Favorite resources for sifting through colleges

[chlobo]

My daughter who is a rising senior and seemed to be making progress on her college choices, has suddenly said she feels overwhelmed.

Does anyone have a favorite resource for sifting through colleges? One that deals with things beyond grades, such as what college life on a particular campus is actually like? Or have advice?

[NCGrandma]

I’ll be watching this thread with interest — not trying to hijack OP! DGD1 is a rising junior (not sure how that happened!!), and they are starting to try to identify options that will allow her to pursue her strong interest in art without closing out an academic emphasis. At this point, she is not focused on art schools. Any "sifting" help that might help us identify schools that are strong in both art and traditional liberal arts fields will be much appreciated.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

I honestly went old school and read guides, like the Fiske one and US News. I sat down at B&N and noted any that looked like possible options then had ds1 look at those. I enjoy doing stuff like that so was happy to do some research. Niche was good and there were some others as well.
Did she tour any? Setting foot on campus is really useful.
Also, don't stress! If you can afford the application fees and to cast a big net, let her. See where she gets in and then read more and do the accepted student visits (which were way more useful than the general tours). Once the acceptances come in, you can join the Facebook groups for parents and she can join for students and really get a lot of good questions answered. I'm sure there are groups for prospective students too but we didn't seek them out.

[ezcc]

DS used the Fiske guide as well, that is what his counselor recommended and it was good to flip through together after dinner or whenever- we just had it sitting out. It has some nice lists that are helpful. Niche was good for reading reviews. I do think tours are helpful, sadly we didn't get to do any (covid) but once he was able to set foot on a couple of campuses this spring it confirmed his choice from his accepted schools.

[Percycat]

I honestly went old school and read guides, like the Fiske one and US News. I sat down at B&N and noted any that looked like possible options then had ds1 look at those.

I wish I had done this.... based on all of the praise this book receives, I went ahead and ordered it.... I just received it from Amazon and learned that only 4 schools from my state made the list and none of the schools that we already planned to visit were included. I'm not sure how helpful the book will be for my daughter.

[Percycat]

I honestly went old school and read guides, like the Fiske one and US News. I sat down at B&N and noted any that looked like possible options then had ds1 look at those.

I wish I had done this.... based on all of the praise this book receives, I went ahead and ordered it.... I just received it from Amazon and learned that only 4 schools from my state made the list and none of the schools that we already planned to visit were included. I'm not sure how helpful the book will be for my daughter.

[squimp]

It's tough for sure. We used Niche for getting a feel for different colleges. I also downloaded the entire college data dictionary from the Us Dept of Ed because yes I am a spreadsheet geek.

Has she done any virtual or in person tours yet? I just signed up for one, we are at the local flagship state university where she has lived her whole life, hoping it will help her get a baseline.

[squimp]

removing double post

[chlobo]

I wish I had done this.... based on all of the praise this book receives, I went ahead and ordered it.... I just received it from Amazon and learned that only 4 schools from my state made the list and none of the schools that we already planned to visit were included. I'm not sure how helpful the book will be for my daughter.

I requested Fiske from our library. I'll start there. We are doing some in person tours next weeks. We will see how that goes.

[Kindra178]

My daughter who is a rising senior and seemed to be making progress on her college choices, has suddenly said she feels overwhelmed.

Does anyone have a favorite resource for sifting through colleges? One that deals with things beyond grades, such as what college life on a particular campus is actually like? Or have advice?

I loved the Fiske guide to colleges when I was in high school. I just purchased it again. I still love it!