Elizabeth Wissner-Gross - What Colleges Dont Tell You (and Other Parents Dont Want You to Know): 272 Secrets for Getting Your Kid Into the Top Schools

O ver the years, many people have shared their information and wisdom with me, and encouraged me to write this book to share my secrets.

I was initially drawn to this topic by my Education professors at Barnard College, particularly Giselle Harrington, Susan Sachs, and Mary Mothersill; and Professor Joel R. Davitz of Columbia University Teachers College, all of whom helped me develop a strong educational philosophy; and Professors Dennis Dalton and Peter Juviler, who were role models as exemplary educators.

In addition, I thank Dr. Jong Pil Lee of SUNY Old Westburys Institute of Creative Problem Solving for Gifted and Talented Students, who kept urging me to write this book, and my good friend Dr. Mingder Chang for encouraging me to help students beyond my own family.

So many students have entrusted me over the years with helping them to develop their educational strategies to successfully gain admission to the most-competitive of colleges. I am truly honored to have played a role and congratulate all of them for winning some of the most coveted admission tickets. My hope is that theyre all applying their education toward making the world a better place. Thats what makes this whole endeavor worthwhile.

For this book, many college admissions officers were willing to generously spend time answering my questions, largely off the record. So although I am not identifying them, I want them to know that Im enormously appreciative, and I believe that their candid responses will help readers of the book to obtain the best possible education and college admissions opportunities for their children.

I want to thank my agent, Susan Ginsburg, who helped this book find the perfect publisher, and her assistant, Emily Saladino. I thank Jill Danzig for helping me to meet Susan Ginsburg, and my good friend Linda Burghardt, for introducing me to Jill Danzig. I also want to thank my publisher, Laureen Rowland, for her insight, enthusiasm, and pace; and her assistant editor, Danielle Friedman.

I thank my parents for years of nightly dinner-table discussions on education. My mother, Aileen Wissner, has always been a pioneer of education, and I especially appreciate her willingness to discuss every nuance of educational philosophy during our numerous four-mile walks at Jones Beach.

Most of all, I want to thank my husband and children: my husband, Sig, for his encouragement of this book and his collaboration with our greatest project of all, raising two incredible sons. And I thank my two sons, Alex and Zach, both active collaborators in my experiments in education, who inspired and helped create the vision for this book. They turned out to be my greatest teachers of all.

The Shoo-In Kid

Your Role as Advocate and Opportunity Scout

Your Role in Producing High-Achievers

Helping Your Child Excel at Standardized Testing

Arranging a Winning College Visit

Knowing Your Audience: Who Is Judging Your Kid?

How You Can Help with the Application Forms

Overseeing the College Application Essays

Guaranteeing Excellent Recommendations

Preparing Your Child for Memorable and Effective Interviews

Getting Your Kid off the Waiting List and into the School of His or Her Dreams

Success After Deferral or Rejection

W hen I grew up, there was a very bright local boy whom Ill call KC, whose mother was a brilliant packager. At the time, none of us was familiar with the term packaging, but we did observe that KC won every competition available. And his name made the cover of the two local papers each week. Scholarships, national awards, and recognition seemed to fall into KCs lap. KCs parents were not poor, nor were they famous. Yet when the time came to apply to college, amid the height of Baby Boomer competition, rumor had it that the nations most prestigious colleges were actually bidding for KCwhile the rest of us naively hoped for a single offer from at least one quality college.

We wondered how KC did it.

Hes brilliant, many folks concluded. It comes naturally to him. Or, jokingly, They must have put something in his water. But I wasnt satisfied, because I knew other extremely bright and talented kids who were not winning awards or being courted by colleges. So the puzzle captivated me.

Years later, when I became a parent, I realized that much of the secret to KCs success could be credited to his mother, who would scout out incredible opportunities, make sure KC had the perfect credentials to be selected, help him prepare an enviable application and rsum, and arrange the interviews and logistics. In these ways, she packaged him and made his application seem so appealing that he was sought after by some of the most desirable colleges and summer programs.

As a teenager, I was intrigued by KCs achievements. As an adult, I was intrigued by KCs mother and determined to uncover her secrets. I was inspired to explore new avenues of packaging beyond what she had been able to accomplish, in time to benefit my own children. In this way, I began my research for this book more than thirty years ago.