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The Secrets of Picking a College (and Getting In!)
Two award-winning professors, a former admissions officer at a major university (now a counselor at a prestigious high school), and a gifted high school senior (now in the throes of the college admissions process himself) team up to offer you over 600 tips, techniques, and strategies to help you get in to the college of your choice.
Comprehensive, yet easy-to-read, this book will teach you:
How to size up the colleges you're considering--and come up with a coherent list. What are college nights, college fairs, and college rep visits--and how you can use each to your advantage. What are "holistic," "contextualized," and "legacy" admissions--and how each can work for you. How some schools count "demonstrated interest"--and how you can take advantage of this little-known fact. What are Early Decision, Early Action, and Single-Choice Early Action--and whether any is right for you. How to figure out the true costs of college, and what is the difference between "need-" and "merit-based" aid. What it means when colleges say they meet "100% of demonstrated financial aid" and what "loan-free" means. When and how to make campus visits--and what to do on each. How to prepare for each section of the ACT or SAT--and how to increase your scores. What admissions officers are looking for in your application--and how to give it to them. How to write the all-important Common App essay--and present your extra-curricular activities. How to prepare for an alumni interview--and present yourself in the best light. Whom to ask for letters-of-recommendation--and how to help them write the best possible letter. How to compare your final offers--and, in some cases, substantially improve them. When it's good to wait out the "wait list"--and when not. -and much, much more. When you understand the college admissions process, you can maximize your chance of success. Why not put yourself ahead of the pack?
Comprehensive, yet easy-to-read, this book will teach you:
How to size up the colleges you're considering--and come up with a coherent list. What are college nights, college fairs, and college rep visits--and how you can use each to your advantage. What are "holistic," "contextualized," and "legacy" admissions--and how each can work for you. How some schools count "demonstrated interest"--and how you can take advantage of this little-known fact. What are Early Decision, Early Action, and Single-Choice Early Action--and whether any is right for you. How to figure out the true costs of college, and what is the difference between "need-" and "merit-based" aid. What it means when colleges say they meet "100% of demonstrated financial aid" and what "loan-free" means. When and how to make campus visits--and what to do on each. How to prepare for each section of the ACT or SAT--and how to increase your scores. What admissions officers are looking for in your application--and how to give it to them. How to write the all-important Common App essay--and present your extra-curricular activities. How to prepare for an alumni interview--and present yourself in the best light. Whom to ask for letters-of-recommendation--and how to help them write the best possible letter. How to compare your final offers--and, in some cases, substantially improve them. When it's good to wait out the "wait list"--and when not. -and much, much more. When you understand the college admissions process, you can maximize your chance of success. Why not put yourself ahead of the pack?
- GenresCollege
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 2015
12 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 21, 2016
Good, clear, solid, informative
The layout is great, easy to go back and find websites and terms mentioned that I forgot to highlight. I'd say there was definitely new information and ideas that I had not yet stumbled upon as a mom desperately trying not to send a bazillion dollars on a college counselor. I'd recommend to another wandering soul new to the college admission world.
The layout is great, easy to go back and find websites and terms mentioned that I forgot to highlight. I'd say there was definitely new information and ideas that I had not yet stumbled upon as a mom desperately trying not to send a bazillion dollars on a college counselor. I'd recommend to another wandering soul new to the college admission world.
January 21, 2018
This book confused me. It is supposed to be about picking a college but in reality only about third of it is devoted to that. The rest is about how to tour a college campus, how to prepare for SAT and ACT and how to apply to college. I guess those are related topics and there were useful tips given, but still I find this misleading. Overall, it was okay. I did find some useful tips but not for picking the college though. It is worth to mention there were many web resources given in this book. I did not check any of them yet, but this was handy.
January 9, 2018
A very informative book covering the answers to almost every question you may have about college. I really liked the chapter on questions that should be asked while on a college tour and I liked all the helpful hints and top secrets that were highlighted between paragraphs. If you've wondering about colleges, grades. SAT/ACT scores, etc then this is the book for you.
October 20, 2018
Filled with lots of helpful information I haven't seen anywhere else. Definitely worth a read if you have a child going through the college selection process.
March 2, 2016
The 10 Qs as a starting point (paraphrased):
1) What reasons do you have for wanting to go to college?
2) Do you have 1 passion or many broad interests?
3) If you've done a summer program, what did you learn about what you like or don't about a college?
4) What courses do you like or not like in high school and why?
5) Do you like a challenge? Do you want it to be easy? Do you want to be with kids smarter than you?
