The College Admissions Mystique [Paperback]

Bill Mayher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 1998

In this fresh and plainspoken book, admissions professional Bill Mayher demystifies the college application process, guiding students and parents through this too often anxiety-filled ritual. He covers practical issues, including discovering colleges, narrowing down the search, finding financial aid, and using college counselors to the best advantage. And he deals with the emotional issues, since this is a time of transition and growth for the whole family. Finally, he makes it clear that the best college choice is not simply the school that is the most difficult to get into.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this plain-spoken book, Mayher covers practical issues of college admissions, including selecting colleges, narrowing the search, finding financial aid, and using college counselors. Drawing on 27 years of experience in counseling students, he presents important issues in a humorous manner. His aim is to provide knowledgeable and useful tips in helping students and their parents gain a basic understanding of what goes on in the world of college admissions. Students and parents who read this book should be able to overcome some of the anxiety and frustration that have become part of the process of choosing a college; along with high school counselors, they will find this helpful book, written in plain language, an enjoyable read. Recommended for school and public libraries.?Samuel T. Huang, Northern Ill. Univ. Lib., DeKalb
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Bill Mayher’s intelligence, common sense, and humor, coupled with his love and respect for students and education, made him a standout as a college counselor. Now all families can have the benefit of his insight as they navigate the college application process.” – Tamara Elliott Rogers, Former Senior Admissions Officer, Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges

“A wise and thoughtful book. I shall recommend it enthusiastically to our students and their families.” – Alice Purington, Senior Associate Director of College Counseling, Phillips Academy

“Buy this book! It is the finest I have encountered on the subject in my thirty-year career. It will make you a stronger applicant or a better parent.” – Thomas D. Harvey, Headmaster, Lake Forest Academy

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (January 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374525137
• ISBN-13: 978-0374525132
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Education & Reference > Education > Test Guides - College & University > College Entrance

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book For Understanding The Process, February 23, 2000

By 

Gabe Truman (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The College Admissions Mystique (Paperback)

Having just finished the admissions process with my son I think I must have read nearly every book on the subject. The College Admissions Mystique is very good at giving you an insider's look at what happens behind the closed doors of the admissions office. It's an excellent resource for those who want to know how admissions decisions are (and aren't) made.

I asked my son which books he found most helpful and here is his response:

For figuring out which colleges to apply to and what each college is all about nothing beats the Petersons Guide To Colleges.

For a real how-to guide book on completing the application and writing the college essay nothing beats Get Into Any College: Secrets Of Harvard Students by Jim Good and Lisa Lee.

For preparing for the SAT and other tests the best was the Cracking The System series by the Princeton Review.

I too read all of the above books and found them extremely helpful and would highly recommend them to both parents and students who are facing this challenge.

Good luck! Gabe Truman, CA

75 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to the inside process of admissions., April 25, 1999

By 

[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The College Admissions Mystique (Paperback)

Getting your kid into a good college is a nerve-racking process for most parents. It certainly has been for us. We have found the customer reviews in Amazon very helpful. That prompts us to distill our ratings of the various guidebooks.

The best short reference on each college is the Princeton Review of The Best (311) Colleges. It gives ratings of academic quality, difficulty of admission, percentage admitted, etc. There is also a brief summary of college life and what each place might be looking for.

Peterson Guide is comprehensive, and has long write-ups for each school. There is a front section for each school, listed alphabetically within each state, and a back section with detailed profiles of selected institutions.

Fiske's guide is interesting, but he basically has something good to say for each school, so careful reading between the lines and for "damning with faint praise" is called for.

The Yale Insider's Guide is extremely subjective, with different students writing various reviews. We did not find it too reliable, except in conjunction with other books.

Likewise for Barrron's Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges. Recent alumni write of their (invariably positive) experiences. Take it with a grain of salt, or read carefully between the lines.

Choosing the Right College by ISN was extremely helpful. Some readers criticized it for being allegedly right wing. We did not find it so. Rather, knowing the point of view of the authors helped us evaluate their observations. Other books do not make their biases explicit. A feature of the book we found particularly helpful was the naming of excellent professors and departments in each college.

Antonoff's College Finder was interesting only in conjunction with other books.

Three books written from the perspective of college admissions officers were very interesting and helpful. They are The College Admissions Mystique, by Mayher, Getting In, by Bill Paul, and most of all A is for Admission by Michelle Hernandez. We strongly recommend that parents and the kids who are the applicants read at least one of these.

Another very helpful book was You're Gonna Love This College Guide, by Marty Nemko. It takes the student through the decision process of big vs. small, urban vs. country, elite vs. the level just below, geography, and so forth. That really got our daughter unstuck in her thinking process.

Loren Pope is another helpful author for those who think that not getting into Harvard is the end of the world.

Three books we did not find to be particularly helpful are Getting Into Any College, by Jim Good and Lisa Lee, The National Review College Guide, by Charles Sykes and Brad Miner (too out of date), and The Real Freshman Handbook, by Jennifer Hanson.

One book we found to be unexpectedly useful was Getting Into Medical School Today, by Scott Plantz, et. al. Even if your child is not interested in medical school, this book puts college in perspective for any post-college program.

We hope readers find our review helpful.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for new admission and high school counselors, July 26, 1999

By 

Kevin C. Kropf "I ADMIT" (Albion, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The College Admissions Mystique (Paperback)

As an admissions professional, I highly recommend this book will as required reading for all new admission officers. It gives the reader a great perspective on what is happening on the other side of the coin. Mayher does an excellent job of reminding us of the panic and worry that goes through a young person's head while waiting for the acceptance letter.

Some of the information is more relelvant to the hyper-competitive East Coast market, but even parents students in the Midwest, South and West will be able to glean helpful hints from this fine work.

Mayher promotes a very pro-active search (which is the best way to find the best college for you) and while it is not a glorified advertisement like Loren Pope's Colleges that Change Lives, it does present some ideas for what constitutes "quality" in an institution.