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Dave and David, thank you for your wonderful book -- very informative and extremely practical. I do have a question about something you say on p. 111: "Sending two extra things to an admissions committee might hurt you, and sending three definitely will....Admissions officers are busy, underpaid people whose desks are cluttered enough." My son was planning to send 1) the intro, or part of the intro, to his Intel Talent Search science project, representing three years' worth of work; 2) an extra recommendation, which he was told would be extremely positive, from his mentor on the science project; and 3) his art portfolio (ten or twelve slides in a plastic sleeve). Basically, art and this area of science are two out of his three main areas of sustained involvement, and I hesitate to discourage him from sending along these items. What do you think?

It never occurred to me that sending them could hurt...I am figuring that the adcom officers will take the art portfolio and send it off to the art department, so it shouldn't cause them too much trouble. But we would be grateful for your input.

By Dave Berry on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 09:42 am: Edit

You forced me to dig out my manuscript archives, HTH. Your quotation bothered me becuase I'm not in the habit of using "must" phrases like "...sending three definitely will." My search paid off, because I confirmed that I did not write that phrase. It was inserted after I submitted my final editorial query responses for that chapter. Had I had the chance to review the "blues" (the bluelines--the final edited manuscript) before the book went to press, I would have caught that phrase and changed it accordingly.

Bottom line: Your son should send everything you listed. Each is absolutely appropriate and will support his case for presenting himself as a passionate and extremely gifted applicant. If you note in that Chapter 7, you'll see that "Graham" (modeled on my own son, John) submitted more than three "extras" with his Princeton application (even though our editor refers to the app as being from Stanford!). My son's extra effort in documenting his profile certainly didn't hurt him. He was accepted early.

Thank you for taking the time to question this text. My co-author, David Hawsey, and I have vowed that the contract for our next book will contain provisions for us to review the "blues" before the book goes to press. In not seeing the blues, we GOT them, so to speak. :-) Thanks again, HTH. If we can help with your son's college process, please let us know. Best wishes to him.

By hopingtohelp on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 - 10:51 am: Edit

Thanks, Dave. Maybe you can tell your editor about my confusion when they do the second edition...which I am sure they will!

By G. Dolianis on Saturday, December 08, 2001 - 08:00 pm: Edit

Dave, how are book sales going?

By Dave Berry on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 06:10 pm: Edit

Thanks for asking, G. So far, so good, but you'd never know it from the way Amazon tracks sales. One day our book, America's Elite Colleges, is #8,000, the next day it's #80,000. However, Random House-Princeton Review told us a while ago that they're planning a second printing next summer, just in time for another round of ED madness! I guess they think it's "worthy."