The updates are very useful and free. Highly recommend.

I hope that Cary modifies his program to search by ZIP codes. I am most curious now where all the potheads are apprehended.

I'm a little depressed that College Information has only been viewed by 240 people. Hope springs eternal and if it, the information, was helpful, then I'm a little happy. It's hard to interpret the 16,303 hits for "Head shops." That many kids looking for a head shop?

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com and http:www://www.admissionsadvice.com (click on discussion) are wonderful sites to help a family through the admissions process.

College Planning News 10-15-2007
-----------------------------------------------------------
This issue features the following valuable topics:

- "Borrowing For College Just Got More Expensive"

- "College Bits And Pieces"

http://www.tuitionrx.com/n/v/pr6onkkc5oec6/c7n63ri83epg
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