What Colleges Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You to Know): 272 Secrets for Getting Your Kid into the Top Schools

I don't like the way that some of the book is written, and I feel you shouldn't lie or manipulate people into giving your child grades not earned or recommendations they don't deserve. It seems the author would stop at nothing to get her own kids into the ivy league schools they are in. I have a problem with that. Her other book, What High Schools Don't Tell You, she listed summer programs that you could get from other books. She didn't include some of the best programs out there for kids in different disciplines, like theater for example. She took things she researched on the internet that looked good but were not necessarily so. The most important ones she simply left out. Not good.I'd like to know when kids today have time for extracurriculars outside of school? The schools make it impossible to do anything but schoolwork 14 hours a day - 8 in school and 5-6 hours of homework starting in 8th grade! And if you do stay after school to partake in theater or sports, you are guaranteed to be up till at least 1am. Homework on weekends (and the occasional holiday) is nuts. We had the dean of admissions from an ivy league university speak to the parents at our school, and he said it's all about authenticity (which clearly this book doesn't promote). He said "whatever happened to teens having jobs after school?" That's when the questions started ....What if you wanted your child to have a job after school? When would they be able to do homework? Even later at night than they do? Most parents said to him that we live in a world where the kids are "manufactured" - all neatly packaged like robots - with x amount of AP courses, community service (which at his school, they don't count unless you really enjoy doing it and have been doing it for years NOT service you start in jr or sr year because you are mandated to do it - they can see right through that - e.g. kids going to central america to build houses and latrines....at this point the people there are living quite okay (his words).As for AP courses, at his school, they don't count how many you take...It's what your grades are and if you are taking courses that challenge you: Is it better to have an A in a regular course or a B in an AP course was the question asked. His response was an A in an AP course. Essays should be simple and authentic - not how a sprained ankle changed your life dramatically. And there is talk amongst the deans of admissions of doing away with the SAT's, because the affluent kids can pay for coaching while the poorer kids can't. Therefore, they perform better on them. They don't count standardized tests that much and the deans are all struggling with what they will do about it. Perhaps just a general essay. They need to know if kids can write - carry a thought from beginning to end and not use language outside their scope of understanding (Roget-itis).In today's economy, each college looks for particular kids to fill their student body, so if this year university A needs a top oboe player that kid will get priority over others and even be offered money to come to their school if other schools have offered them admission as well. Bidding wars start. The president and provost send down a mandate each year as to what they want in their student body. That's one of the criteria that goes into the admissions decisions. Girls who want to be engineers or scientists are top on the lists. If they have a chance to take a boy or a girl, they'll take the boy if all things are equal since more girls apply to college than boys these days, believe it or not. All things equal, legacies win out. The total number of people with degrees in the US? Only 27% and only 1% worldwide according to him. And yes, you should ALWAYS write a thank you note to the teachers who write recommendation letters for you - it's common courtesy and shows gratefulness. That's not mentioned in this book, is it?I believe the author seems to be very controlling and manipulating, and is for sure a helicopter pilot. I wonder if her boys knew how to do laundry or anything for themselves when they got to college based on the advice she gives in the book. I believe it should be the dream of the student not the parent when and where they choose to go to college. Don't force them to go to a college with a great reputation unless they want to be there. When visiting a college, use the gut test not always the head....If your child doesn't feel good when they get to the campus, then chances are they won't like it, but if they do get a great feeling, then have them explore the kiosks and cafeteria and see how many kids are smiling on campus...that's says so much. And always remember to stand at least 100 feet away from them when you ask your questions to accommodate the embarrassment factor (e.g. one parent asked on a college tour if they had dorms for girls who don't date...the "oh no" question). And key for an interview - make sure your child knows where the school is - Vermont is not near Iowa (a student's blunder).Yes, it's perfectly okay to review your child's application and essay - especially to make sure it isn't written in blood (another example he gave us!). Avoid cheesy statements on the application, and be sure to sign in if you go to events at the school before applying and during the app process as some of the colleges count how many times you have been there (shows interest). Taking a class at the school over the summers does not guarantee admission to that college, in fact, it could hurt it. If you say I'd like to go to your school because I've attended summer sessions here and know my way around, they'd prefer someone who did summer sessions elsewhere (at another university) - his advice.And there are honors colleges out there - small liberal arts colleges with a lot of great professors - akin to the ivy leagues. Some are at University of Arizona (smaller colleges within a big campus). As for financial aid in today's economy, the student who doesn't need it will get in before someone else who does. However, if you don't need a lot of aid, then you can still get in (the endowments the colleges used to get when the economy was good just aren't there in today's world - they are all suffering from the economic turbulence). He suggested starting the college visits in the summers between 8th and 9th so you aren't rushed. And never do more than 2 colleges a day (one parent did 32 college visits over 3 days in the summer before sr year). Not good.I just recently read the story of a boy who went to an ivy league and was thrilled when he was offered a job in an investment firm (this must have years ago when the economy was doing better). He said he was overjoyed, but then quickly his bubble burst when he found out a friend of his had also been offered the same position. The reason he was unhappy was that his friend went to a less prestigious school and had so much fun for 4 years while he worked and studied so hard and was stressed out all the time. He said had he known that, he would have definitely picked the lesser known college where he could've had more fun. He hated his college years and felt he missed out on a lot of good times.The lesson learned here perhaps is that we need to be careful about school choices. Our kids can't get those years back in high school or college, so we while we encourage our kids to work hard, they should also be afforded time to play hard as well. Sadly, the homework wars are starting earlier and earlier - elementary even and definitely from middle school on. We need to get the schools on board to realize that if they didn't pile on so much homework, the kids would be more enthusiast learners and be happier rather than hating school the way the majority of them do in today's competitive environment. They would be more rested and their test scores would be better and not suffer because of their lack of sleep. The burnout rate would be much less as well.....I feel like they are spending so much time doing homework that they work longer hours than adults holding jobs...it's very sad, and it's no wonder they cheat (it's the viscious cycle of pleasing the parents and trying to get into the best schools). All for what and whom?

