The Truth about College Admission: A Family Guide to Getting In and Staying Together

by Brennan Barnard, Rick Clark

Updated and completely revised, the ultimate family guide to managing a college search in a positive way.

Is your family just starting to think about visiting colleges? Maybe you are in the throes of the college search, feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. Miss a deadline? Should you be looking in-state or out-of-state, big school or small? How do you pay for it, and what is a "FAFSA" anyway?

The Truth about College Admission is the easy-to-follow, comprehensive, go-to guide for families. Brennan Barnard and Rick Clark—with combined decades of experience and insight from both the high school and university sides of the process—provide critical advice, thoughtful strategies, helpful direction, and invaluable reassurance during the long and often bewildering college admission journey. This book covers every important searching for colleges, creating a list of prospective schools, weighing financial considerations, crafting an application, learning what schools are looking for academically and outside the classroom, and understanding how colleges decide whom to accept. Helpful sections like "Try This," "Talk About This," and "Check In," and "Extra Credit" show your family how to have open and balanced conversations to keep everyone on the same page, feeling less stressed, and actually enjoying the adventure together.

This completely revised second edition includes new information on affordability and aid that addresses important financial considerations. It also explores changes in standardized testing and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Truth about College Admission is the practical and inspiring guidebook your family needs, an essential companion on the path toward acceptance to college.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Parenting, College

359 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 2019

Reviews

[Adam Rabiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The long title to The Truth About College Admissions - A Family Guide to Getting in and Staying Together is revealing. The college admissions process can be very stressful for all involved and it can fray family bonds. Moreover, some parents become overly involved and Barnard and Clark warn parents to check their language if they begin to say things like, "we are applying" to XYZ University. The two authors offer a host of advice to parents about staying together, telling the younger readers of this family guide that their parents are being so overbearing because they love them (intent is good, even though they are annoying) and exhorting the kids to forgive their parents, give them a hug, and remind them that they love them too. It's a college guide and family therapy wrapped into a single book. The Truth is different from some other guides in that it really emphasizes that before anyone departs on this journey, they really must ask themselves, WHY college, before they explore the HOW and WHERE questions. They feel this will add clarity for all involved and help with everything else. But the biggest TRUTH, besides the fact that it is the kids who must own this process, and that staying healthy as a family is essential, is that the admission process today is far away removed from the ones the parents went through a generation ago. In fact, it is different today than it was ten years ago. Together with this truth is the raw fact that the process can be arbitrary to some degree and that there are a whole host of factors that go into the decision-making process. This will result in some highly qualified individuals getting passed over by some who appear to be less qualified. This is just how it is, the authors contend. But they also insist that there are thousands of wonderful institutions to choose from and that given proper planning and effort, students will apply to and get admitted into schools they will be happy to attend and then wonder how they may have ever considered anything else. That is a truth one can be happy about. This book will help anxious families to approach this period, if not with total calm, with a degree more equanimity and peace than they might otherwise have without learning about these truths.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read this immediately after reading Who Gets In and Why (by Jeffrey Selingo). While The Truth is very helpful in guiding families through the process of making college lists, applying, and ultimately choosing a school, I think the title is misleading. It’s not some sort of insider’s guide or detailed explanation of how colleges make admissions decisions. It’s just a really helpful guide to the process and to maintaining a healthy perspective throughout it all. So I think the title is a little bit clickbaity. Selingo’s book is probably more of an expose on the admissions decisions process.

That said, this is a perfectly useful book for navigating the experience. I took lots of notes, especially about questions to ask and things to look for on campus visits. I also found the many quotes from admissions personnel from a huge range of colleges really helpful. Def worth a read, but Selingo’s book is better if you’re looking for “the truth about college admissions.”

[Scott Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful explaining the process, giving practical steps and decision-making tools, and providing ways to keep things in perspective.

[Sarah Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the college admissions process. Not as much behind the scenes info or insight as Who Gets In And Why, but it would be a good one to start with if you are just beginning the process. Written for both parents and their high school senior, the author poses questions to ask and things to think about at the end of each chapter. The chapter on writing the activities, honors and essay section of the common app is particularly helpful.i listened to the audiobook on this one and the narration was done well.

[Peter]

Read this for work.

[Sloane Mayberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy reading - lots of good tips

[Rachel Price Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend if you’re getting ready to go through this. The focus is on doing it as a family- how parents support the students.

[Tina Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy everything Rick Clark puts out for College guidance. Good checklists and guide to be used as early as Freshman year and as late as summer before Senior year of high school.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical guide to college admissions, one to read when you're entering Junior year to get ready. Tries to help you through it in real time, something to read during the actual process. Here are a few notes:

TuitionFit and Edmit help you see actual college price after financial aid.
Common data set shows yield (% of accepted who end up enrolling) (higher yield means less likely to spend money on merit aid) and % of institutional aid spent on non-need-based aid. The higher this number the better chance of getting a discount. Compare these numbers across multiple possible colleges.
Websites: college confidential; college board's bigfuture; lesshighschoolstress.com; college raptor
Kid set up email with appropriate name just for college search. Click emails so they know you're interested.
Scholarships: finaid; fastweb; niche; bigfuture; myintuition
Each school has a net price calculator
College tour tv series

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting junior year, meet for an hour each week with your kid, and don't bug them the rest of the week. The kiddo needs to figure out WHY they are going to college, and then create a BIG funnel of schools that meet the why criteria. Admission isn't fair, so don't EXPECT to get in to schools that accept <50% of applicants, even if you rocked high school. Apply to at least 10 schools: a few "reach schools," a few that your grades and experiences are in line with others who get admitted, and then a few that you'll totally get into. Talk about money with kids upstream, not after they've been admitted. Brand names of schools don't necessarily mean they are worth it or that there is an ROI. There are plenty of non-brand name schools that are absolutely worth looking at. Good things to remember!

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this as a High School Counselor, I thought this could be a book I’d be able to recommend to families navigating the college admissions process. And I was right! I think the points in this book highlight the holistic admissions process and set the stage for student celebrations and disappointments (totally natural).

As some other reviewers have commented, no this isn’t an insiders guide on how to get in, and it shouldn’t be, because as the authors point out, we may never truly know what a school is looking for in an applicant.

I’d definitely recommend this to parents/guardians and their college-bound students to read together.

[Jeff Toomer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was introduced to this book by another college and career colleague as "the bible" for anyone seeking a treatise on the college admissions process. This book doesn't disappoint. It is my new go-to in advising students and parents who are seeking advice on their post-secondary journey. Every chapter is informative. I like the author's personal nuance on what makes a college good, college rankings, and all they have to say about what makes a college right for a particular student. Having read the book, I now regularly listen to their podcast by the same name. Highly recommend.

[Jill Grech · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as much behind-the-scenes insight at Jeff Selingo’s book, but a lot more on what to do + why. Between both books, I feel very prepared.

[Nicole Handy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Balanced book that looks at college admissions. Good advice that was grounding through the process.

[Tigressp81 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful for families with kids applying to college. In particular, each chapter contains questions at the end that are worth asking, either of yourselves, or to colleges that you are considering.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold onto your hat—this is a college guide as much for parents as it is for students. Like the admissions process, it has moments of levity mixed in with the sobering reality. Brace for impact.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

so so helpful