America's Best Colleges 2008 edition has arrived on the library shelves. For the uninitiated, US News gathers information about colleges from multiple sources. This information is then entered into their formula which reduces each college to a ranking number. The higher the number, the better the college. Each year high school seniors and their parents anxiously wait for this book. It is regarded in some circles as the definitive resource for college selection. In other circles, not so much.

On it's website, US News provides an explanation of the ranking process, breaking it down into three steps. The first step defines the different ranking categories. These ranking categories are based on Carnegie Classifications which have been updated this year, resulting in some schools changing from one classification to another. The second step involves accumulating information on 15 areas of academic quality from each school. Lastly, this information is converted to a weighted score, and the schools are ranked.

This year, a number of colleges have come out in opposition of this process. An Associated Press story published in USA Today sums the whole situation up very well. "It irks educators everywhere to see colleges ranked like basketball teams. But it irks educators at the top-ranked colleges a lot less." There is a campaign being conducted against this ranking process by Lloyd Thacker, a former college admissions counselor. He has enlisted over sixty colleges in this effort. Although most colleges may agree with his views, and would like to see an alternative to the rankings system, that will not happen any time soon.

The most important message in all of this? Find out more about a college than just its rank. Choosing a school because it has a high rank may not guarantee a good "fit" for you. The library has any number of college selection guides, The College Handbook published by CollegeBoard, Barron's Profiles of American colleges and Fiske guide to colleges to name a few. Read these from cover to cover and find out all you can about the colleges that you are interested in. Then turn to two new books that the library has purchased, College unranked : ending the college admissions frenzy and Harvard schmarvard : getting beyond the ivy league to the college that is best for you and use them to help you discover what you really should be looking for in a school for you.

NPL realizes that students thinking about applying to college, and their parents, need as much help as they can possibly get. Help will arrive on Wednesday, October 10, at 6:30 in the NPL Theater. A College Planning Workshop will be presented that night by the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation. This workshop will help you to understand what colleges are looking for from you, what you should be looking for on a college tour, how to write that all important application essay, and where to turn for help in paying for it all.