This book is great because it provides the reader with not only the numerical statistics, but also students' perspectives to their colleges. While this is not just the college-brochure type of information, it is also not overly biased because it presents both the positive and negative aspects of colleges. As a junior in high school, this book has helped me with my college research, and as I begin my college explorations, I find I agree with its opinions. I think this book will make your college search easier too!

This book is great. It not only provided me with numerical statistics on colleges, but it also gave students' commentaries on colleges. The only thing it didn't do -- and it's not a fault, but not in the scope of this book -- is explain what the basic philosophy of college education is supposed to be all about in the USA. It's what I didn't know, and I think what most people don't know. For that, I found and read an interesting book called "West Point" by Norman Thomas Remick. It was important because it saved me from making lifetime mistakes down the road when I got into the nitty-gritty of specific colleges. You should read it. Then, dig into "The Best 331 Colleges". It's definitely a five star reference guide.

As a high school Junior, I've gone through my share of college guides (Fiske, Peterson's, College Handbook, etc) and my final conclusion is that Princeton's 331 Best Colleges is the ONLY general guide you need. Each college gets a full 2 pages in this book, which seems to be just enough. The format is the most comprehensive that I've seen, and the information is the most useful (for both parents and students). It tells you everything you need to know, right down to what the kids do for fun (from drinking, hanging out and doing laundry, skiing and hiking, to political protests), the Admissions information (SAT Ranges, ACT, GPA, things the admissions officers look for), quotes directly from the students about the student body and town/city, a general overview of the feeling of the college, a perspective on the Academic pressure and strengths/weaknesses, Financial Aid Info, and a general profile of the student body and of the social/extra-curricular life. It also shows a list of percentages of the diversity of the students, and "Survey Says" section (for example, it will say: Athletic facilities are great, Great library, Musical organizations are hot, Computer lab needs improving, etc). Other things that I've found to be helpful are the "Most Popular Majors" section, and the list of other colleges applicants to a certain college looked at and preferred/didn't prefer.

Generally, this book does not try to "sell" the schools, as all viewbooks directly from the colleges tend to do. The quotes from the students seem honest, from points of view on how challenging the workload is, to how diverse the student body is, to how much school spirit the kids have. Everything in the book is pretty candid, and I feel like the information is trust-worthy.

Overall, I feel much more informed about the colleges I plan to apply to after reading about them in Princeton's Guide. For another perspective, I'd also recommend "The Insider's Guide to the Colleges," which is written by college students. But overall, The Best 331 College is a good buy for anybody entering or in the middle of the college process, parents and students alike.

this is the perfect book! it was the only one i used and found it to be very helpful. i think i did well on my exam and i owe to this book!

I ended up cramming for the GRE Psych test for 2 weeks (instead of the recommended 6 weeks). I only bought Princeton Review's study guide and I pretty much just made sure I knew the info reviewed in it. They divide the info into sections (Memory, Evolutionary, Social, etc.) and gave anywhere from 2-10 pages of information you should know for the test about that particular section. I didn't even look at my intro psych text, or any of my second/third year course textbooks. Well, the study guide must have been worth it, because I got a 700 on the GRE Psych, and other than a few questions on the test, the book prepared you for them.

I took the Psychology GREs after being out of school for 2 years. I planned and planned for it, and bought about 4 review books. Time went by, work stayed busy, and I never found time to study. Finally, 2 days before the test, I took a couple of vacation days from work and just crammed.

I started my review with the Barron's; that book was way too long, given my time frame. I started using the Princeton Review book after about half a day, and it was much better.

Come test day, I would estimate that this book provided me with at least 90% of the information I needed. Therefore, you might miss a couple of the really detailed questions if you only study from this book, but you will be able to get a more than respectable score - I got a 670 after two days of studying, and I think I could have done even better with a third day available to review this book.

By all means, if you have the time, use additional sources to get as much material down as possible, but if your time is limited and you only have time for one book, go with this one!!

Oversimplified once again, and with some serious errors, especially on one question on comparative advantage where they've reversed the numerator and denominator of a fraction. My friends who were unfortunate enough to buy this as their review for AP Econ found themselves completely confused and having wasted so much time on mistakes in the book. The review wasn't particularly comprehensive or in-depth, there were blatant errors (mentioned in other reivews), and the tests again were easy compared to the AP exam...never a good thing for test prep books.

