Customer Reviews

College Bound and Gagged: How to Help Your Kid Get into a Great College Without Losing Your Savings, Your Relationship, or Your Mind

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Nancy is a terrific author--combining just the right balance of humor and information. College applications create a stressful time and Nancy's guidance takes the edge off of this anxiety filled confusing process. If your child is going to college, you need to read this---specifically before the student's senior year! I especially enjoyed the "Twas the Night Before SATS " video......

I came across Nancy's book at a perfect time. Well, perhaps I could have used it last year - when our first born child was applying to college. But maybe having gone through that ordeal once without help made me appreciate this book even more when it did cross my path. I have four children, the second in line applying for college now. The advice, humor and operating instructions this book has to offer I know will make this round a much more successful process - for my applicant child, myself, my husband and our entire family. Humor is the key survival skill, which Nancy has in spades. It's not just a how to - next steps type of book - but it also addresses the emotional powerhouse that comes with the territory. As she recalls her own story, I am also comforted to see that I am not the only one who felt I was loosing a grip on an otherwise successful history of parenting. Yippee.. Thanks Nancy for writing this. There are so many books on how to prepare the student for college but none that I have ever seen on preparing the parent and the whole family. Lucky for us that you addressed this issue.

There are so many college advice books out there and they all seem to have one thing in common: They make me nervous. Whether it's about SAT prep or searching for colleges, I've come away from these books feeling like the four years of college are more important than any others and you have to do it all "right" (whatever that is). Berk's treatment of the subject is completely different and refreshingly so. She provides plenty of tips and useful information, but she maintains a sense of humor (a great sense of humor, actually!) and she keeps things in perspective. It's wonderful if it all works out the way you planned, and Berk's detailed information will certainly help you achieve that goal. But Berk also makes it clear that it's not the end of the world if your child doesn't get in to the college of his/her choice, and it's not the end of the world if your child initially chooses the wrong place and eventually transfers. Berk's message is reassuring but also fact-based. You'll learn a lot from this sage mom, and she'll make you feel better in the process.

College Bound and Gagged is a great collection of tips and wisdom to equip any adult who lives with a teenager going through what's known as "the college process." Clearly, Nancy has terrific insight into the nature of the beast--er, I mean, teenager, and her candid observations and suggestions will help many a parent or guardian transform what might be stressful into something fun. Read the book in any order you like; its mosaic structure lends itself well to the quick flashes of help she consistently offers. A great read! ( I recommended it to a new client of mine today.)

Going Geek: What Every Smart Kid (and Every Smart Parent) Should Know About College AdmissionsCollege Bound and Gagged: How to Help Your Kid Get into a Great College Without Losing Your Savings, Your Relationship, or Your Mind

Nancy manages to take a complex and stress inducing topic and break it down in a fast, fun, honest, hilarious and helpful way. You wouldn't want to miss reading this book; clearly organized (lists of 5 for quick reference), truthful, and features opinions and quotes from top experts in the college market field. A refreshing, for parents, college scene read.

Teenagers can be reluctant participants in their own college selection process. Nancy found a way to provide lots of laughs along with practical advice for parents throughout the college hunting process which helps keep us all sane! College Bound and Gagged is a must read for all parents of high school students who will apply to college. Pick up a copy for yourself and another for those annoying braggadocios parents who annoy you - they'll get the hint, hopefully!

This book is chock full of great advice for any parent facing the college process with their kids. Informative while entertaining, helpful and realistic, honest and thorough, this book was a huge help in understanding what to expect....and how to handle situations I never even new to expect. Great, easy read!

College Bound And Gagged is a must read for any parent about to go through the college search. Nancy provides invaluable advice and humor to hopefully take away some of the stress that comes with this process. I've given it to many friends who couldn't stop thanking me! I highly recommend you check it out!

In a succinct yet thorough way, Nancy's "College Bound and Gagged" jolts parents into realizing that this process takes more than what we experienced to get into college many years ago. The book has simultaneously calmed me down (with Nancy's humor) and inspired me (with her practical advice). She's a mom who has been there...twice. Plus, she's a clinical psychologist and comedian who can certainly put things in perspective for those of us feeling the crescendo toward sending a child off to college. This is a must read for parents of ALL high school students!

My parents threw darts at a dartboard to pick the college I went to. Neither of them had a clue. And neither did I. How do you tell your parents to make sure the college is close to bars and not get punished in the process?

This book is so funny it would have made the idea of slogging through applications a lot less intimidating.

A must read for all parents of college-bound kids.