Determining how to get that acceptance letter in the mail isn’t the easiest task in the world, but it isn’t impossible either. With dedication, hard work and planning, you can likely get into one of your college or university choices, especially if you throw a wide enough net. The college admissions process can be tricky, and this is one of the reasons there is college counseling services, college admissions assistance and test prep tutoring. There are also many good resources that you can turn to that will help guide you towards a better understanding of the college admissions process. In this article, we will look at a couple of the books you may wish to consider.
Pick One-College Admissions: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step by Robin Mamlet
College guidebooks fall into many different categories, but the best usually pull on the expertise of people who have worked in the field and understand how the process works. It isn’t fair to say that these books give “inside information,” as they usually don’t, but they do give as sizable amount of information on issues that you might glance over or ignore when considering schools.
This book is all about “picking the brains” of admissions officers. Most students and parents probably feel as though the entire college admissions process is confusing and a little esoteric. College Admissions: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step by Robin Mamlet does a solid job in demystifying the process.
Unlike many books, the nature of the advice in College Admissions is of such a comprehensive fashion that parents might want to consider reading this one early in their child’s high school career. There are many tips that can only be used if plotted out years in advance. If you are a planner and want to get into a great school, you should read this one.
Pick Two-How to Write Your College Application Essay by Kenneth Nourse
How to Write Your College Application Essay by Kenneth Nourse is a good book, but (and yes there is a but), it is very boring, perhaps distractingly so. Yet, with that stated, author Kenneth Nourse knows his “stuff” and does a great job instructing students in the ins and outs of writing a good college application essay. Here is the one drawback to choosing this book over other options; How to Write Your College Application Essay doesn’t really adequately cover how to make your essay shine above the rest. It will be up to you to determine how to make yourself stand out to admissions officers when they are reading different admissions essays.
One of the best tricks for helping you stand out to a college admissions officer is to be memorable in a good way. This means investing the time to think about how you are distinctive and why you are likely to be a good, or even great, graduate down the road. If you have big plans, then consider sharing some of those plans in your admissions letter. More importantly, outline some of the steps that you have taken or will be taking to make those dreams and goals into reality. Being able to show and point to how you are goal oriented, driven and organized may achieve the goal of assisting you to stand out from the crowd.
