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What It Really Takes to Get Into Ivy League and Other Highly Selective Colleges 1st Edition

by Chuck Hughes (Author)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 42 ratings
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The ultimate insider's guide to getting into the nation's most competitive colleges

Written by a former senior admissions officer at Harvard University, this book provides keen insights into what it takes to get into America's top schools. With the help of case studies of successful Harvard applicants, Charles Hughes II defines the goals and mission of highly selective schools. He explains the relative weight given to:

  • Academics
  • Extra-curricular activities
  • Personal qualities
  • Intangibles in the admission process

    Hughes breaks down the components of the application, explaining the significance of each and how they are evaluated. And, drawing upon his extensive experience, he clues readers in on effective ways for applicants to improve their candidacy, including:

    • How to prepare early in high school
    • How to write a better application
    • How to find the school best suited to their interests, personality, and goals

      With this essential guide, students will be able to present their talents in the best light possible, and create a winning college application.

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  1. ISBN-10
    007141259X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0071412599
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    McGraw Hill
  5. Publication date
    April 9, 2003
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    5.9 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  8. Print length
    288 pages
  9. See all details
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3.9 out of 5 stars
42 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Beth B
    5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific resource.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Very helpful guide to admissions Well written and full of useful tips and insights. It is clear that the author actually worked in admissions.
    One person found this helpful
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  • BEN LIN
    3.0 out of 5 stars Some of the contents are outdated
    Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Some of the contents are outdated especially on SAT portion. The Author should update those.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Jelly Bean
    5.0 out of 5 stars It's worth it and very helpful
    Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This book is amazing, I'm so happy I bought it. I only wish I bought it sooner X3 <3
    One person found this helpful
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  • John
    4.0 out of 5 stars Informative but not innovative
    Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2012
    I read this book in 8th grade when I was about to enter into high school because I had high aspiration to attend an Ivy League university, and the information I learned (in part) from this book ultimately led me to get accepted into an Ivy League school (Columbia University). That being said, this book doesn't really introduce anything that someone with common sense and a quick scan of college confidential couldn't learn for themselves.

    And speaking as someone who has been accepted into an Ivy League I can tell you first-hand that it really boils down to your extra-curriculars. Yes, SAT and GPA are important, but if you are over ~2150 and have over a 4.0ish GPA (depending on your school) then you have a very good chance of being admitted if your extra-curriculars are astounding enough. To help illustrate my point here is the true story of 2 of my classmates.

    My one classmate "James" was tied as valedictorian of our class at a prestigious school. His SAT composite is 2380, and he has a 4.45 GPA. He was involved in some service and a decent amount of extracurriculars along with playing a few sports. He is a good writer and a perfectionist so I am assuming his essays are well written. He applied to Cornell, Brown, Penn, Columbia, and Yale and was denied from all of them.

    My other classmate "Chris" has a 2280 SAT, a 4.1 GPA, and isn't involved in many formal extra-curriculars or service. Chris created a homemade computer graphics video that was very interesting and visually appealing which highlighted his interest in computer design and website coding. Chris was accepted ED to Brown university which "James" (who had better objective scores) was later rejected from even though both are the same race and economic situation and attend the same schools.

    So what can you deduce from this little case study? Two things, one is that it definitely pays to apply ED. Early Decision applicants have on average a 15% better chance of being accepted than their regular decision counterparts. But not only that, the applicant pool for regular decision is much tougher than ED because all of the "iffy" ED applicants are deferred until regular decision. Also the real stud applicants (the ones who will get accepted to a lot of the Ivies) usually apply RD so that they can weigh their offers and trust me you don't want to compete with them. To phrase it one more way, 7 out of 100 applicants will be accepted regular decision. That means that 93 smart applicants who feel they have a chance at Harvard will be rejected. Contrast that with Harvard's restricted early action (which means you can only apply early to one school, but it's not binding like early decision is) rate which is 18% so 18 out of 100 will be accepted and 82 will be rejected. Those chances are way better.

    The second thing learned from this case study is that originality and extra-curriculars are ultimately more important than any scores are. "Chris's" application really set him apart and made him seem like a promising applicant with initiative and creativity whereas "Jame's" application was sort of the typical "smart kid" application with nothing special about it.

    All right there you go, in that (true) example I illustrated all of the points that the book covers in 1/100 the time it takes for the author to say it.

    Hope this helps!

    PS: It really helps if you get involved in some extra-curriculars that not too many people participate in like rowing, fencing, squash, computer design, or any other "weird" activity. There are 100,000s of football players out there but only around a couple 1000 rowers (in high school) so getting into an Ivy League from rowing is significantly easier than from football.
    59 people found this helpful
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  • L. Duran
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Great advice
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  • Anonymous
    2.0 out of 5 stars Very Outdated and Somewhat Misleading
    Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2020
    The book was written by a former Harvard admissions officer in the year 2003. A lot of the information is outdated. For example, the admission rate for Harvard during this period has gone down from ~15% to ~5% today, making the admission criteria even more stringent so that different factors are considered to different degrees in the admission process today than before. In addition, the information about SATs are outdated with the new format of the exam and the modern digital age has changed a lot about the application process.

    My biggest complaint is that this book seems to omit some very salient information (probably for a good reason). While the book portrays Harvard as a school that for the most part judges their applicants solely on merit, the recent infamous Harvard lawsuit exposed quite a different story. For example, legacy, income, and "name" are also apparently important factors in the admissions process, things the book doesn't mention. NPR reported that "Today, according to Harvard, legacy students make up around 14 percent of the undergraduate population. An analysis commissioned by Students For Fair Admissions found legacy applicants were accepted at a rate of nearly 34 percent [6 times higher than non-legacy!] from 2009 to 2015". In addition, Harvard reported that a whopping 15% of their undergrad class come from a socioeconomic background of the top 1% of America. Many have speculated, with good evidence, that many elite colleges, particularly the ivy leagues, seem to give a nicer look to wealthier students who may be able to or already have donated large sums of money to the school. Knowing information like the above will likely give anyone interested in Harvard's admission process a pretty different view of the big picture than this book alone tries to portray.

    While the author doesn't provide the whole truth in this book, there is still some useful information about the admissions process that one can glean from this, e.g the five point scale A.Os use to rate their applicants etc. So still a worthwhile read.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • KT
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    It has the information I need.
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  • X. Chen
    3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but frightening
    Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2005
    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.
    30 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Aru
    5.0 out of 5 stars A
    Reviewed in India on December 19, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    A
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  • Amazon Customer
    2.0 out of 5 stars This IS an American book I know, but most ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This IS an American book I know, but most of it can be applied to UK Universities as well. It is a book that is very wordy, but I only got less than a page worth of notes on my laptop (I tend to write notes on helpful books).

    Not very helpful.
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