<p>"but I really didn't see how knowing all about college admissions was going to help him in life. "</p>
<p>Actually, the same things that help with college admissions -- knowing how to package yourself so that colleges can see how you fulfill their needs, knowing how to get a good recommendation, knowing how to do well in interviews and write cover letters and essays that highlight one's strengths -- are the same things that help one get ahead in life when it comes to applying to graduate schools, getting jobs, getting offices in civic and other organizations.</p>
<p>It's very important for everyone to understand that getting in to grad school, getting a desired job, etc. aren't things that occur because of luck, but because of research, skills, planning and presentation. It's aways important to know as much as possible about the organization, its needs and mission before applying for a job or other opportunity. It's also important to write one's application in a way that shows how one fits the organization's needs. Writing every application the same way, going into interviews without knowing anything about an organization, etc. are all things that doom people to failure.</p>
<p>The sooner young people learn these things, the better. </p>
<p>When it comes to colleges, certainly one needn't be an expert on college admissions to gain acceptances, including to top colleges. It is important, though, to do a thorough job and to have either common sense or other knowledge about how to best do an application. </p>
<p>For some students, to learn this information requires reading college guides and sites like this. For others, it's common sense -- possibly due to their being brought up in a family that was knowledgeable about how people get hired for executive jobs. The same kind of principles hold for those kind of applications as hold for applications to top colleges.</p>