Books you recommend to buy for admision tips etc

Parents Forum
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<p>Hello eveyr one,</p>

<p>I am currently a junior and wanted to buy books related to college entrance etc. DO you advise any? I was thinking of buying examples of essays etc. Any thing else you recommend, I have no budget. I already have many SAT books so what else could i get?</p>

<p>50 Successful Stanford Application Essays: Get into Stanford and Other Top Colleges by Gen Tanabe</p>

<p>$11.24</p>

<p>50 Successful Harvard Application Essays: What Worked for Them Can Help You Get into the College of Your Choice by Staff of the Harvard Crimson</p>

<p>Heavenly Essays: 50 Narrative College Application Essays That Worked by Janine W. Robinson
Paperback</p>

<p>On Writing the College Application Essay, 25th Anniversary Edition: The Key to Acceptance at the College of Your Choice</p>

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<p>If you really need essay ideas than investing in a book like that would be be a good idea. However I think the CC and the Internet as a whole is such vast resource that you’d hardly need anything else :slight_smile: Browse the forums, do Google searches of things you want to know. Guidance counselors are also pretty helpful </p>

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<p>Last thing you should to is buy the essay books, unless you want to write the standard boilerplate… Many advise simply reading great essays by writers of all stripes. </p>

<p>The best college admissions book my D used–chock full of useful tips, including step-by-step instructions for the Common App process–is “College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step” by Robin Mamlet and Christine VanDeVelde. Avoid the Michelle Hernandez books like the plague. </p>

<p>Best college info guide, bar none, is The Fiske Guide to Colleges. This book’s positive assessment of Tufts was a tipping factor in her decision to apply and attend. </p>

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<p>Thanks for your advise!</p>

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<p>Just order books from the library and read everything you can get your hands on! @bunheadmom posted a pretty comprehensive list of books quite some time ago and you can search for her post or pm her.</p>

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<p>I don’t have an answer to this question, but I would suggest ignoring the advice in the post above. There are so many books out there and I think your approach of trying to find the best so that you can use your time efficiently makes a lot of sense.</p>

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<p>A is for Admission
Princeton Review</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Is-Admission-Insiders-Getting-Colleges/dp/0446540676”>http://www.amazon.com/Is-Admission-Insiders-Getting-Colleges/dp/0446540676&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier-College/dp/0142003085/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418911562&sr=1-1&keywords=gatekeepers”>http://www.amazon.com/Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier-College/dp/0142003085/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418911562&sr=1-1&keywords=gatekeepers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=bauld%20brown%20essays”>http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=bauld%20brown%20essays&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>We went to the library for books too. </p>

<p>I do think it’s helpful to read a book or two with essay example (or see what the colleges have posted on their websites) only because most students have absolutely no previous experience with this type of essay. The best essays will come out of the student’s own experiences. Just because one kid got into Harvard writing about the importance of rice in her life, doesn’t mean you should write about potatoes.</p>

<p>Old, but still good I think is Harrald Bauld’s book on essays: <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Writing-College-Application-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0062123998”>http://www.amazon.com/Writing-College-Application-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0062123998&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I also think that Jacques Steinberg’s <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier/dp/0142003085/ref=pd_sim_b_37?ie=UTF8&refRID=0SHCA67PGSH9PWWFEYE1”>http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier/dp/0142003085/ref=pd_sim_b_37?ie=UTF8&refRID=0SHCA67PGSH9PWWFEYE1&lt;/a&gt; gives you a good picture of how admissions offices really work. (Hint: they aren’t adding up SAT points and GPAs - holistic means just that). Steinberg spent a year behind the scenes at Wesleyan and tells the stories of kids who did and didn’t get in.</p>

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<p>If your goal is to find the school that is the best fit for you, then “Admission Possible” by Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz
is a great book. We found it at our local library. I suggest you head to your local library and flip through all the college admissions books it has to offer before you spend any money. Also, a trip to a bookstore that allows you to browse and read before buying would be time well spent. I think you’ll find a few books that are more attuned to your particular vision for your college admissions process. Too many books might be overwhelming.</p>

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<p>Most of these books are going to cover the same material. I bought a couple of them, “Admission Matters” I think was one. </p>

<p>The Fiske guide is a good definitive guide, but don’t buy it now because you’ll probably want the updated edition next fall – check it out from the library.</p>

<p>I like your idea of looking at books of essays. There’s nothing like reading well-written pieces, whether they are literally college application essays or whether they are op-ed pieces for newspapers or what, to improve your own writing.</p>

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<p>The Bauld book is a classic and a fun read (that’s “On Writing the College Application Essay, 25th Anniversary Edition: The Key to Acceptance at the College of Your Choice”) My daughter found it very helpful. </p>

<p>I don’t think you need more than one, but I definitely recommend the Bauld book for a sense of what colleges are looking for and what to avoid. </p>

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<p>I’d be careful about studying the admissions process too closely. I read the book “The Gatekeepers” AFTER my kids had all gone to college! Try to keep it simple and natural and be yourself.</p>

<p>That said, there are sample essays online and books in the library. I have tutored some people on their essays and would say the most common downfall is to try too hard, try too hard to be “unique” or creative. be straightforward. A college essay is more conversational, in a sense, than a formal academic essay. It can be good to end with a twist, but nothing too cute. The focus doesn’t have to be earth-shattering either. (My three kids all went through photo albums and a short autobiography they wrote in school to get ideas.)</p>

<p>For ideas on colleges I recommend Loren Pope’s books, “Colleges that Change Lives” and “Looking Beyond the Ivies.” These books have useful lists of schools and descriptions of each. Colleges that Change Lives is also a website and there are CTCL fairs all over the country, in the fall.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all you r advise!</p>

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<p>Why do you say that?</p>

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<p>BunheadMom recommended
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Write-Out-Loud-College-Application/dp/0071828281”>http://www.amazon.com/Write-Out-Loud-College-Application/dp/0071828281&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It’s a workbook and my daughter found it very useful to begin writing about herself. I think it really helped her find her voice and made writing the common app essay somewhat less intimidating. I highly recommend getting this book.</p>

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<p>I think the Hernandez book is dated and some of what she recommends is overkill. For example she says students should submit a resume with detailed descriptions of everything a student has done. This isn’t a bad exercise to make it clear in your head what you’ve done, but many colleges really don’t want more paper - the Common Application, their supplements and your essays and recommendations should cover anything that might have appeared on that resume.</p>

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<p>That makes sense, mathmom. What can a student write in a resume anyway? There’s the transcript to show what they have done in school but what else there? I guess they can have jobs though.</p>

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<p>@AndreiTarkovsky‌ </p>

<p>They can fill resumes with plenty. Volunteer opp’s, summer programs, ECs, research experiences, awards, the list goes on. But again, the common app has space for all of that.</p>

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<p>NewHavenCTmom, That is a fair point. I was thinking more about my son and mistakenly extrapolating to all kids.</p>