College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step

by Robin Mamlet, Christine VanDeVelde

College Admission is the ultimate user's manual and go-to guide for any student or family approaching the college application process. 
 
Featuring the wise counsel of more than 70 deans of admission, no other guide has such thorough, expert, compassionate, and professional advice.
 
Let’s be honest: applying to college can be stressful for students and parents. But here’s the good news: you can get in. Robin Mamlet has been dean of admission at three of America's most selective colleges, and journalist and parent Christine VanDeVelde has been through the process first hand. With this book, you will feel like you have both a dean of admission and a parent who has been there at your side.
 
Now completely updated to reflect changes in the Common Application, testing, financial aid and more, inside this book, you'll find clear, comprehensive, and expert answers to all your questions along the way to an acceptance letter: 

   • The role of extracurricular activities
   • What it means to find a college that's the "right fit"
   • What's more important: high grades or tough courses
   • What role does testing play
   • The best candidates for early admission
   • When help from parents is too much help
   • Advice for athletes, artists, international students, and those with learning differences
   • How wait lists work
   • Applying for financial aid

This will be your definitive resource during the sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school.

Genres: Nonfiction, College, Education

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Avery]

I normally do not write reviews but this book was incredible and the perfect book for any college-bound teen and their parents. I started reading it a few days ago and I felt that I was getting an honest account of the admissions process and what it really means to find and get into a good university. As rising senior, I have constantly heard that it is about the name and SAT scores are the end all be all. This guide made me realize that the admissions progress is about me and that applying to colleges is about more than just the name or your SAT scores.

The fact that deans of admissions and counselors contributed to the book added to its value. I received real advice from experts, not the internet. I felt a sense of relief after reading this book. The books has drastically changed my view of the admissions process and it has even led me to reconsider my college list. I a thankful that this book exists!

[Granny]

As a Senior Citizen I am impressed. I won this book through Goodreads, and in looking through the book, I find it to be a very informative as to what do to and how to go about it, to get into college. I might even try and go back myself soon. Thanks for a great book. Thanks for letting me review it also. I really am serious about trying to go back myself. This will help.

[Maddie]

I read this book during my junior year and had an abundance of anxiety regarding the college search and application process. This book was so helpful in being informative while relieving my anxiety. It turned the process from scary and intimidating to a more relaxed process. I would recommend for anyone facing the college admissions process with more than a healthy dose of fear.

[David]

This book is an excellent resource for those looking for guidance on how to prepare for the college application process through deciding which offer to accept.

Lots of helpful pointers and practical advice for students throughout the various grades in high school.

Worth reading sooner rather than later.

[Natalia]

I loved this book! So useful and written in easily digestible format. I think this is the book that every college bound student has to read when they prepare their college applications.

[Maria]

Yay for the first 5 star [serious] book of the year!

Mom borrowed this book from the library, and it was my job to read it. The great thing about this book is that it told me exactly what I needed to do, how to do it, and with some, when to do it. It has tips for homeschoolers, which are wonderful for me (since I need them). Knowing what I have to do, and being able to read it in book form, definitely calmed me down.

if you get only one book on colleges, get this one. The great thing about it is that all the basic information is in one spot, and you can read it like a novel.

[EMary]

The BEST of the current college admission guides... and I've read them all.
Measured, meat-and-potatoes advice; the only guide that leads you
section-by-section through the unique circle of hell that is the Common
Application.

[Stephanie Bressler-sloim]

I really loved this book. My daughter will be going to college soon and this book was very informative!! I learned a lot about getting recommendations, applying to specific colleges and about what colleges look for in a potential student. A very good read!!!

[Wendy]

Super concise and well written book on getting through the college process...

[Ben There]

If you read more than one book on college admissions and paying for college, make this the second book you read. Though published in 2011, it is astonishing how little has changed and how insightfully the authors of "College Admission" saw upcoming trends such as virtual tours and exam-optional admissions. The advice is sound; the authors arm you with salient questions to ask; their essay writing process might well apply to all writing.

[Rebecca Grace]

It’s a good overall picture of the college application process, but with a 2011 publication date, a lot of the information is no longer current— particularly the standardized testing information that has changed in recent years.

[Denept]

Great details and advice to help motivate your child in completing the college application process

[Jerry Li]

Transparent, informative, credible.

[J.M.]

As a parent who never went through the regular American college admission process I realize there is a lot I don't know about this stressful process, and in my question to learn more I found College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step, by Robin Mamlet and Christine Vandevelde extremely helpful. I also found very interesting the authors' advice to avoid books "hawking application essays that 'worked'" and instead reading some good general first-person essays - just about the only book on college admissions that I've seen do that. All in all, I highly recommend this book to both students and parents.

[Andrew]

College Admission is a thorough, must read for seniors applying to college. It covers every topic you need to know about applying for college, such as course work, the academic record, extracurricular activities, test scores, essays, counselors, recommendation letters, and more. This highly informative guide also dispels myths from reality, alleviating any fears you might have due to the rumors from the media. One of the most useful components of this book is that it provides a unique viewpoint from the admissions offices of universities throughout the country.

[Suzanne]

Got this book from the library for my daughter. She read a few chapters and said it was more a book for me than for her. I started reading it and found that it was actually a good book for both of us, though it is true that the first few chapters are more parent-focused. Alas, I had to return it before I finished the book, but I plan on taking it out again or buying a copy since I think this is filled with a wealth of information in an easily digestible format.

[Wendy Holliday]

Getting my kids ready for adulthood...

[Colette]

Very helpful to high school students planing on applying to college. However, it is a bit out of date regarding the Common App.

[Yasmeen]

I didn't want an overdue library fine lol. I'll get back to it later.