I recently took the May 2001 AP Macro exam and received a 5. This book is great for review and the practice exams included are similair to the exam itself.

Unfortunately there are a few flaws: -Diagrams missing (not a big deal, you should be able to figure it out from reading the theory. Just think of it as a simple test)

-Constant referals to "read the above section" or "read below" which the editor didn't catch. It should be "read the previous section" or "the previous pages"

-A bit too little on the banking system. Read your textbook for a more in-depht discussion.

-Only one practice test for each exam.

-Some confusion in the Keynesian vs. Monetarist debate. Refer to your textbook.

Other than that, I think the book is good for review or even learning if your quick with Econ (I didn't even touch the textbook since I bought this book at the beginning of the school year).

While the Princeton Review books are usually not that great and oversimplified (except for the SAT I book), the AP Econ book is a really good one, perhaps because the exam itself is one of the easiest AP exams. I am home schooled and self-studied AP Econ with my brother's old HS textbook and this and got a 5 on both parts in May 2001.

The book is an easy read: big words, few pages. Yet if you understand every page of the book, you'll do fine on the exam.

But as with all AP exams, I *highly recommend* that you get a hold of the past exams and do them. They truly help. After doing the old tests, I learned that there are a few things that this book failed to cover enough of:

--allocative efficiency --externalities and social benefit, etc. --the GDP cycle diagram thing. The book tells you to memorize it, but the figure they show you is oversimplified.

Also, as mentioned in another review, they've made serious errors in the Keynesian vs. Monetary policy part. Precisely, it's the part where they give the arrows (e.g. when r goes down, i goes up, y goes up, etc. etc.). Some of the arrows are reversed. So be wary of that. There are also a few minor mistakes in the book that are pretty easy to catch but won't harm you.

I bought both the Kaplan Verbal book along with this one to study together. One, to be able to compare the strategies from the 2 companies; second, to get a really good "workout" to improve my score on the verbal section. What I found was that while the strategies between the two are similar, the Kaplan book gave more questions to practice with than the PR book did. However, the PR book definitely gives a more comprehensive grammar lesson than Kaplan does, and it also gives examples of "ETS tendencies" which is very helpful. All in all, if you're looking for a good english lesson review, this is a great book. But if you're looking for a "workout", go with the Official Guide or the Kaplan book.

I skimmed this book for only a few hours. I know that my high score in the verbal section was a result of following the tips that I picked up from the book. I don't know if the book would be helpful for someone looking to improve on the knowledge of English grammar. However, I find the tips to test taking very helpful because I didn't know those things, such as ETS tendencies, until I read the book.

I feel so lucky to have found this book. I didn't need to work on my performance on the quant section of the GMAT, so I was specifically looking for a guide to help me increase my accuracy on the verbal section. This book was exactly what I needed; detailed explanations of how to solve verbal problems and targeted practice. I also appreciated the author's cynical approach to the test itself, which I think helped me to relax about the whole thing, which in turn helped me perform better on the test. I'm going to post anonymously, so I guess I can say that my score went up 70 points, and that's without having done any work on quant. This book is easily worth the price.

This book is written in an easy to understand manner and gives you just the stuff you need to know for the test. It is done in the fashion of a crash course on Introductory chemistry, topic by topic. However, if you know your stuff it isn't much help to you, because there are few practice questions to do. Use it as a review, or something to jog your memory. If you're looking for practice questions simulating the real SAT II, then I suggest you look for another book. Also this book is verbose and tedious at times. Beware of some minor typos.

I am taking the SAT II this Saturday, and, in a mad dash to study, bought this book and have been working through it like crazy. It is an excellent review. If you didn't already know the topic, however, go straight to your teacher, because this book tells you how to associate rather than dive in depth.

Also, the book has a couple of practice tests at the end. One of the only cons this book has is it is almost too easy... I have a funny feeling the real test will be harder. If you have a short attention span get this book: it is rather sarcastic occasionally and simplifies things so that a sixth grader could understand it. "Everything in the universe is happier when it's in a low-energy state" (p. 51)

If you're looking for a little review before the test, this book will help. It is very general and does oversimply things, but it helps. The tests in it are accurate, exept for the third one which is exeptinally hard.

