Review of How to Survive Getting Into College

A New Take on the College Admissions Guide

Guide Rating -

As part of the Hundreds of Heads series, How to Survive Getting Into College departs from the traditional admissions guide approach of advice from a former admissions officer or consultant. Instead, while divided into the familiar categories of SATs, essays, etc., Getting Into College collects the wisdom of hundreds of students (and parents) who have recently gone through the process. The result is a fun, credible, student-oriented, and very accessible college admissions guide.

A Different Approach Provides Valuable Perspectives

Even after only a few pages, it's easy to see that the Hundreds of Heads concept is a great way to teach students about the college admissions process. Every other guide on this subject is essentially the same: while advice might vary in some particulars, everyone has the same basic strategies about essays, getting good grades, etc.

By providing opinions culled from recent applicants - as well as admissions tidbits from former admissions officer Rachel Korn - Getting Into College turns the approach of the traditional admissions guide on its head. While some of the advice is necessarily contradictory (after all, you're asking hundreds of kids about their opinions), it's mostly solid and the net effect is invaluable.

Parents often remark that the college admissions process is easier with their second or third child. Having this guide is like hearing from dozens of older children about what worked and what didn't.

Opinions from Young People Provide Credibility

Whereas motivated applicants will likely do their own research, it's sometimes hard to get juniors and even seniors to focus on the admissions process. If you're the parent of such a student, you might be laughing at the prospect of getting your child to read any book about college admissions.

If that's your dilemma, this book is probably your best bet. It's a lot more fun than something written by an adult, and the short sections filled with quotes and anecdotes are easy to pick up and read for a few minutes at a time. And because the book tells you where each writer ended up at college (everywhere from Princeton to small local schools), applicants will be more likely to find something in each section from which they can learn.

Edited Well with Lots of Good Extras

In addition to thoughts from students and parents, Getting Into College is sprinkled with plenty of sage advice from an actual expert. Rachel Korn, a private counselor and former admissions officer, served as Special Editor of the book. Korn not only provides tips and information, but also presumably exerted some editorial control over which student commentary was included. So everything comes through the filter of someone who's intimately familiar with the process.

A Great Addition to the Literature

While How to Survive Getting Into College could conceivably replace a traditional admissions guide, I think it would be more valuable as a supplement to your literature (one that a high school student is far more likely to bother reading). You can get the nitty gritty on essays and applications from your high school counselor or a more lengthy admissions tome. But check this out as a fun, fascinating read that will provide you with hundreds of perspectives you can't get anywhere else.