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Your favorite college admissions books


daijobu
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Let's start a list.  I'll begin.

 

How to Prepare a Standout College Application by Allison Cooper Chisolm and Anna Ivey.  I'm about halfway through it now, and I think it is spot on in terms of helping a student learn more about themselves and create their own personal story that they can convey to adcoms.  I just finished chapter 9 about completing the "Really Short Answer Questions" and encouraging students to give authentic responses and not overthink what they think adcoms want to hear.   (It's really addressed to the student, but I'm reading to screen for unhelpful filler.)

 

How to be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport.  This is best read at the start of high school, looking at ways to create a meaningful interesting life for yourself in high school.  Getting in to college is not all about test scores and grubbing for grades.  He argues it's more about taking advantage of interesting opportunities that ultimately set you apart.  

 

I have all summer for free reading on the subject.  What have you read about any aspect of college admissions that has been helpful?  

 

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I have no favorite book, as I found this board the best resource, but being done with college applications, I have two books I no longer need:

 

On writing the college aplication essay by Harry Bauld

What you don't know can keep you out of college by Don Dunbar

 

If you are interested, pm me.

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+1 for the On Writing the College Essay book.

Handed it to DD. She started writing essay and it's turning out great so far.

 

Admissions Matters is a classic, but a bit geared towards kids who are trying for reach schools.

 

If the U Fits is more down to earth and not intimidating to more average kids.

 

Setting the Records Straight is a homeschool classic, though she over-documents her course descriptions IMHO.

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I also found this board to be incredibly helpful during my daughter's high school years and her college application process.

 

On writing the college application essay by Harry Bauld

 

We found the above helpful.

 

I also liked:

 

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges by Loren Pope

 

Another I'd recommend (though it's out of print, I believe) is How to Get Into the Top Colleges by Krista Klein and Richard Montauk. This book is a helpful overview of the entire college application process and is particularly helpful if your child is aiming toward any moderately selective college.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I read a bunch when my kids started high school. I think it helped to have formed an idea of the process well before being emotionally involved in my own kids' applications.

 

Crazy U and Debt-Free-U were good. I don't know that the ideas in Debt-Free-U are universally applicable, but some of his thoughts aren't found in many other books. For example he suggests that larger schools offer more opportunity for finding your tribe because their are more people to pick from. The conventional wisdom is that a small school keeps you from getting lost, but I thought the other view was woŕh considering.

 

Acceptance is about a group of kids applying from the point of view of their counselor. The Gatekeepers follows an admissions counselor. I thought they were both good insider looks at what is happening at high stats schools and selective colleges. It was useful for me to frame what my role as the college guidance counselor was.

 

For nuts and bolts of applying I used threads on the board. They were more current than most books. Just as an example, last year the Common App started rolling over accounts and the Coalition application came available. Few books can keep up with annual changes.

 

There has been a free application guide for the Common App from College Wise that was super helpful. Field by field advice for how to complete the app. It lacks homeschool specific advice, but will get a student through 90% of what they need to complete.

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We never bought a single book. I've been gleaning from here for years and years (I changed my account at some point).  I started reading and learning from the high school and college section when my dd entered middle school.  And, of course, I have bounced all kinds of crazy questions and ideas off of y'all too.  :lol:   You have cheered me on, talked me down, and even talked me out of things (thankfully).  

Edited by Attolia
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  • 3 weeks later...

Let's start a list.  I'll begin.

 

How to Prepare a Standout College Application by Allison Cooper Chisolm and Anna Ivey.  I'm about halfway through it now, and I think it is spot on in terms of helping a student learn more about themselves and create their own personal story that they can convey to adcoms.  I just finished chapter 9 about completing the "Really Short Answer Questions" and encouraging students to give authentic responses and not overthink what they think adcoms want to hear.   (It's really addressed to the student, but I'm reading to screen for unhelpful filler.)

 

I got a used copy of the above sent to my mother's house while we were on vacation (after the post office gave it a grand tour of the northeast USA it finally arrived the day before we left - I watched it with their tracking system).

 

I read 3/4 on the plane trip home yesterday - it looks good thanks to all for the recommendation. DS will get it next. He groaned.

 

How much does all of those recommended suggestions affect merit aid?  Would a better essay for example help with merit aid?

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I don't think essays are as important as being in af least the top X% of the applicant pool. (Where X is the approximate percentage of kids the particular school gives merit to.)

 

If your application is the sort with borderline stats where you need the essay to get over the line into the admit pile, you're not a strong merit aid candidate. But if your stats are borderline for merit, the essay could help.

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