Forget the hackneyed guides to colleges that rate academics and campus food on a scale of one to five, and go straight to the source: current students. This is the premise behind a two-year-old series of college guidebooks, College Prowler, that uses quotes from actual students on a variety of categories to give high school seniors a realistic and useful evaluation tool without visiting scores of campuses.
The series currently encompasses 100 schools, and will add another 100 schools by next fall. Each $5.95 guidebook devotes an entire volume to ferreting out the real deal about attending a college from the people who know. The series prides itself on delving beyond typical guidebook categories of dining and professors, providing candid realities about girls, guys and the drug scene on any given campus.
The Prowler series is different from other college guidebooks in that it is "a one-school, one-guide approach," said Luke Skurman, co-founder and CEO of the company behind the collection. The series encompasses a "by students, for students," approach as well, said Skurman, with 80 percent of the book filled with quotes from students.
The series was created when Skurman was applying to colleges. Not having funds to visit every school on his list and speak with students about their experiences, Skurman wanted to create a series that would make these key ingredients in any college search affordable and accessible. Hence, a comprehensive college guide based on student input.
College Prowler obtains its information primarily through student editors on each campus who administer surveys to students and assimilate their responses for the series. The editor then assigns a letter grade to each of the 20 categories summarizing the school's performance in that category. The company hires a student liaison based on "which student is going to be the best at painting the school as accurately as possible," Skurman said.
Student liaisons receive royalties from the sale of the book. Skurman summarized the appeal of being a student liaison: "Students get to be published, get a royalty and get to do a project based on their school. Most students are really fired-up about that."
The cover of each guidebook carries a disclaimer, highlighting the fact that College Prowler is not affiliated with the college or university described within. Skurman said this disclaimer exists because "we didn't want the prospective reader to think this was campus-related marketing material or something the college was paying to paint an attractive picture of the school. It was important for us to make clear we're doing this as independent research," Skurman said.
The company's website, www.collegeprowler.com, highlights the top five schools in each category. Dartmouth receives top marks for Greek life, academics, dining on campus and safety and security, but is not mentioned for the categories of computers, guys or girls.
