<p>has anyone read this book, or even know if its accurate to what goes on behind closed doors? It seems fascinating</p>
<p>it sounds interesting, ive never heard of it tho, have u read it, what does it say?</p>
<p>I read it. The author, Rachel Toor, was a Duke adcom. I found it interesting. I wouldn't spend serious money on it, however. See if you can get it from the library.</p>
<p>It is one admission's employee's experience and impressions about the process at Duke when she was there. It does give some valuable information on Duke's point system of admissions. But college admissions is a dynamic process and many things change year to year and even within the same admission's year. An unusual number of females applying to a school that has more females than males can tip the odds towards males that year. Too many of an certain academic type can affect the later appliants. And one thing the book does demonstrate is that your app can be appraised in many different ways depending on the person reading it.</p>
<p>wow, lots of ppl on the dujke board tongiht, lol thats the fastest ive ever gotten responses on this board, whats up everynody, hows the admissions colleg process goin for u?</p>
<p>she sort of seemed like the anti-adcom to me...maybe not the most representative view of the adcoms' world</p>
<p>My impression is that the author had a strong bias for applicants who were most like her and had a rather large chip on her shoulder for anyone who disagreed. The most useful information was rather transparent gripe that the College of Engineering has its own less-subjective admissions standards that restrict the discretion of the regular adcom. Don't know why she left, but would not put much faith in someone who immediately tried to make a buck by selling confidential information.</p>
<p>I also noticed that many applicants just had submitted the SAT I's, and only a few had submitted SAT II's. At least that's what it seemed like from the discussion on testing ... so I wonder how extremely strong SAT II's would factor into the mix.</p>
<p>I felt the 1480 cutoff for high testing was a pretty important barometer for anyone applying to these schools. I also felt Duke's reader-rating system was extremely fair and realistic. Grades, course selection, test scores and recs are the big things. Essays and EC's should be on-target, but most people get the same ratings on them (3's) unless they're truly accomplished.</p>
<p>Joey</p>
<p>"Admissions Confidential" ? I just read it. The author is a good writer and the book is a very good read. Quite entertaining! Much of it is just a good story, and she shares a bit of her personal life as well. (She had a pet pig) She confirmed some of the suspicions I had about the admissions process and surprised me with other information. She included several essays, including the funniest "why Duke?" essay I have ever read!! The guy was pretty much unqualified and almost got in with his totally hysterical essay. :)</p>
<p>I thought Rachel Toor used the book as a forum to promote herself. I thought it was interesting, because I am fascinated by the whole admissions process. However, she does have an "anti" admissions approach, and what seemed to be an anti-Duke approach, too.</p>