As an independent college counselor, I would suggest Unigo. They have a website with lots of helpful information and I think it is a great place to start.
PP, what kind of information did you find helpful on collegeconfidential? We've gone through the application process with 3 kids and I've occasionally gone on CC. My experience was that the discussion was redundant and not particularly insightful. For example, reviewing the visit reports on schools that I know pretty well -- e.g., my own alma mater and the schools that my 2 oldest children now attend -- it seemed that you could get the same info that's on CC much more quickly by reading the profile in the Fiske guide.
I like collegeconfidential.com. It has great message boards for specific questions about any school.
Anonymous
05/20/2012 22:10
Subject: College search websites?
What's the best website for initial college searching? I was mildly addicted to collegeboard.com when DD1 went through the college search/application process. Four years later, looking for DD2 and I don't like the website much at all and find it much harder to quickly access info about each college. Is there a website you like better than collegeboard?