During the spring and summer of 2003, Scott Glabe '06 and Janos Marton '04 created a College Prowler guidebook to Dartmouth College, with Glabe as author and Marton as editor of the content.
The book was initially published in 2005, but aside from demographic statistics the content has not been updated since Glabe and Marton's first evaluation, leaving questions about the relevancy and timely nature of some content.
Glabe, a freshman and College tour guide at the time, provided brief descriptions of everyday life, assembled quotes from other students and ultimately assigned letter grades to every aspect of Dartmouth culture. Academics, for example, received an A; nightlife, on the other hand, barely passed with a D. Marton, a rising senior and student body president, edited Glabe's descriptions and evaluations based on his own knowledge and insight into College life.
College Prowler provides guides, written by current students for prospective students, to 200 colleges and universities in the United States, covering an exhaustive list of topics ranging from student diversity, to the dating scene, to safety and security.
Glabe recalls having a strong interest in the college admissions process both as a high school student and while at Dartmouth. He learned about College Prowler while browsing the recently-formed company's Web site, and called to inquire about possibly writing for them. Since College Prowler needed someone to update the Dartmouth guide, they accepted Glabe as writer.
Marton, having already served his first of two consecutive years as student body president, applied and was chosen to edit Glabe's reporting.
Now, due to the popularity of College Prowler, students with an interest in writing about their school can apply online at the College Prowler Web site. "[I was accepted to write for them] back when there were only 20 or so books and they were just starting up as a company," Glabe recalls. "Now they've regularized the process."
Marton recalls that he and Glabe occasionally disagreed about how to describe several of the more controversial aspects of Dartmouth life. With regard to the drug scene, Marton said, Glabe's collection of student quotes unrealistically described ecstasy as a common and popular drug at the College.
The publishers of the Dartmouth College Prowler did not accept his edits on the subject of drugs, Marton said.
Of the seven quotes about drug use on page 97 of the published text, three mention ecstasy as a staple substance of Dartmouth's drug scene.
Marton and Glabe disagreed on what grades to assign aspects of College life as well. Marton reports that Glabe assigned poor grades to many different categories, but ultimately described Dartmouth students as among the happiest in the nation.
"I was sort of trying to consistently bump up the grades," Marton said. "I just didn't want to send a mixed message to the reader."
Dartmouth women benefited from Marton's grade inflation. In the final text, Dartmouth women receive a B- for attractiveness, but according to Marton, their initial grade was less forgiving. Conversely, Glabe and Marton assigned Dartmouth men a much higher grade of A-.
Glabe also recalled some haggling over the grades due to their ultimately subjective nature. He tried to grade Dartmouth in comparison to other schools, but admitted that Dartmouth is the only school he knew well.
In spite of disagreements over exact grade distribution, Glabe feels that College Prowler books better serve prospective students than other college guide books, such as the Princeton Review's Guide to the Best Colleges. Glabe explained that College Prowler provides a more honest depiction of the College than any guidebook not written by students.
"The exact grades were impossible to pin down," Glabe said. "But the main purpose of the book is to help prospective students figure out if a school is a good match for them or not."
