Customer Reviews

What It Really Takes to Get Into Ivy League and Other Highly Selective Colleges

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading the reviews already posted, I was thrilled to buy the book and dig in. Since I successfully braved Harvard's admissions process and I currently help high school students do the same, I was more than a bit curious about getting a peek behind the curtain. Well, call me a stickler, but I quickly and easily found many grammatical and logical errors that left me questioning much of what I read. I can excuse confusion of "affect" with "effect," but I have a problem with an ACT/SAT I conversion chart that confuses total scores with subscores: a 36 on the ACT equates to a 1600 on the SAT I and not an 800, as Hughes' chart indicates. And I'd expect a Harvard man to know that Duke, Northwestern and Rice are not Ivy League schools. Also, did anyone else notice that the praise on the back cover came from people I can only assume Hughes works or has worked directly with? Pemberton not only works at Monster with Hughes, they share Boston College ties. Drummond is a fellow admissions officer at Harvard. The last review was from a guidance counselor at a high school...What did the real critics think??

My point is that I couldn't put full trust in what I read because of these kinds of flaws. I'm disappointed to hear that this is the leader of the pack for "how to" books on college admissions.

Basically, Mr. Hughes contends that if one has not won some international/award in some specific talent or is regionally recognized in many categories then it is very unlikely to expect a Harvard acceptance letter. A rather frightening thought. Most "Get Into College" books exude at least some sort of confidence rather than setting the bar so high that unless one abandons any form of a life since middle school to become a violin virtuoso or save Guatemalan chidlren while earning perfect test scores and a perfect GPA.

The author's writing style is rather aloof and disconcerting. Try a more friendly and encouraging author like Michelle Hernandez or the Tanabes.

And on one final note, getting into Harvard isn't everything. I would love to get into Harvard, but don't have this tunnel vision and ignore everythng else in your life. Take the time to enjoy the experience. Doing things to bulk up your transcript will only be painfully boring, try to find something you enjoy and dive into it! If you work hard (and are somewhat brilliant) good things will happen.

This book is an asset to any student applying to "most selective" schools because it gives detailed and candid information about what Ivy League colleges are looking for.

Although the basic message here is unsurprising (like another reviewer says, it boils down to "be the best"), a lot of the details are helpful. For instance, it addresses a few perennial questions like "B in an AP class or A in a regular class?" and "Is depth or breadth more important when it comes to extracurriculars?" The specifics will be helpful to anyone who is already basically familiar with the Ivy League admissions process. More importantly, the book represents a real-life inside perspective on the Ivies.

At the same time, it's not a very well-written book. No grammatical errors, but it's quite wordy, full of weak verbs and obvious introductory remarks. This sounds like a minor problem, but it makes the book much harder to slog through than Michele Hernandez' books (A is for Admission and Acing the College Application), which are just as informative, much better written, and in general a better place to start.

If you are applying to Ivies and do not have an excellent college counselor, and you have already read Hernandez' books, I recommend this book as a highly informative inside perspective.

As a private admissions consultant, I've bought and read MANY admission advice books over the years.

"What It Really Takes to Get Into the Ivy League & Other Highly Selective Colleges" is my new all-round favorite!

Mr. Hughes has distilled his years of Harvard admissions experience into an invaluable "how to" book. With statistics, facts, anecdotes and wisdom - he covers the range of issues that will face a student aspiring to a highly selective college.

This highly readable, logically organized book gives college-bound teens and their parents the tools to guide their steps, make informed choices and optimize the likelihood of admission to the school of their choice.

I particularly liked his:
analysis and advice of what is required to be a competitive Ivy League candidate
explanation of how applications are read and evaluated by Admissions
case studies, applying those principles to 5 recent Harvard graduates.

You can't take the challenge out of applying to selective colleges - but Mr. Hughes takes the mystery out of it.

I will be recommending "What It Really Takes to Get Into the Ivy League & Other Highly Selective Colleges" liberally to ALL my clients - not just the Ivy league bound.

Well I got this book with a bit of skepticism originally. The author does make a few errors such as labelling Duke and Stanford under the ivies but in general this book really helps when it comes to showing your strenghts especially with EC's and awards and what really matters. The emphasis on the essay is really good as its not something normally I would put much attention into. I read this along with A is for admission and the College Application books by M. Hernandez. Pretty much these books have really organised and helped me alot for the college process. Hopefully I'll be somewhere interesting in 2006!

Common sense. Nothing insightful. Not worth the reading time.

Ivy league schools are prestigeous. They want the best of the best. The creme of the crop. You get the point. What else is there to it? Nothing really. Buying this book is not going to give you any smart aleck way to get into an ivy league, nor is it going to give you an enlightening moment where the clouds part and the sun comes out and you know which college you want to go to and what you want to do with your life.

I suggest internet research into the colleges you are interested in, talking to your counselor, reliable adults, or students in college. You will get more than you will from this book.

Gist of book in one sentence: If you are outstanding in some particular, pertinent way (academics, extracurriculars, prestigious awards) you have a decent chance.
No, really? who would have thought?

Seriously, it's not a poorly written book, just a BAD, uninformative book. I was looking for hard, in-depth statistics and facts on annul admission rates, test scores, etc. What I got were discussions and speculations and personal reflections on the author's heyday as an admissions officer. BOOO

Much better alternative: www.collegeboard.com and the college search it offers. Spend the money on pizza.

With What It Really Takes to Get Into Ivy League and Other Highly Selective Colleges, Mr. Chuck Hughes has written THE book on college admissions. The bottom line is that you need this book if you want to be admitted to an Ivy League school or other competitive institution (Stanford, MIT, CalTech, Williams, Amherst, Duke, etc.). He knows college admissions. By presenting anecdotes from his days in the office as well as a series of case studies to show how you will compare to admitted applicants, Mr. Hughes sets out to achieve one simple goal:
helping his patrons submit the best possible application in order to give them the best possible chance of gaining admittance to the college of their dreams. He succeeds masterfully and with a straightforward approach that is quite refreshing to the reader.

While purchasing this book will not guarantee acceptance, it is the best step you can take toward getting into to the school of your dreams. If you read the entire book, you will learn the tricks of the trade and how to submit an application which will present you in the best possible light to the discerning eyes of the admissions committee. In fact, I would recommend purchasing two copies, one to read and mark-up and another to keep under your pillow in the hopes that an osmosis of information will occur overnight while you sleep. :) Good luck to all applicants and pick up this book today!

A gold mine of information. But the reader must mine the gold.
The author is a Harvard graduate and a former admissions officer there. His writing and organization should have been better. Some of the sections are bloated and repetitious. He should have used more illustrations and less text. And his advocacy of racial ³diversity² was unnecessary and unpersuasive. His editor should have insisted that he condense the manuscript from 254 pages to 200 pages. Nevertheless, get out your shovels and start digging. Its worth the time and money.

I really enjoyed reading the book and getting a better understanding of what my daughter should be focusing on as she enters her senior year. The book gave me a great perspective on trying to build a stronger extracurricular resume in the super competititve college admissions world today. I also went to his company's website Road To College www.roadtocollege.com to register for their newsletter. I hope this gives me a fraction of what I learned from the book.

Of the numerous how-to books purporting to provide the key to gaining admission to a prestigious university, this one stands above the rest. It is insightful, enjoyable to read, and provides sound, straightforward advice. The author has the appropriate credentials, and his case studies are very instructive. Bottom line is that if you (or your kid) wants an Ivy education, this book is an excellent investment.