Table of Contents
WARNING:
This guide contains differing
opinions. Hundreds of heads will
not always agree. Advice taken in
combination may cause unwanted
side effects. Use your head when
selecting advice.
THE HEADS EXPLAINED
With hundreds of tips, stories, and pieces of advice in this book, how can you quickly find those golden nuggets of wisdom? We recommend reading the entire book, of course, but you can also look for these special symbols:
Remember this significant story or bit of advice.
This may be something to explore in more detail.
Watch out! Be careful! (Can we make it any clearer?)
We are astounded, thrilled, or delighted by this one.
Heres something to think about.
Advice from a parent of a college student.
THE EDITORS
AND HUNDREDS OF HEADS BOOKS
Introduction
Come on, give me something great! This isnt just what we say to ourselves as we walk to our mailboxes or open our e-mail in anticipation of the decision at the end of the college application process. These are also the words of admissions officers all across the country, as they crack open every application they receive. As you embark on the college admissions process, you should know that every admissions officer wants you to succeed. They want you to give them compelling evidence that you will be an invaluable asset to their campus community. They want to admit you. This is your call to action. This is where your work begins.
As someone who has sat on the other side of the desk - as a former admissions officer and as a current college admissions consultant - Ive repeated the give me something great mantra with thousands of applicants. Sure, its a big challenge to convey your best you on paper, but you can do it.
Get Into College is a toolbox at your fingertips. From the moment you (and your parents) start to think about the college process, this book will deliver a wealth of advice you may not have accessed before: real battle-tested advice from hundreds of college students, plus lots of expert wisdom from college counselors and admissions officers.
What should you do first? Start the college admissions process early! Not so much so that you can quickly cross things off your to-do list, but so that you have ample opportunity to reflect on yourself, where you might best fit in college, and how best to present yourself to those schools. Time allows you to write and think about what you want in a college when you feel inspired and relaxed. I guarantee that the quality of your college list, your essays, your test scores, and your overall applications will be significantly higher, the less pressure you feel to just get it done.
Take time to consider the experiences and advice of the many people weve interviewed for this book. Use Get Into College on your journey as a resource, a comfort, a go-to for expert guidelines, or just for the occasional well-needed laugh. From SAT/ACT preparation, to interviewing advice, to how to select the right college (from the huge list of schools that have admitted you!), Hundreds of Heads will be your companion through it all.
JENNIFER YETWIN KABAT
College might be called the best four years of your life, but you have to get there first. With selectivity rising, SAT and ACT tests to study for and take, applications and essays to complete, school visits and presentations to manage, grades and activities to maintainand then the nerve-wracking wait for colleges and universities to select yougetting into college has become, truly, a grinding process in recent years.
As a former admissions officer and current private college counselor, I know how complicated it can seem, and how hard it can be to sort out all the options, advice, and suggestions. There are times of the year when college admissions dominates the media. Somewhere in the middle of it all, we hope, theres the school of your dreams, looking for the student of its dreamsyou! A perfect match.
Applying to college is a stressful period for families. It has spawned several cottage industries, such as test preparation and private counseling, and plenty of books and websites purporting to tell all and give you secrets and keys to admission (hey, you are reading this book, arent you?). In some communities, college prep begins well before high school! Parents are more involved in the process than ever before: in some cases, their involvement has turned into over-involvement, and their childrens colleges have also become their personal status symbols. Parents have been heard to speak of our application, instead of about my childs application. These changes have increased the race for the edge in the application that will yield that letter of admission. Families believe they have to play games of strategy to gain admission into brand-name schoolsnothing less will doand, along the way, the ideals of higher education may get lost.
But heres the truth: Admissions officers are bound by their instructions about whom to admit, and there is no way to really have an edge. An accomplished student who is merely building his resume is as obvious to an admissions officer as the truly curious and passionate student who does things for love. Believe me, they will get you.
So how do you interpret and survive this rat race? Trust that there is some logic and sanity to it all, and that admissions officers invest themselves personally in their applicants. Assess your realistic chances of admission by genuinely evaluating your grades and skills against the colleges averages. Make sure that there is at least one true safety school on your list at which you can really be happy. Craft thoughtful and reasoned applications to each school, and only apply to schools that you can honestly imagine attending. Know that admissions are never guaranteed. Know that you are not defined by your rejection fromor even your admission toa particular school. Great students can receive rejection letters simply because theres no room, and it is no reflection on their skills or character. This is all the more important to remember in these days of increased applications for an unchanging number of spots.
There are plenty of guides to help you get to college. What makes this one different? We dont rely solely on the advice of one or two experts: Oh sure, we have wisdom from plenty of experts too. But, weve also consulted hundreds of people who have been there, done that, and have a story to tell and advice to share.