I took the AP calculus BC exam today after reviewing with this book. If I could review all over again I would without a doubt purchase another study guide. This book was riddled with errors. Some were minor (like an a missing decimal point in a problem solution) but others were major and completely unjustifiable (including an incorrect formula for the Taylor series of ln(x+1)). Also, this book does not contain any review of polar topics, which have been free response questions in previous years. After reading this book from cover to cover, I was left with the impression that it wasn't editted before being sent to press; an extremely subpar effort from a company whose test prep materials I had come to rely upon.

I took the AP exam this year, I used three AP books to prepare, of course it includes this book. This is not too good book if we compare this book to Barrons'. The test is kinda easier than the actual test, and it didn't give you explanation on the chapter problems. For those who need to know how to do the problems, this book won't really satisfy you. Get the Barrons' one, that book is much better. But well, like i said, it still a nice book for AP test.!!!

You'll need to go through the sample tests on this book.
They are the same, and I mean the same, as the real test you'll see on your test day.
It helped me alot.

"Cracking the AP Physics" is a perfect book for a quick review before the AP or test during the year; its summaries are for the most part easy to understand, inclusive of major people and events, and concise enough to make for a quick read.

However, this book is NOT an appropriate alternative to sitting down with whatever physics text book you use during the school year and really studying. I would strongly advise against relying on "Crack the AP Physics" for your primary study resource.

I found that the AP exam that the book includes is good for seeing how well you know your stuff before really sitting down and studying, but again, is woefully inadequate to prepare one for the actual exam. I would strongly recommend getting other AP exams, questions and problems from your teacher to compliment this book.

A decent buy as a review book, but by no means guarantees a 5, 4 or even 3 alone.

This AP Physics book has been one of my best sources for studying for the AP Physics test. The AP Physics teacher at my school has never taught this class before, and her lectures are often not very helpful. The review sections in this book are very helpful--they include sample problems and questions that show you how to do the work. This is great for me because the tests in my class are based on the AP test, and using this book almost garantees a 4 or 5 on the AP test this May. If you're having problems with Physics, or just need a little extra help, this book is the way to go. The only problem I had with it is that it's hard to read this book and keep up with the one we use in class. Other than that, it's great.

I rarely give test prep books 5's, and I rarely give Princeton Review books high scores, but this one is different.

The author is very smart and knows what he's doing. I took both parts of the Physics C exam in May 2001 (5 on both) and was at first worried since this book combines both B & C. However, you'll find that there are quite a few sections dedicated solely to C, which is helpful.

The book is filled with many sample questions in each section, both multiple choice and free response and they're pretty close to the real thing in terms of difficulty. There is a ton of useful information in this book, which makes very valuable. The explanations are concise and to the point.

But the real question is: does it guarantee you a 4 or 5? Of course not! No test prep book does that! To get a 5, you really have to do your homework if you're taking the AP class, and be dead cold in the material. Then, you have to do old tests to get the "true feeling." This book is great but should only be used as a supplement and reinforcement.

This book should be entitled "Paying For Your Child's College Without Going Broke". It contains almost no information for one who is trying to pay their own way through college. In fact the information in this book is so insular, I'm led to believe that unless you're a clone copy of the author, you won't find any relevant information in this book whatsoever. This is a throwaway piece of tripe intended to capitalize on peoples' apprehension of college costs. There is nothing here you won't find elsewhere on the net.

Widely quoted on the Web is the assertion from this book that "...almost every family now qualifies for some form of assistance. Many parents don't believe that a family that makes $75,000+ a year, owns its home, and holds substantial assets could receive financial aid. These days, that family--provided it is presented in the right light--almost certainly does."

Financial advice columnist Kenneth Hooker recently wrote the same thing:
"You can take some comfort in the fact that buying a college education has become a good deal like buying a new car -- virtually nobody pays the sticker price. There are a wide variety of financial aid programs available, both through the government and through the schools themselves, and the real costs are likely to be dramatically lower than the figures supplied ...."

As the completely middle-class, full-tuition-paying parent of a child at an Ivy League college, I feel like a total chump when I read this stuff.

Well, maybe I have missed something in all of my researches and walk-throughs with family contribution calculators, but I'm not sure.

Since there has been such a marked reduction, even disappearance of merit scholarships, and almost everything now is needs-based, parents should know that if your child applies to a private school that includes home equity in its EFC (as many now do, maybe most), and
(a) if your debt (mortgage and home loans) is not huge, and/or
(b) if you make a decent salary, and/or
(c) if you have saved and invested over the years and now have a moderate portfolio (however much it's down from 1-2 years ago),

then you almost certainly are NOT going to qualify for any financial aid whatsoever from any number of competitive private schools. Loans, sure. Aid, most likely no.

