Are there any easy reads that explain the college admissions process? I am looking for something straight forward to recommend to my brother who is somewhat new to the country with kids in 8th and 10th grades.
Our home system, where the kids attended top private schools, is very different and university entry is based on a single test. The high school curriculum is somewhat universal, there is no high stake testing along the way nor any need to collect accolades at any point as these have no impact on admissions.
I am concerned they are not taking any steps to position the kids, who are very bright but just used to chugging along, in a strong position for college admissions. For example, when they arrived, they didn’t know to push for the honors math track, for which their son was absolutely prepared, and he ended up in a situation where he would not have reached Calculus by the end of HS (this has been addressed with a summer geometry course). My understanding is that the school is not particularly well resourced and only 50% of students go on to 4 year colleges. I don’t expect they will be receiving any guidance from the school.
I am not looking for a book that makes a social statement about college admissions. Really just something that tells you like it is (good or bad this is the system). I read Who Gets in and Why and Valedictorians at the Gate a few years back. The nuances of the process are changing so fast, but I think these still mostly apply? Any thoughts on these or other ideas?
I’m not sure this will perfectly fit what you’re looking for, but I loved College Admissions Cracked by Jill Shulman. It’s smartly written and a shockingly fun, easy read that lays out the U.S. college application process well. She also has a new book (don’t know the title) that’s worth looking at.
Still a good book, IMO. Jeff Selingo has another book coming out, but I’m not sure when.
I think another fantastic resource is Rick Clark. He’s the Director of Admissions at Georgia Tech and writes fantastic blog posts on the admissions process (not just applicable to GT, but to every selective school). Check it out:
I will add a second plug for Who Gets In and Why by Jeff Selingo
Also recommend The Price You Pay For College by Ron Lieber. Both books are a few years old but the trends discussed have only exacerbated as time has passed . (Unfortunately)
Note that you don’t need top grades, top test scores, and tons of extracurriculars to get into college here in the US. There are thousands of good colleges out there which will position young adults to enter into the workforce. He needs to look beyond T20 or even T50 colleges. Have him start looking at his instate public schools and learning about them. The 10th grader could go on visits to those schools and see what they have to offer. I find too many people make assumptions without even seeing things with their own eyes.
Most important is that your brother needs to understand the cost and the financial options he may or may not have here.
The Price You Pay for College
Paying for College: The Princeton Review (2025 edition)
The Truth about College Admission
The College Conversation
Yes I understand all that, but that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t benefit understanding the system and there is nothing wrong with his kids having a fair shot at whatever schools they deem appropriate.
I just want to say that what you are doing is so useful. We came from a similar system and I just had no clue about honors or AP options, or even what weighted GPA was until D19 was well into sophomore year - never mind the importance of extra curriculars. Luckily D19 picked up on all those from her friends early enough in high school to help choose good courses from sophomore year (freshman year is pretty much the same for everyone other than math track and which language and VPA elective are chosen, no honors or AP options in 9th), but it sounds like our public high school is quite different from the one your brother’s children are at so no guarantee they would get the same valuable peer information.
For most colleges in the US, choosing appropriate course work and doing well in it is the main factor.
However, if the goal is highly selective colleges, then more factors come into play in order for their admissions to distinguish between surpluses of applicants with “4.0 or close to that GPA in the hardest courses” that they choose from.
For comparison, in 2022, about 45% of high school graduates went to four year colleges immediately (another 17% went to two year colleges). See Fast Facts: Immediate transition to college (51)
So the high school in question appears to be in the slightly above average range of US high schools. But it is likely that such high schools’ counselors (who have to deal with lots of things other than college preparation) may give only the basics about the in-state public universities and local community colleges.
I understand all that. My goal is simply to make sure they have the information they need to not accidentally disqualify themselves from being in a position apply to whatever school they decide suits them. In the national context, I am sure the school is fine. They are in the Bay Area, and kids do go to top schools every year. For all I know the school counseling could be great.
The issue is they don’t know what they don’t know, so have no way to assess if they are getting good or even sufficient information or not.
UCs and CSUs do not use SAT or ACT scores for admission (although there may be cases where they may be used in course placement), so they may be underemphasized by counselors in California high schools, although they can be significantly important at some out-of-state and private schools (including scholarships). The 11th grade PSAT is the qualifier for National Merit status, which can lead to large scholarships at less selective out-of-state schools.
UCs and CSUs generally do not use recommendations, but if there are many students applying to out-of-state or private schools that do, then there may be cases where teachers are overburdened by recommendation requests and have to ration them, possibly leading to some students being unable to get what they believe is their best possible recommenders.
UCs and CSUs recalculate high school GPA in specific ways, which may be different from high school calculated weighted GPA (it is common for this to be higher than the UC and CSU recalculated GPAs shown on their admission profile web sites). This can mislead students who think that their 4.7 GPA as calculated by their high school is well above the 4.3 GPA shown as the 75th percentile on a UC web site.
Thank you for the detailed break down, but, again, I am aware. Unlike my brother, I have been here for a long time, including college and have been deeply involved in the college admissions process in the last four years as each of my kids went through their own application cycle. We also benefited from great counseling at a top prep school.
Still, i am aware of and understand why he is making certain (misguided) assumptions. It is not my place to micromanage their process but I am educating him as we go along. I think Selingo’s book is really helpful in understanding the subjectivity of US College Admissions, but I am also a proponent of controlling the things you can control, like course selection and taking testing seriously.
I figured if he reads a book or two on the subject, our conversations will be more productive as he will have a better idea of what I am going on and on about.
@ucbalumnus why did you edit my post title (I changed it back)?
I am not looking for information specific to California. They just happen to be there right now. I think you missed the entire point. Anyone looking to apply to a US university would benefit from understanding the unique dynamics of the application (and acceptance!) process.
Honestly I have no idea. They are nice kids who, I am sure, are hanging out with other nice kids, but I have no idea what the academic inclination and goals of their peers are and it probably has more to do with that than the itself. My kids went to a top school but had different interests with different peer groups. The college “rat race” looked very different from one group to the other, though my own kids had similar goals.
I think one of the challenges here is that its a four-year choose your own adventure game with high stakes results. I can’t think of another country where its this way. Even families born and raised in the US fail to realize you always need to be thinking ahead on at least some small level once you hit high school.
I have no idea of your relationship dynamics but also some people will just take advice better if they read it somewhere than if it comes from a sibling or friend (i know some people who equate “advice” with “they are criticizing how I am doing things”). To be fair the books may also have info you haven’t thought about.
The best college essay book we read last year (and that both of my kids found transformative for their college essays–supplementals too) is WRITE YOURSELF IN, by Eric Tipler. We highly recommend it.
Although I like “How to be a High School Superstar”, it’s mostly about EC differentiation rather than a collection of all the basic tricks and pitfalls a student should know.
Hmm… Maybe this community could write a book(let) with that information…