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Hey, on another board I saw a post about a book called Admissions Confidential. Did Berry & Hawsey write that, too?

By Dave Berry on Sunday, September 09, 2001 - 03:37 pm: Edit

Thanks for asking, Cubby. The answer is: "No, but I wish we had!" "Admissions Confidential" is currently #1,130 on the Amazon hit parade and our "America's Elite Colleges" is only #33,264, but ours won't be in the bookstores for another week to 10 days. Just wait until people can actually take a look at it. Everything has to be ranked, though, even books.

If you need more info on "Admissions Confidential," click here. If you want to check out "America's Elite Colleges," click here.

Our next book, still in the works but due out by mid-2002 will address the misunderstood and undervalued world of so-called "Tier II" colleges.

By cubby on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 09:17 am: Edit

Too bad, Dave - it would be great to have TWO hot books at once. I'm sure your book will kick butt when it starts shipping. From your replies here, it's clear you know your stuff. Good luck!

By cubby on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 10:31 am: Edit

What would you suggest for a good essay book? I looked at B&N, and some books seem to be mostly sample essays, and others spend more time talking about what to write. I like the idea of modeling my main essay after "one that worked at Harvard", but how do they know that the essay was a big factor? Maybe the guy who wrote it just had great stats, or was a world-class oboe player or quarterback.

By Dave Berry on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 01:21 pm: Edit

Good things come in small packages, cubby. That's exactly the case with Harry Bauld's book: "On Writing the College Application Essay." It's almost small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, but it's filled with big information about how to (and how NOT to) approach college application essays. I wrote a review of Bauld's book, which you can read
here.

Of course, as I mention above, our "America's Elite Colleges" book goes into great detail about essays. Chapter 7--"Applications: The Story of You" and Chapter 8--"Essays We have Known Elsewhere" mix actual Ivy-admission-winning essay examples with our own "expert" (I'll try to remain humble ;-)) analysis as to what makes them winners.

In Chapter 7, you get to see not only the applicant's actual winning essays but also his winning stats. That way, you can compare the relationship between great academics and great writing, although these two aspects CAN be mutually exclusive.

By Cubby on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 01:44 pm: Edit

Thanks for the recommendation. I figured an essay book would be pretty boring, but it was actually pretty readable. Short, too!

By Dadster on Sunday, October 07, 2001 - 11:31 pm: Edit

Cubby, you are right to be cautious about those "Essays that worked" books. Unless the book is compiled by the admissions director that selected those students who would not have been admitted without a killer essay, there's a lot of guesswork in selecting the essays. Implying that the selected essays were the factor that got the writers admitted is speculation. At best, they are well-written essays that didn't prevent the writers from being admitted.

By GFI on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 08:42 pm: Edit

I remember seeing a book that listed survey results that showed how satisfied students were with their college, why they chose it, how competitive it was, etc. Lots of numbers. Only for the top schools, I think. Anyone know what the title of this book is?

By California Mom (Calmom) on Monday, October 29, 2001 - 03:33 am: Edit

I don't know if this is the one you are thinking of, but the Princeton Review 331 Best Colleges has survey results in the front (both positive/negative, with some categories like "Top 20 Party Schools"). Then it has a 2-page spread on each college that includes student comments, info provided by the school, some stats, and star-type ratings for different categories (academics, quality of life, financial aids). Then in the very back it has more comments from students, just basically choice excerpts from some of the surveys.

The Yale Daily News Insider's Guide to Colleges is also derived from student interviews. Their reported methodology is that everyone who works on the book interviews all their friends at other colleges. There is a detailed description of each college, including lists of pros & cons at the end of each section.

By David Hawsey on Tuesday, January 22, 2002 - 03:06 pm: Edit

Unfortunately, I found out that Princeton Review did not update their student survey section within the last three to four years. They admitted this, and if you check various board postings, especially their own review.com, you'll see a tidal wave of parents, students, alumni and others who all noticed student testimonials, references to buildings and programs no longer at the college, or outright outdatated references.

Princeton review has been, plain and simple, under fire lately for poor management, high trunover at the top, lack of focus, and a breeding ground for misinformation. Objective they are not, nor do most of their readers look for objectivity. Most want to pick a fight with anyone challenging their own perception of their alma mater, etc.

The bottom line is that no student survey (and they survey only 10 - 15 students total at each school - I received just eight surveys the last time around) can adequately characterize the true nature of each school. Go visit the colleges and decide for yourself!

By California Mom (Calmom) on Tuesday, January 22, 2002 - 06:04 pm: Edit

Actually, there are some websites that also allow people to post opinions and participate in surveys. Obviously, it is very possible that a handful of dissatisfied students could skew results negatively, and there is nothing to prevent people from the college admissions staff to log in and vote, posing as students.

Nonetheless, these can be a tremendous source of good information, as many reviewers post very detailed and objective posts. (Objective because they include both pros and cons, and many facts can be easily checked and verified).

Some are:

http://epinions.com/

http://www.studentsreview.com/

While I wouldn't take anything on these sites as being the gospel truth, I have to say that I found them very informative and I learned things about the colleges my son was looking at (and is now attending) that I could never have found anywhere else.

I think the important thing to do once choices are narrowed down is to read everything you can find written about the colleges you are looking at, from any perspective. Be sure to definitely look at the negative or "con" remarks of reviewers on the survey sites -- even if the reviewer is biased, they often are a source of good questions. Also, sometimes what one person sees as a negative is a positive for another.

By R Storm (Anonrs) on Tuesday, January 22, 2002 - 11:36 pm: Edit

Jeff Adams, Senior Producer of The Princeton Review has a new thread up on both the parent and student boards at review.com, "Tell the TPR: What Do You Most Want to Know About Colleges?" Sounds like TPR is working on parameters for a new guide. So, if anyone has suggestions -- hop on over and make them known.