Product Description

In the tradition of The Gatekeepers, a veteran counselor provides the missing key to the college admissions door with insider wisdom about how admissions committees think, and the thirteen fatal mistakes that can ruin an application.

When Don Dunbar was a college counselor for Phillips Academy, Andover, in the 1980s, he got to sit in on the meetings where the nation’s top colleges decided whether to admit his students. Prep school counselors no longer get this kind of astonishing access, but in those meetings, Don discovered a little-known key to college admissions that still holds true today. Many applicants look alike, based on their grades, test scores, and extracurriculars, so colleges want something more: They want applicants with character.

Most of us know what character means, but not in the way that admissions officers define it. Admissions officers have tremendous integrity, and to them, character equals what a student will contribute to his or her community, good or bad, over the next four years. Don explains the concept of character in terms that high school students can understand, using examples from his thirty years of working with kids. He shows readers how to avoid the thirteen fatal character mistakes that even the brightest students make when applying to college and democratizes the admissions process, making his advice available to all students.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #203173 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781592403028
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Dunbar offers sage advice on what to do-or, more specifically, what not to do-during the often daunting college admissions process in order to ensure a more successful (or at least less painful) outcome. Dunbar's first tip for getting through the "marathon" of application is simple: "Pace yourself... commit to one work session per weekend." The steps that follow are equally manageable, designed to guide even the least prepared to the halls of higher learning. All the usual ins and outs are explored: essays, extracurriculars, interviewing and getting waitlisted. More specific advice steers applicants away from dangerous essay topics and explicates the value of social sensitivity, while boxed asides ("First Aid," "Steps to Success," "Revising the Rule") provide spot treatment for mid-interview faux pas and winning strategies for asserting independence and positivity. Though he spends perhaps too much time on interviews-a step not every applicant will have to take-his background in prestigious East Coast prep school admissions makes this a top-notch resource for students applying to small private colleges or Ivy League institutions.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Don Dunbar, one of the great sages of college counseling, has given a marvelous gift to students, parents, and counselors everywhere as they embark together on the often turbulent, but potentially enriching educational journey of selective college admissions. Honest, cogent, clear and direct, Mr.Dunbar, like Ralph Waldo Emerson, implores students to place character above all else. From this timely and highly practical book, students will learn to shun the superficial and the facile and to approach the process of applying to college with maturity, dignity, common sense and a new perspective gained from deep self-reflection on who they really are and, looking forward to college and beyond, who they hope to be. -- David B. Harman, Headmaster, Poly Prep Country Day School

In this refreshing and informative book, Don Dunbar puts a human face on applying to college. From his decades of experience in the field, Dunbar infuses the application process with a spirit of character and integrity. How just it is that the care and caring in these pages will unfailingly help applicants to achieve success. -- Richard Lederer, teacher, author, and public radio broadcaster

This book concentrates on getting into college the honest way. It's no 'quick fix.' It emphasizes maturity and the ability to see yourself as others might see you. Don doesn't tell students to pretend to be someone they are not--he advises them to try to evolve into someone they'd like to be. -- Ted Sizer, former headmaster of Philips Academy, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools, and Nancy Sizer, teacher at Harvard and public and private schools, including Philips Academy

Review
In this refreshing and informative book, Don Dunbar puts a human face on applying to college. From his decades of experience in the field, Dunbar infuses the application process with a spirit of character and integrity. How just it is that the care and caring in these pages will unfailingly help applicants to achieve success. (Richard Lederer, teacher, author, and public radio broadcaster)

This book concentrates on getting into college the honest way. It's no 'quick fix.' It emphasizes maturity and the ability to see yourself as others might see you. Don doesn't tell students to pretend to be someone they are not-- he advises them to try to evolve into someone they'd like to be. (Ted Sizer, former headmaster of Philips Academy, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools, and Nancy Sizer, teacher at Harvard and public and private schools, including Philips Academy)

Customer Reviews

How To Avoid The Pitfalls of The Admission Process...And There Are Many!
I bought this book with the intent of giving to my daughter, who is quickly approaching the age where college applications, essays and interviews fill the air. I decided to read it myself, as I have bought her several books about college that have turned out to be duds. I wanted to make sure she wouldn't waste valuable time reading a book that wouldn't be of any help to her.

I discovered the book is full of advice on how to write essays that many top colleges are seeking and how to avoid pitfalls that are common to applicants. In addition, I also discovered a wealth of information on how to interview and what traps to avoid during that process. The book is well written and the information timely and helpful if you are trying to get into a top school, or if you are a student with poor grades trying to get into an average school. It is written in plain language, and although there is some redundancy, it is a book that can easily be read by college bound high school students.

The one caution is that the book is geared for students who are seeking admission into liberal arts colleges. They are the primary colleges that are looking at essays and using interviews for admission purposes. More technical colleges, as my daughter has discovered, are looking more at course load and grades, and put little emphasis or importance on the essay/interview process. If you are looking to go to a technical college, this book might help a little, but it is very helpful for those seeking admission into top liberal arts colleges.

Help students navigate the college admissions process
What You Don't Know Can Keep You Out of College provides an honest look at the college admissions process. Author Don Dunbar presents 13 mistakes that could keep a student out of their dream college. Dunbar was fortunate enough to sit in on meetings where the most prestigious colleges in the nation decided whether to admit applicants. He was also a College Counselor for Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, a top-notch prep school. In other words; he knows what he's talking about. He explains, in the simplest terms possible, what it takes to get accepted into institutions of higher learning.

Dunbar specifically focuses on how a student's character is the key to being admitted. He explains the idea of character in a way teenagers can easily understand. He gives advice on how to make your best qualities shine in your application, and how to make yourself stand out as a person to admissions officers. He stresses that institutions are looking for a student who will contribute something positive to their school and community.

What You Don't Know Can Keep You Out of College also contains valuable advice about writing essays, interviews, extracurricular activities, getting wait listed and almost every other aspect of the college admissions process. This advice does not focus so much on what to do, but what not to do. Throughout the book, the author continues to stress the overriding theme of being true to yourself, and being honest on your college applications. Dunbar provides clear and direct advice about nearly every obstacle one may face while applying to college.

Quill Says: Dunbar puts forth a book teens will read with ease and understanding. The lessons taught in this book will surely help many students navigate through the college admissions process.

Outdated
Obviously Dunbar knows his subject; but I think this book focused to much on on the college interview at a time when fewer and fewer colleges are offering interviews. I like the "What Colleges Won't Tell You" books better.