Books on College Admission (Read Them to Prepare)

[tokenadult]

Here is a list of books about the college admission process in the United States, including comments from me or from other readers who have emailed me about these books.

Chuck Hughes, What It Really Takes to Get Into Ivy League and Other Highly Selective Colleges (McGraw-Hill, 2003) (ISBN 0-07-141259-X). This book is written by a former Harvard admissions officer, who was an undergraduate student at Harvard admitted to play on Harvard's hockey team. Hughes includes detailed lists of the top high school academic competitions in his book, and generally gives a realistic perspective on Ivy League admission for a wide variety of applicants. Hughes's book is particularly useful for getting applicants to consider what they would do if their dream major or intended sport in college somehow doesn't work out. A parent comments that this book really lives up to its name.

Elizabeth Wissner-Gross, What Colleges Don't Tell You: (And Other Parents Don't Want You to Know) (New York: Hudson Street Press, 2006) (ISBN 1-59463-031-3). Detailed guide by a parent for parents about the admission process at highly selective colleges and how to make the high school years count to have the best chance of admission.

Richard Montauk and Krista Klein, How to Get Into the Top Colleges (Prentice Hall, rev. ed. 2006) (ISBN 0-73520409-8). This book was recommended to me by other readers. The book is based of interviews with college admissions officers and quotes many of their responses. The first person to recommend this book to me particularly liked that aspect of each college being able to speak for itself, with differences among colleges showing in the differing responses. Two readers recommended this book to me because of its section on homeschooled applicants.

Stephen Kramer and Michael London, eds., The New Rules of College Admissions: Ten Former Admissions Officers Reveal What it Takes to Get Into College Today (Fireside, 2006) (ISBN 0-74328067-9). A new book including ten chapters on different aspects of the college selection, admission, and financial aid process by ten former officers of highly regarded colleges.

Andrew Allen, College Admissions Trade Secrets: A Top Private College Counselor Reveals the Secrets, Lies, and Tricks of the College Admissions Process (New York: Writers Club Press, Second Edition 2001)(ISBN 0-595-19897-X). This book claims, as the hard-hitting subtitle shows, to have "inside information," and indeed the author doesn't write to please the egos of anyone else in the college admission process. Some of Allen's specific recommendations are idiosyncratic, including his opinions about which colleges are most worth applying to, but all are worth thinking about. I rank this book as highly as I do because the author stresses the important point of becoming a well-educated person, wherever you go to school.

Michele Hernandez, Acing the College Application: How to Maximize Your Chances for Admission to the College of Your Choice (New York: Ballantine Books, 2002) (ISBN 0-345-45409-X [pbk.]). Hernandez's book is a very useful book, especially for students applying to the most selective universities. This book is highly valued by parents for its specific nuts-and-bolts advice. Hernandez is somewhat controversial among college admissions officers as one of the first authors of the "kiss and tell" genre of college admission guides (she used to be an admissions officer at Dartmouth), but except for a small number of idiosyncratic specific recommendations about filling out applications and debatable statements about the generality of admissions officers, most of her book tells it like it is and encourages applicants to prepare well in their high school years.

Joyce Slaton Mitchell, Winning the Heart of the College Admissions Dean: An Expert's Advice for Getting into College (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, rev. ed. 2005) (ISBN 1-58008-670-5). This book was recommended to me by other readers. One admissions officer commented that the title is all wrong: you DON'T want to try to win the heart of the director of admissions. But the advice inside is mostly good, and covers most aspects of the college selection and application process.

Cafi Cohen, Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook: Preparing Your 12- to 18-Year-Old for a Smooth Transition (Prima, 2000) (ISBN 0-76152754-0). This is the best book to get for homeschoolers preparing to go to college. Cafi Cohen's book And What about College? is also good, and about equally up to date.

Jay Matthews, Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That is Best for You (Three Rivers Press, 2003) (ISBN 0-76153695-7). Jay Matthews is a journalist who writes an education column for the Washington Post. He transferred from Occidental to Harvard to finish his undergraduate degree, so he is a rare Harvard graduate who can make a head-to-head comparison between Harvard and another college. Matthews's book contains interesting information about the highly competitive admission situation facing young people who go to the best high schools--their problem is looking better than their classmates. This book is well-liked by parents advising their children on the pressure-cooker aspects of college admission.

Edward B. Fiske with Bruce G. Hammond, The Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College (New York: Times Books, 2nd revised edition, 2004) (ISBN 1-40220230-X). This book has a lot of information about selecting colleges but less about making a strong application than some of the other books. Fiske, a former journalist for the New York Times, is well-liked by admissions officers, in large part (I think) because he doesn't recommend that everyone apply to the same small list of top schools.

Jacques Steinberg, The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College (New York: Viking, 2002) (ISBN 0-670-03135-6). This book scares parents of bright children who are not "underrepresented" in terms of college admission diversity policies--the conclusion they reach after reading the book is that it is more important to have an admissions "hook" than to be an academically able applicant. The "premier college" profiled in the book is Wesleyan, a strong liberal arts college for preprofessional aspirants but with a weak math program, and thus not a college of interest to the young people I know best locally, who would prefer Carleton among colleges in that category. One admissions officer comments that the book is well-written and fair, but that it may overstate the influence of private school counselors. I think the books that focus more specifically on the top national universities are more useful for applying to that echelon of school than this book. A Wesleyan alumna commented to me that this book is a depressing read about her alma mater.

Richard Moll, Playing the Selective College Admissions Game (New York: Penguin, 2nd rev. ed. 1994). Richard Moll writes more from the point of view of someone who still is an admissions officer and sometimes is less skeptical about the process than some of the authors no longer in that occupation. He is well respected by other admissions officers, including some who have never read his book. One admissions officer told me that this book is out of date insofar as it doesn't reflect the impact of early admission processes in universities today.

I appreciate comments from other participants here about what materials you find most helpful for preparing a college application and getting ready (academically) for college.

[nuclear_alchemist]

Is there any good ebook/unpaid resource to know about admissions to MIT/UC Bekley etc. for an International student? Please PM if possible.
Thanks!

[rt_08]

do pm me as well
thanks in advance