<p>I started reading this book by Michelle Hernandez last night...I'm a mom of a junior looking longingly at these schools. I must say that it is riveting to say the least. But I noticed that the copyright on the book is 1997. Is the material still current? Is the admissions method still the same? Any other recommended readings?</p>
<p>Aaah, too many! Someone will find the thread(s) that talk about this but two of my favorites are Harvard Schmarvard and The Gatekeepers.</p>
<p>Immediately get Accept My Kid, Please by Hank Herman. It is a quick read and absolutely hilarious (and very true.....)</p>
<p>I have read all the books and got something out of all of them. My lease favorite was the Duke woman's book.
Gatekeepers was one of the best.</p>
<p>Michelle Hernandez occasionally posts here - maybe she can let us know if an update is in the works?</p>
<p>"My least favorite was the Duke woman's book."</p>
<p>Admissions Confidential by Rachel Toor. Kindly put, there are better choices. Harvard Smarvard was most influential for us. Gatekeepers is a wonderful read, though I still get incensed each time I think about that honest girl and her story about the brownies. A for Admission is good also.</p>
<p>My opinion is that some of her broader ideas make sense, but don't pay too much attention to the details. After all, according to Michelle Hernandez, who worked at Dartmouth, I would not be accepted at any highly-selective school, and I got into Dartmouth.</p>
<p>The writer of Harvard Schmarvard openly ridicules some of Hernandez' tactics, but her emphasis is on getting into Ivies and his is that the Ivies are overrated.</p>
<p>I personally found A is for Admission very helpful in coming to understand the college process. Definitely don't take it too literally, but rather as a guide to giving you an idea of how the adcoms evaluate the applications. I do believe that despite its copyright date, much of the information is still current (though it may be somewhat more difficult to get in now than it was then).</p>
<p>Agree with the posts that say not to take it too literally. I think she made too many generalizations about the Ivies based on her experience at Dartmouth and while Ivies are all tough to get into, some are harder than others. She also made some generalizations about kids at the top of the Academic Index (not sure of the term) that were way off base for schools like Harvard Yale and Princeton and maybe others.</p>
<p>A Is for Admissions is useful for a general view of how amazing the high-school-level accomplishments of some applicants are. That makes it good as a reality check for a parent who thinks that being at the top of the local high school class and a 2400 on the new SAT I is enough for getting into any college you please. </p>
<p>But I don't heed specific how-to tips in college admission books unless I see them repeated across many different books. Some of Michele Hernandez's specific tips may be disagreed with by other authors, so it's a good idea to read widely. The most controversial book about the college admission process seems to be Andrew Allen's College</a> Admissions Trade Secrets which is, of course, largely advertising for the author's college admissions consulting service (as are many books about college admissions) but which says things that other books don't say--they're food for thought even if they don't all apply to your case.</p>
<p>Read Harvard Schmarvard first, then A and Gatekeepers, then Harvard Schmarvard again, to get your head out of the clouds. The Gatekeepers is an interesting book, even for the non-applicant parent, particularly if you like non-fiction, like Tracy Kidder's work for example.</p>
<p>My daughter thought Rock Hard Apps was useful when she was trying to write up her resume - I didn't see it, but it got her started organizing her Ecs in a table, so I guess it got the job done.</p>
<p>I've read A is for Admission a number of times in the past four years, complete with underlining and highlighting (another obsessive parent, this is a sign right?). Terrific book!</p>
<p>Michele, if you are lurking, please tell us that you are going to update the book - the AI rank versus admit rates you spoke of then are no longer applicable, and some of the general trends you talked about then (such as that students being admitted to one Ivy would be likely to be admitted to others) are less true now. Also consider a subtitle - A is For Admissions - in an Unsane World. :)</p>
<p>I'm not a big fan of the "Duke woman's book" <a href="Admissions%20Confidential">i</a>*, either, but it did bring to light the unpleasant reality that adcoms sometimes regard Bright Well-Rounded Kids, or BWRKs, less favorably than we might expect :(.</p>
