The Truth about College Admission: A Family Guide to Getting In and Staying Together Illustrated Edition

My son’s high school guidance counselor recommended this book during his junior year. It should be required reading for any family with a child thinking about college. In fact, I wish I had read it during his freshman or sophomore year. The authors explain the entire college application process in an easy to understand way. The book is laden with practical advice but with enough anecdotes to hold your interest throughout. It provides an easy to follow roadmap from selecting potential schools, navigating visits, applying, seeking financial aid, and ultimately deciding on a college. What I especially like (and what makes it unique) is that it is intended to be read not just by the student themselves but by the entire family. I see my son’s classmates and their parents completely stressing out over the college process. Using the advice and framework in this book, our family (and my son in particular) has maintained a healthy attitude while being fully engaged in the process. What could have been a stressful time has actually been fun and brought our family closer. Can’t recommend this book highly enough.

I am a parent of triplets who are rising seniors in high school. We are going through this process simultaneously with 3 unique students. This book was a straightforward and helpful framing. I love that the co-authors have experience on both sides of the admissions process in addition to being parents. It felt like a long talk among friends about what you really need to know—both in your head and your heart. I marked it up, sent screenshots to friends and family, and even teared up a couple of times. Highly recommend.

With record numbers of applicants, the college admissions process is unpredictable and stressful. This is a knowledgeable and practical guide to help navigate the process and give insight on some recent admission trends, including a “holistic” review of applicants instead of just sheer grades and scores, and helpful tips on the essays. Highly recommend!

Useful information written in an easily digestible format

The last of my 3 children is currently a senior in high school. We just recently read this book and found it to be full of wisdom. We only wish we had access to it sooner, but still valuable, nonetheless! Highly recommend it to all families walking together through this process. And, read it sooner rather than later, with your students, to gain a healthy perspective and reduce some of the stress that our crazy culture is driving. Organized well as a reference guide, and the authors are down-to-earth and practical with humor and grace!

As a college counselor I'm always looking for books about the college process to recommend to families -- but I rarely find one that hits the right tone. Most just want to scare people and create more stress and anxiety...this book is different. I've bought many copies for my staff already and am now making it required reading for our juniors and their parents. The book is an excellent resource and families love it! Well done Brennan and Rick! Thank you for providing this valuable information to families.

Nice easy read for parents and counselors. Wish it would have included more data. Wonder how much it will be different due to covid.

This book will answer the "why" college for students and parents and will also provide step by step tools on how to navigate the process. This is one of the few books out there that truly is reader and user friendly for all families. Regardless of the type of college you are considering, this book will provide you with helpful and useful information. Buy it and read it.