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The one college admissions book every high school student should read

Best College Admissions Book

My daughter is currently a junior in high school. With college looming just around the corner she is thinking seriously about potential colleges she to apply to, how to make herself attractive to those colleges and how to afford college.

As she is my 4th child, this is nothing new to me. But 12 years ago it was extremely daunting as I started to read everything I could find to help my oldest daughter get accepted to the colleges she was interested in.

I took every book on college admissions out of our local library and ordered a few more through inter-library loans. I started researching online too. And we made a few college visits.

Slowly I started getting an idea of what colleges look for. Both she and my older son were accepted into a number of colleges with acceptance rates of lower than 30% so I knew I was on the right track,

And then I found this book – How to Make Colleges Want You: Insider Secrets for Tipping the Admissions Odds in Your Favor by Mike Moyer. He managed to fit all the main points which I had taken years of research to figure out, into 142 well-written and often funny pages. He recounts his own story and lays out simple principles that every student can apply. He did not have good grades – and yet colleges wanted him.

And the truth is, even if you have good grades – those just aren’t enough. Colleges want students who are unique – and that’s a good thing because that is something everyone can achieve. Mike Moyer gives clear ideas on just how to “stand out from the crowd”.

Some other things you will find in the book:

  • what geography has to do with college admissions
  • how to show a college you are a good match
  • how not to misrepresent yourself
  • the role parents should play (and what they should never do!

I particularly appreciate the fact that this book uses a large font, has an appealing cover and is THIN. How else would one ever get a teen to read it ?  And it is important that teens read college admissions book – they are the ones going to college and they are the ones who need to do what it takes to get in.

How to Make Colleges Want You will make the whole process of college application a lot less scary to high schoolers. In fact, after reading it they might even be excited to start taking action on what they have learned.

And right now, I am about to go upstairs and put my copy on my daughter’s bed.

The one college admissions book every teen should read
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Meryl van der Merwe

Meryl homeschooled her 4 children and during that time started teaching at the local homeschool co-op. She still teaches there - as well as online at FundaFunda Academy. In addition, she coaches homeschool Science Olympiad and Quiz Bowl teams and an inner-city First Lego League team. In her spare time she loves reading and traveling.
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