<p>"The writer of Harvard Schmarvard openly ridicules some of Hernandez' tactics, but her emphasis is on getting into Ivies and his is that the Ivies are overrated."</p>
<p>Harvard Schmarvard was indeed written, but calling Jay Matthews a writer is a stretch. His book has as little value as his columns. So, if you like to read his columns, you may appreciate his books. I find both extremely poorly researched and memorable. Oh well, there are people who think Emeril Lagasse is a chef and not a cook!</p>
<p>There are some very good books, some good books, and a bunch of mediocre books. </p>
<p>Let's start with the bottom.</p>
<p>Mediocre books</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Rachel Toor's Admission Confidential is a book about a misfit who happens to land a job at an admission office. Her second book about the life of a pig may contain as much valuable information about college as her bestseller. Rachel Toor only seems to like herself and quadrupedes, and it shows. </p></li>
<li><p>Any book by Katherine Cohen - Someone who charges $30,000 for her services should have the decency of not writing a book. At least, we can return the books for a refund. Her clients may not be that happy. This person embodies EVERYTHING that is wrong with the admissions' process. </p></li>
<li><p>Jay Matthews - not worth talking about</p></li>
<li><p>Allen's book - Was his editor awake?</p></li>
<li><p>Most books written on the "new" SAT</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good Books:</p>
<p>The Gatekeepers - barely in this list. Tries hard but he could have picked better examples.</p>
<p>A for Admission - could be a very good book but it has started to show its age. Her second book on filling the application did not do her much good. </p>
<p>What It Really Takes to Get Into Ivy League and Other Highly Selective Colleges by Chuck Hughes - On par with A for Admission, the book gives an insight into Harvard's practices. Best thing to remember: do not use difficult words in your essay. Hughes shows that adcoms "think" they know the correct usage and might penalize you in error. Yes, Chuck, myriad IS a noun! </p>
<p>Very good books:</p>
<p>The College Admissions Mystique by Bill Mayher. This book contradicts my theory that GC know little about admissions. Bill Mayher is a GC who writes in plain english but gets the job done. The book does not end as well as it begins, but it is easily the best book to buy. </p>
<p>Harry Bauld's book on essays. </p>
<p>Barrons' book on essays</p>
<p>Unrated but must have books
College Board Study Guide
Fiske
ISI - if you can stand the conservative tone</p>
<p>I have a couple more books but I forgot if I liked them.</p>
<p>The word "myriad" should be completely retired for about 10 years - it deserves a prize for being the most abused word in the English language by those under 25.</p>
<p>Students should never, never use "myriad" in a college essay - it is like a neon sign pointing to a mortal sin, right in the same camp as other offenses such as the word "classy" and prounouncing the word "nuclear" as "noo-cue-ler."</p>
<p>Accept My Kid Please (mentioned above by MOWC) is very funny. I read it right after we were done with the whole college process, and it was a great way to end it.</p>
<p>I agree with Xiggi except that I place "A" a bit higher. I thought it was eye-opening and I have returned to it several times.</p>
<p>I also liked How to Get Into Top Colleges by Montauk, simply because it explains a lot of material without mystique or emotion...sort of like the tone of a car's user manual.</p>
<p>Yulsie, what about "plethora"? ARGGHHH!</p>
<p>Agree fully with Xiggi about Bill Mayher's book. Rachel Toor's book is frequently trashed on cc, and it is often annoying to read; but for anyone who wonders who these "adcoms" are, who the humans hidden behind the cloak of anonymity and carefully crafted "admissionspeak," (which generally sounds like it was drafted by a committee of lawyers), it is worth reading. What's the line from The Wizard of Oz--"pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."</p>
<p>'A is for Admission' will be quite a reality check for most. </p>
<p>The real problem is that it isn't startling enough. Her academic index would fall woefully short of actual admission today; most of her "9's"-- which according to her would seal the deal with most top-schools (Ivies, etc)-- were rejected or waitlisted this year.</p>
<p>A quick browse through many of these forums would confirm this for anyone. Moreover, it's a pretty elitist read and she has a pretty dim view of the intellectual capacity of adcoms in general.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for us, we didn't come across it until after admissions for our daughter.</p>