Synopses & Reviews
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.
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)
About the Author
Don Dunbar is a former admissions consultant for Philips Academy, Andover, and he is one of the nations premier experts on the college admissions process. He founded Dunbar Educational Consultants, which has helped clients gain acceptance to all of Americas top colleges and universities.
G.F. Lichtenberg is a graduate of Harvard College and the Iowa Writers Workshop, and he is the co-author of books from several major publishers. His essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Magazine and Publishers Weekly.