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"Admission Matters" Cuts College Process Down To Size

This article is more than 6 years old.

Three of my college admission/college counseling colleagues teamed up several years ago to write a no-nonsense, no-drama, easy-to-follow book about the college admission process. Now in its fourth edition, Admission Matters offers a clean, well-lighted journey through the Byzantine pathways of college admission that beleaguer parents, students and many counselors.

Sally P. Springer, Jon Reider and Joyce Vining Morgan bring many, many successful years of combined experience in the admission trenches to bear as they tackle the various phases of the process, from "What You Need to Know Before You Begin" to "Making Your Decision After the Colleges Make Theirs." Throughout the book, I always felt I was hearing from wise, patient counselors who'd been there, done that but who were more than willing to lead me step by step through it all. And no matter how many questions I asked, they were always there with a clear answer.

The authors have managed to tame the many concepts and strategies swirling around the college process by offering specific goals for each chapter, asking and answering the big questions while offering manageable definitions for admission terms. "Selectivity" is defined "in terms of admissions rate" so they define "a selective college as one with an overall admissions rate of less than 50 percent." They answer questions like "Who will be reading your file?" and "How do the PSAT and PREACT fit into the picture?" succinctly and fearlessly tackle issues like applying Early Decision/Early Action and simply "early" with an eye toward students' desires as well as the various strategic advantages each program offers.

In Part 3: Tackling Your Applications, "Applying Well" sets just the right tone for any applicant. As they say,

Preparing a strong college application takes work. There's no way to get around it. A typical application asks many questions, and your answers tell a lot about your academic abilities, background, talents, and interests. Less obviously, your answers also send subtle messages about your degree of interest in a college and how much time and effort you have put into thinking about yourself as a future student there. The best applications do both well.

This paragraph emphasizes something I always try to communicate to my students: It's not just what you say, it's how you say it. Good college admission officers are good readers: They can see beneath the surface of an application to discern qualities applicants may not even realize they've put there. At its simplest level, a slapdash application full of misspellings, mistaken information and even the wrong college's name in an essay show you're not really that interested in the school. At a more complex level, essays that blame others for poor grades or activities that don't jibe with claims of humanitarian interest can ooze insincerity.

Regarding the application essay, the authors support what I've always said: "Any question asking you to write about your favorite book or a personal hero is really less about the book and hero than it is about you and why you made your choice. What you choose to write tells the reader a great deal about how you think, what your life experiences have been, and what you value." I struggle a great deal trying to convince parents of this concept; they often think that if their child doesn't specifically write about him or herself it's not a good application essay, but that's not the case. As an exercise, consider how you'd respond to a student who writes about admiring Abraham Lincoln versus one who admires Lex Luthor. I wish every family with a student applying to college would write this passage out and post it on the refrigerator.

Aside from all the basics, Admission Matters has excellent sections for students with special circumstances, international students, and those interested in applying to Canadian, British, Irish and Dutch universities. Guidelines for filing the FAFSA and the CSS PROFILE and advice specifically for parents are also included. Once again, experienced advice comes through loud and clear while also sounding like a good coach--supportive but firm, with the solid foundation of experience. To parents, they say, "Above all, Don't do anything that might impinge on your future relationship. Whatever seems so important at this moment really isn't so crucial in the long run." Amen to that.

Combining solid information with advice based on years of combined experience makes Admission Matters an essential reference for families approaching the college admission process. Of course, no one book can cover every aspect in depth, but it provides plenty of references, both in print and online, for deeper exploration. For families struggling to comprehend the whole mess, and especially for those who might not have a school or college counselor, this book is a great place to start.

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