College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step

My daughter and I are about to embark her college applications. For the past 3 years I have tried to get my hands on a book that had everything I need in it in one place. My shelf is lined with college essay books and how-to-get-in books, but even though I could get snippets of info from these books, I grew frustrated that there wasn't one with all the info I was needing to do this application process confidently. Then I found this book. It could easily replace all the other books on my shelf! It starts off with info for 9th and 10th graders and getting organized for the next 4 years, but even if your child is already a senior like mine, its not too late to get this book. For those embarking on their high school trek, or those starting their apps, the information on taking APs, Honors and IB classes will either guide you through the next 4 years, or make you feel confident about the choices you've (hopefully) made thus far. You'll learn about extracurrics and what schools are looking for and how to prepare for the SAT/ACT and what to do if you already choked on them. The book then guides you through choosing the right college for you through rankings, costs and college visits. By page 171, it is time to jump into the water with both feet and start the process of actually applying. It guides you step by step. It would be difficult to miss anything with this book as your guide. I suppose one thing I like about this book is that it is written by the former Dean of Admissions at Stanford. This woman knows her stuff. The co-author is a journalist and mom who has been where you are right now. She gets that this whole thing is nerve-wracking and overwhelming. The book is filled with insight from admission reps all over the country from a variety of schools. Every chapter has input from reps that really tell you what it is they are looking for, what they like, what they don't like, and who appeals to them the most. I've had my book 2 weeks and it is already dog-eared and well broken in. It has given me a lot of comfort on those nights I begin to wonder if my kid even has a shot at any of the schools to which she is applying, and the answer is yes, she really does. This book is worth every penny!

This new text came highly recommended by our school guidance counselor - i think in part because she knows the authors and was a participant in its writing - but she was clear that she has no monetary gain involved in sales...They have also come to our school and spoken on the topics addressed here in this EXCELLENT BOOK. The whole process of getting our kids ready for college has become such a BIG DEAL and such a COMPETITIVE effort that is foreign from my days of applying myself (circa 1978) that where to start and where to go for useful and helpful advice is a real chore. As a parent knowing what is "the truth" and what is "nonsense" advice is not always easy to discern these days. There are a lot of folks out there with "helpful hints" and supposed means to "rig the game" but logically that doesn't inherently make sense and in reality is probably rarely even true. Unfortunately there are also a fair number of books out there selling that same message and I suspect it is how and why the college admissions process has become so seemingly insane. This book works on a number of levels - for parents it can get you to return to the world of "common sense" and get you to stop worrying and start supporting your kids a little more and in a better and more constructive way - as they find a place to go to college. For the college bound Jr or Senior the book can help them navigate the process and begin to take a level of ownership and mastery that they may not naturally gravitate to. All in all we have found the advice and the writing style of this EXCELLENT GUIDEBOOK warm, logical, upbeat and with a strong message of there being a college for everyone - and that being true to yourself and not trying to be what you aren't will serve you better in the long run - both in and out of college. Hard advice to not agree with. A welcomed volume on the shelf and a book we are definitely using this year and next. Now if we can just get both of the boys OUT OF THE HOUSE !!! Seriously,....worth the cost and worth the read.

As a current high school junior, it's sometimes frustrating and difficult to pull together all this information for colleges. And a lot of guidebooks are written for the middle 50% of the market, so students who want to apply to more selective or liberal arts schools are left out. And that's why I recommend this book. Unlike other review books, this one gave advice on getting into all types of colleges. It differentiated admission advice for selective colleges (such as Harvard and Duke) vs. other colleges (such as state colleges). That's really helpful to me because I plan on applying to more selective schools and the generic info in guidebooks weren't cutting it for me. I thoroughly recommend this book because I definitely learned something new about the admission process in every page and it definitely gave me ideas on how to set up my applications. It gives a lot of good advice on how to make your activities and even the smallest hobbies application friendly. It goes into the most important parts of the application process based on the type of schools your applying to, financial aid, college visits, testing, transferring, making decisions once you're accepted, as well as providing charts and checklists to help guide you through the process. So from a current high school junior who is in the top 5% of her class, I can tell you that this book helps. This is the one guide that literally works for everybody. I plan on referring to it for the rest of the year as I plan my events and applications as well as through senior year as I make my decisions and sit through interviews. I may even leave it for my younger sister to use when her time comes. It's that helpful.