So far as I can determine, you are expected to take out a home-equity loan (if your house debt is low enough) and pay the full fare. And/or sell some of those "substantial assets."

I am not saying this is wrong, or even unfair for those of us who are comfortably middle-class. But unless I have made some major omissions, similar parents should not be misled by the broad promises and assertions by these college-financing "experts."

My job is helping people find ways to send their kid's to college without bankrupting themselves. This book by far is the best guide to the financial aid process available.

Don't let the anecdotal experiences of the guy you work with disuade you, there is a lot of help out there and this book will give a leg up on finding it.

As I tell my clients, the more you know about the rules of the college funding game, the more money you will save. So get this book and save some money.

Now if they only wrote it with a good index.

This book covers a lot of information, but it is not complete for a complete review. I used it along with First Aid for the USMLE and some other review books. It is a fantastic place to start.

This is a must have, don't think twice, you can't go wrong with this one...., save me a lot of time passing USMLE 1, don't waste your time reading 800+ pages with NMS review collection... this one and First aid are a killer combination!!

Excelent source of updated information, specialy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I liked the well-organized, system-based content of this book, but it's a little wordy and I've found several mistakes. Even though, I would recomend it to any Foreing Medical Graduate prepearing for the STEP 1. ( I scored high with this one and First Aid )

While this book does give some of the basics that you need to know for the SAT II English tests, it does not give enough. It offers almost no new information, and its selection of practice tests can at best be labeled poor. Basically, Princeton chose the tests that it felt reflected the points illustrated in its book, but in doing so did not cover the full spectrum of information needed to ace the SAT II exam. I would not reccomend buying this book, even in conjunction with another. It is just not worth it.

I used the Princeton Review book to help me review for the SAT II: Writing and SAT II: Literature. Overall, I thought that the PR made sure to get all bases covered for the SAT II: Writing, which is basically grammar. The review was not bad at all, and allowed me to point out pretty much all the types of grammatical errors presented in the Writing exam. However, I felt that the author was rather frugal in giving the readers enough exercises, and found myself reviewing the same exercises over and over again to learn a certain aspect of grammar (typically, for one type of mistake you'd only have ONE exercise). I found myself going online, reviewing resources from the PSAT Writing section, etc. etc. Basically, you cannot use the book by itself--you probably need some supplements, some of which just take some time to find online or elsewhere (collegeboard.com, and I'm sure there are a lot of resources on the internet for grammar rules). Nonetheless, I made the very best I could of the book and was able to manage an 800. And yes, the PR is KNOWN for being extremely gimmicky in their techniques--take it with a grain of salt, because the author practically imbues the book with these so called ingenious techniques.

As for the Literature section, don't even look at it in this book. The whole review basically consists of looking at a few passages and answering very basic questions on theme, voice, tone, literary devices, etc. To be quite honest, the Literature test is extremely demanding and I'm sure that doing the PR's exercise failed to help me one bit. In order to be thoroughly prepared, one should be a strong English student overall...

I am sorry, but I have serious objections to the Princeton Review manner of creating study guides. While some attention is given to actually reviewing the material that is on the test, much information is dismissed as unlikey to appear on the test and therefore unnecessary to remember. Princeton Review bets on statistics of what material is most often tested when deciding what it will teach you.

Likewise, and more importantly, the Princeton Review encourages students of its book to rely on chance and statistics in regards to guessing multiple choice answers. Princeton Review teaches the students the techniques that are most likely to help them and, on the side, teaches the material that is most likely to be essential. Well, that which is most likely is not the case 100% of the time. While some suggest that tests are so unlikely to have three questions in a row with the same answer that a student should be overly skeptical if he or she finds his or her self marking three questions in a row with "B", the fact is that I have taken many tests and many times have I had the same answer for four or even five questions in a row. I got these questions right because I did not doubt my answers based on some test-taking techniques I picked up in the Princeton review but because I had learned enough of the material to be confident.

The English AP book is slightly better than other Princeton Review study guides in the amount of actual material it presents to you, largely because of its helpfully organized vocabulary section. Still, the book is not enough to prepare fully for these tests. Since the book does include information and practice test for bothe the Language and Literature tests, it is a reasonable value for the money and deserves a slightly higher rating than a book with comparable quality but only one test covered might.