Aug 5, 2015 Overall I got a lot of help from this book. There were some details that I didn't agree with like keeping all the record of grade or looking for back door to top college but the major principles presented here were very helpful in preparing my kids for college, in choosing what college to apply, and in filling college apps.Aug 6, 2020. I saw what I wrote 5 years ago and wanted to add a little more detail to how this book helped me send both of my kids to Harvard and UPenn, even without paying any penny.I bought this used book for less than $5 from Amazon when my 1st one just started high school, which turned out to be one of the best investments I've ever made.However, it sat on the shelf collecting the dust until spring semester of his junior year. Then I got so sick with pneumonia and awful anxiety struck me about his rapidly approaching senior year and his college apps since I finished all my education including college in south korea, not knowing how it worked here.One day all of sudden I remembered I bought this book so I started to read it. It was truly eye opening, totally changing my concepts of college application process, and of how to prep my kids for college. This enabled me to guide them to stand out among their peers in college related activities and programs.I never thought of sending my kids to "those expensive ivy league colleges" and didn't believe I could help them make it. I was wrong. I started to encourage them to do what they're interested in. They won many awards in competitions, took the leadership in the activities they're passionate about, not only participated renowned college programs but also did so well while having fun, got really nice recommendation from the professor of that program.I organized the entire process of college apps for them, preparing resume and parents' bragsheet, deciding together which teachers to ask for recommendation letters, choosing colleges to apply to, in preparing them for college interview, etc.Though I got help from other books, from each college's admission website, and from Fair Opportunity Project (Harvard students launched this project to aid high school seniors to apply to top colleges: there are many resoources if you're willing to get help), this book lead me to many of these other resources.Because of our family's low income my kids applied to colleges with the best financial aid program, got into them, so they both got full-ride scholarship, even received extra aid for personal expense too.The best part is they can graduate from college without debt.So I'd wholeheartedly recommend this book and you would be very happy you read it.

This book should be treated as a menu. You certainly do not have to (nor should you) eat everything on it. I read it in one sitting, listing helpful tips for our student's situation as I went. Then I discussed applying them to his work-in-progress (the common app) with him and he adopted the tips that worked for him. In a sentence, what we learned : IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PACKAGING of the student. I will recommend this book to any family with a college-bound high school student. Many of the principles also apply to job searches and auditions and even team try-outs. I have read other reviews and note that I do not know the author and do not agree with all of her approaches (tho I would not go as far as to call them unethical). Yes, her tone is smug and boastful and imperious. She also goes overboard in more places than I can catalog here. I would not hire her and do not believe you need to hire anyone unless you have a particularly quirky college candidate. But she has written a fine, useful book and I came away with a clearer and more clever picture of the best role for me in the admissions madness for this particular kid. Every parent/kid dynamic is different and there are no prescriptions.

This is for americans.But the other information really wasn't that useful at all. Not good enough. I know this because I usually make notes on books like this, however, I found barely anything to make notes on.