This book was one of several college informaion books I checked out from our local library. This one was the best - informative, objective and not-too-lengthy or not-too-short for each important element of college selection and application processes. So, I decided to buy one to keep at home. I wish the paper is thicker and better quality. Whenever I use highlighter, it got through its back-page.

I've been working in College Student Affairs for almost 10 years (admissions & academic advising.) I bought this as a gift for my godson, who was a sophomore in high school at the time. I chose this book because it didn't put pressure on kids to pick the big name school with the highest price tag they were accepted to. It gave good advice bout finding out and figuring out what schools would be a good "fit" for them. It also had some good advice about taking & prepping for the SATs - which made it a good choice fod my godson even though he is a couple years away from filling out his applications!

Superb book that eased my parental anxieties and has proven very helpful to my college-applicant daughter. Even though it was published in 2011, it is *not* dated (something I worried about). Sure, it will probably need an update by 2020 or so, but most of the info is not very time-sensitive to begin with.

I am an independent college adviser based in California and I recommend this book to my clients but only at the very beginning of the process (mostly to the parents of rising high school freshmen and sophomores). This book is a good place to start especially for many of the foreign educated or immigrant families, who are new to the US College Admission process. The parents do tell us that the book loses its effectiveness once they gain knowledge of the process and/or they begin working one-on-one with an independent and/or become more conscious about meeting the high school counselors early in the process. I personally like the fact that once this book is overviewed by the families, we can spend more time addressing specific concerns and giving more customized advice. As a result we only need quarterly meetings and these meetings are extremely targeted. The problem with this book though is it reads like a huge information session by colleges. Those of you who have attended some of the information sessions will know what I mean. The insights provided by the deans and admission officers of various colleges sound somewhat like a "sales pitch" at times and at other times are misleading. I also recommend my students to keep their knowledge up to date by referring to various free resources such as Nancy Griesemer's educational articles in Washington Examiner Online, or the Choice Blog. I spend considerable time volunteering my services at a high school in a mixed/low income neighborhoods; I wish the price had been more reasonable considering that this is a basic book. Lastly as members of NACAC (National Association of College Admission Counseling), all of us in the admissions field (College Admission Officers, High School Counselors, and Independent Counselors) subscribe to certain codes of ethics and one of the Statements of Good Practice says this about Fairness and Equity: We believe our members have a responsibility to treat one another and students in a fundamentally fair and equitable manner. Unfortunately, Ms. Mamlet and Ms. VanDeVelde do a great disservice by being disrespectful to a large community of Independent College Advisers, many of whom are needed when the high school counselors are juggling with case loads of 200-300 students each and are unable to keep up with the changing scene of college admissions (either due to the lack of funding or time). Gone are the days when people went to some "quack-independents" who promised admissions to Ivy Leagues--sure there are some of those but if families are careful in their research, they will soon find out that these Independents do not belong to any authentic professional organizations such as the NACAC, HECA or IECA. Most students who come to the authentic professionals are motivated to find their right fit college, explore their own strengths and weaknesses and find the best match for their talents, interests and financial situation. Most independents offer services that are reasonably priced. If Ms. Mamlet and VanDeVelde show more commitment to researching folks on the other side of the spectrum, I am sure that their book will be more enlightening.

I have read dozens of college-related books in the past 4 years, and this one ranks the highest by far. Written by industry experts and the authors got a lot of top talent to contribute. Full of real-life advice and useful information that is actually true (I fact-checked this against some other info). I read parts of it out loud to my junior on the plane en route to a college tour, and she actually listened! Humor is always appreciated, and these authors use it without going overboard. Great information, well-presented. A must-read!

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