USA Today has published a new interactive tool maping out Princeton Review’s 100 best value colleges, which include these schools:
PRIVATE
1. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, Pa.)
2. Harvard College (Cambridge, Mass.)
3. Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
4. Rice University (Houston, Texas)
5. Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
6. Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.)
7. Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.)
8. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena)
9. Pomona [...]

Depends. That is the only correct answer because it depends on where you are applying and how good your score is for that particular school. Allen over at About.com has done a great service by compiling the mid-50th for many popular colleges, reproduced here. Cannot find your college? Try the CollgeData website. They even offer [...]

USNEWS top National University Rankings.

Score
Costs
2008 Total enrollment
Fall 2008 Acceptance rate
Compare

RANK1
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

100
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $37,012
19,230
7.9 %

RANK1
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ

100
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $35,340
7,497
9.9 %

RANK3
Yale University
New Haven, CT

98
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $36,500
11,446
8.6 %

RANK4
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA

93
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $34,584
2,126
17.4 %

RANK4
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA

93
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $37,782
10,299
11.9 %

RANK4
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

93
2009-2010 Tuition and [...]

Just had to post the video from the Daily show that explores The Harvard Pledge:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

USNEWS has released this years rankings. Here are the top Liberal Art Colleges:

Score
Costs
2008 Total enrollment
Fall 2008 Acceptance rate
Compare

RANK1
Williams College 
Williamstown, MA

100
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $39,490
2,045
17.0 %

RANK2
Amherst College 
Amherst, MA

96
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $38,928
1,697
14.8 %

RANK3
Swarthmore College 
Swarthmore, PA

94
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $37,860
1,490
15.7 %

RANK4
Middlebury College 
Middlebury, VT

92
2009-2010 Comprehensive Fee: $50,780
2,455
16.8 %

RANK4
Wellesley College 
Wellesley, MA

92
2009-2010 Tuition and Fees: $38,062
2,344
36.0 %

RANK6
Bowdoin College 
Brunswick, ME

90
2009-2010 Tuition [...]

More students are looking to the web to get their college education; a new website now allows you to compare programs:
College Choices for Adults helps you, the adult learner, make informed choices about online, competency-based, and other distance education programs. Like most adults, you seek programs that fit into your busy life. You need to [...]

Ranking season continues with Forbes releasing their second set of rankings:

Rank
Name
State
Cost
Freshman Class Size

1
United States Military Academy
NY
0
1,263

2
Princeton University
NJ
49,830
1,243

3
California Institute of Technology
CA
48,990
236

4
Williams College
MA
49,530
540

5
Harvard University
MA
50,250
1,666

6
Wellesley College
MA
50,026
596

7
United States Air Force Academy
CO
0
1,286

8
Amherst College
MA
50,230
439

9
Yale University
CT
51,400
1,318

10
Stanford University
CA
51,760
1,703

11
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MA
50,100
1,048

12
Swarthmore College
PA
50,381
372

13
Columbia University
NY
51,406
1,356

14
Centre College
KY
39,200
336

15
Haverford College
PA
51,637
327

16
Boston College
MA
52,060
2,167

17
Northwestern University
IL
52,120
2,078

18
Bowdoin College
ME
50,570
488

19
Vassar College
NY
51,370
638

20
Whitman College
WA
46,212
401

21
University of Chicago
IL
53,310
1,306

22
Kenyon College
OH
49,260
456

23
Carleton College
MN
50,000
489

24
Colby College
ME
50,120
482

25
Middlebury College
VT
52,460
576

1 - 2526 - 5051 - 7576 - [...]

I am doing some research for parents use of technology in college admissions. Could you take 10 minutes to fill in a survey?
Click Here to take survey

Kaplan/Newsweek offer up some advice on tackling your essay. Below are their key points and my commentary.

Start early.
You have plenty of time to think during the spring, when you are traveling to 25 different campuses, or the summer, while you are performing some brain-dead job. The weight of the essay grows exponentially the longer you [...]

Kaplan/newsweek have released their annual addition. One article particularly worth paying attention to is advice from Smitty:
What advice do you have for an average student who wants to go away but has no idea what to study?
Don’t go to college next year. Instead, take a “gap year” to work, do community service or dabble in [...]