<p>I was curious after hearing so many rave reviews about "Admissions Confidential". I bought the book and I just want to strangle the author. IMHO, she's arrogant and rude. Each evening for about 4 evenings straight I have picked up the book in hopes that I was just grumpy the night before and need a fresh attempt to get into it. Then, about 5 minutes later, I'm putting it down because she's said something else that made me roll my eyes....</p>
<p>last night I put it down where she said she lobbies for ED kids to be rejected instead of defferred so they won't bug her until April. UGH!! </p>
<p>What do you guys find appealing about this woman?</p>
<p>I didn't like her style of writing. She sounded like someone who was very geeky and tried hard in schoo, but grew and tried to compensate for her lack of coolness by trying to be all big and bad (just the impression I get).</p>
<p>I checked it out--and dumped the book after the second chapter. Didn't learn much from it. She was a former adcom, right? If I were her overseer, I would have fired her. Adcoms should at least see things realistically instead of feeding their egos by feeling overly superior to the students. You're right about how many times the book causes one's eyes to roll... quite a few.</p>
<p>Now, "The Gatekeepers" is EXCELLENT. I absolutely loved it. So useful (and helpful).</p>
<p>The only college book I read (this is going back two years) that I would whole-heartedly recommend is Bill Mayher's College Admissions Mystique. It's the only book that made me feel hopeful - that there is a place for everyone. The books mentioned above are aiming at one narrow segment of the admissions market. That and any of the fat books should work for most people, unless your child is really only aiming for ivy. (Yale students publish a student's guide to colleges, which is helpful - another version of the 'fat book' but in a fat pocket size).</p>
<p>"last night I put it down where she said she lobbies for ED kids to be rejected instead of defferred so they won't bug her until April. UGH!!"</p>
<p>Although I haven't read the book, and think it's a shame that she writes that she doesn't want the kids to "bug her," I really agree with the idea that more kids should be rejected in the early round. Why prolong the agony? The applications don't change that much each year, I'd imagine, and I bet that selective colleges defer a lot of people who aren't really on the borderline.</p>
<p>I thought "Admissions Confidential" was a bit scary. (It broke my heart when they rejected the kid who was such a fan that he even had Duke underwear.) But I liked "The Gatekeepers" even less. He seemed to have an attitude towards public schools.</p>
<p>Oops! I meant to say I liked The Gatekeepers and Bill Mayher's College Admissions Mystique. I was too lazy to walk upstairs to check the name. The last chapter on Mayher's book talks about a gap year or two and has some really good suggestions for students that just aren't ready for college.</p>
<p>While I completely understand the negative reactions, above, to Toor's book, I must say in its favor that at least it tries to be honest. It struck me when I tried to read it (I, too, gave up) that I was hearing the voice of a real, fallible, emotional person, rather than the usual sanitized, lawyerized half-truths issued by admissions offices to swell the rolls of applicants. The comment that she spends the better part of the year travelling the land creating desire to attend Duke, and the balance of the year rejecting most of the applicants may be hateful and cruel, but it's also truthful.</p>
<p>I agree with lefthandofdog about Bill Mayher's book; he spoke at my daughter's school, and I found him candid, kind, upbeat, hilarious.</p>