<p>So I am a junior, and I've been trying to find some books that would be beneficial for me in the process of college admissions. There is a lot of useful information on these forums, but I believe that there are books out there that can comprehensively walk me through the college admissions process. </p>
<p>These books can be general, covering the entire admissions process, or specific, focusing in on a topic such as essays. </p>
<p>Are there any specific books that you guys would recommend me pick up?</p>
<p>"The Gatekeepers" by Jacques Steinberg is a thorough, insightful inside view of the admissions process at Wesleyan. It's quite illuminating if you're interested in liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>There are a couple of books found at large bookstores in the reference/college section that have actual essays that kids submitted. It's very helpful to just read through them. I'm sure you could find them with a search on Amazon too.</p>
<p>An individual who identifies himself by "Ramaswami" in these forums actually seems to have several recommendations, and is a psychologist who seems to be well read on the admissions process. I'd check with him for some references, which tell how admissions are done.</p>
<p>The Fiske Guide to Colleges is a great college guide. It's much more subjective than other college guides and really tries to give you a good feel for each college.</p>
<p>Hernandez's book is great for people trying to apply for selective to most selective colleges. Although I read the other book, How to Maximize Your Chances, I'm sure she talks about the similar stuff. She gives you tips from the application to the interview to how to decide which college to go to after getting accepted. </p>
<p>In terms of essay writing, I suggest Harry Buald's "On Writing The College Application Essay." Hernandez also suggested it in her book and it's fun to read with really good tips. It's also short so you will finish it in no time.</p>
<p>I'll second "How to Get Into the Top Colleges" by Richard Montauk and Krista Klein, listed on Tokenadult's AoPS post. My son found it to be a very resource at various steps along the way. The questions in the interview section were particularly helpful to him. He had me ask him all the questions and went into his interviews feeling confident. He really enjoyed his interviews.</p>
<p>I'll also enthusiastically second "On Writing the College Application Essay" by Harry Bauld. Buy it. Read it now. It is a fun read filled with great advice. Among that advice is to keep a notebook with ideas, observations, and snippets of conversations which you can refer to when essay writing time arrives. We bought the book too late for my oldest son to do that, but my youngest is putting the idea to use. He comes home with some hilarious stories of things that have happened with his ECs. He has quotes saved that he would have forgotten by his senior year. </p>
<p>The Bauld book has invaluable advice on how to make your essay come alive, and lots of good examples to read.</p>
<p>Do you need a book to tell you that you need high scores and ranking to fare well?</p>
<p>If you're talking about guides, spend some time at your local bookstore or library, reading the Fiske Guide to Colleges and the Princeton Review's XXX Best Colleges.</p>
<p>I found "Acing the College Application" by Michelle Hernandez an excellent companion to her "A is for Admission," it had some good tips.</p>
<p>I would recommend against using any of those "Essays That Worked" books for anything more than getting a very general idea. The one thing it doesn't say on the cover of "Essays That Worked" is "Oh and by the way for all we know every one of these kids would have gotten with any essay."</p>
<p>The Gatekeeper is great but realize that it's a little outdated. So are some of the other books listed. Make sure it's published in the last few years.</p>