6) Do you want to choose all your courses or do you want a school that has requirements?
7) What kinds of extracurriculars do you want?
8) Diversity in student population?
9) What kind of a city or town do you want to live in?
10) How far away from home do you want to be?
College: Undergrad only
University: Graduate studies, too - research
larger school ---> broader course offerings, more social activities, greater diversity in student body.
smaller ---> small classes, greater access to professors, fewer majors
Make sure the school you pick has actual course offerings you're excited about.
Ask: Who teaches the classes? Faculty or grad students?Adjuncts or full faculty?
Do the professors do research? Are the assignments their students do creative and original or busy-work?
Typical class size: 20? 300?
US News and World Report has these stats.
How seriously do the students take their studies?
What are your deal breakers?
Collegeresults.org/search_basic.aspx
for colleges that are comparable with one another.
Useful websites
bigfuture.collegeboard.org
National Association of College Admissions Counselors
Unigo.com
ecampustours.com
niche.com
alumnifactor.com
collegedata.com
parchment.com
collegerealitycheck.com
commondataset
Fastweb
studentscholarshipsearch.com
meritaid.com
scholarshippoints.com
petersons.com
edvisors. com
scholarshipexperts.com
bloomberg.com
ten elite schools where middle class kids don't pay tuition
nytimes
schools offering the most merit based aid
Visits:
spend the day
sit in on a class
look at the bookstore
ask:
Who's the best prof and why?
Are the courses challenging?
How many lecture classes have you had to take?
Can you always get into the classes you want?
How many of your classes are taught by TAs?
How serious are students about academics?
What are the most popular majors?
Internship opportunities?
Do many students study abroad?
What's the food like?
What's it like here on weekends?
What's it like in town?
What's been your best experience here? Your worst?
Good section on ACT/SAT
including basics on how to register
good test prep tips - do the math and reading Question of the Day from the College Board website
Look at sample scored SAT essays on the College Board website
good section on crafting the application essay - we're not there yet, but we'll borrow this book again and the kid'll read it when we are there. Ditto the section on deciding where to go once the acceptances are in.
1) What reasons do you have for wanting to go to college?
2) Do you have 1 passion or many broad interests?
3) If you've done a summer program, what did you learn about what you like or don't about a college?
4) What courses do you like or not like in high school and why?
5) Do you like a challenge? Do you want it to be easy? Do you want to be with kids smarter than you?
6) Do you want to choose all your courses or do you want a school that has requirements?
7) What kinds of extracurriculars do you want?
8) Diversity in student population?
9) What kind of a city or town do you want to live in?
10) How far away from home do you want to be?
College: Undergrad only
University: Graduate studies, too - research
larger school ---> broader course offerings, more social activities, greater diversity in student body.
smaller ---> small classes, greater access to professors, fewer majors
Make sure the school you pick has actual course offerings you're excited about.
Ask: Who teaches the classes? Faculty or grad students?Adjuncts or full faculty?
Do the professors do research? Are the assignments their students do creative and original or busy-work?
Typical class size: 20? 300?
US News and World Report has these stats.
How seriously do the students take their studies?
What are your deal breakers?
Collegeresults.org/search_basic.aspx
for colleges that are comparable with one another.
Useful websites
bigfuture.collegeboard.org
National Association of College Admissions Counselors
Unigo.com
ecampustours.com
niche.com
alumnifactor.com
collegedata.com
parchment.com
collegerealitycheck.com
commondataset
Fastweb
studentscholarshipsearch.com
meritaid.com
scholarshippoints.com
petersons.com
edvisors. com
scholarshipexperts.com
bloomberg.com
ten elite schools where middle class kids don't pay tuition
nytimes
schools offering the most merit based aid
Visits:
spend the day
sit in on a class
look at the bookstore
ask:
Who's the best prof and why?
Are the courses challenging?
How many lecture classes have you had to take?
Can you always get into the classes you want?
How many of your classes are taught by TAs?
How serious are students about academics?
What are the most popular majors?
Internship opportunities?
Do many students study abroad?
What's the food like?
What's it like here on weekends?
What's it like in town?
What's been your best experience here? Your worst?
Good section on ACT/SAT
including basics on how to register
good test prep tips - do the math and reading Question of the Day from the College Board website
Look at sample scored SAT essays on the College Board website
good section on crafting the application essay - we're not there yet, but we'll borrow this book again and the kid'll read it when we are there. Ditto the section on deciding where to go once the acceptances are in.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews