(Or how I learned to stop worrying and almost love the college admissions experience)
Twenty-five years ago, I was widely recognized as an “expert” on college admissions. That’s because I had just co-authored a best-selling book on the subject: Getting In! I had written the book with my good friend Paulo DeOliveira, who really was an expert, having spent five years as a senior admissions officer at Brown University. I, on the other hand, was the “evil genius” who had convinced him to tell-all; to explain what really went on behind those closed doors. And to really cement our spot in hell (according to a few admissions officers,) we would share the secrets about how kids could truly improve their chances of getting in.
The book was published and it became a national best-seller. It was the first of its kind to ever really give students and parents a behind-the-scenes look at how the system worked. Both Paulo and I appeared on dozens of television shows explaining how kids could “package and position” themselves. Magazines from Forbes to People did major features on us; and we contributed columns to scores of newspapers. We updated the book for a few years, and then lots of competitors flooded the market, and we moved on to other topics.
I went on to write or co-author five more books and dozens of articles, including several best-sellers and award-winners. Paulo, after writing one more successful book with me, went on to become a terrific TV producer, and we are still very good friends. And we would only half-joke that my special niche was writing for neurotic parents.
Then I became one. My wife and I had two sons, spaced five years apart, and it slowly dawned on me why I was becoming a pretty good writer. I had unwittingly observed what writing professors tell their students: write about what you know. I guess I was a pretty neurotic parent.
This year it all came full-circle. Our younger son, now a high school senior, was applying to college. Our older son, who had a taken some time off after his first year of college, was back into the admissions mix, this time as a transfer applicant. And I, in a moment of alcohol-supported hubris, announced that after 35 years, I was going back to law school.
Suddenly I was up to my proverbial ears in the college admissions process.
In the middle of all of this, I was introduced to the Zinch folks. Their new CEO was a good friend of a good friend –we had actually met a few years ago – and I knew she was brilliant. (Anne is way too modest, but trust me: keep your eye on Zinch for some amazing breakthroughs in the college admissions scene.) We started talking and asked the question: how could we really serve parents better?
I turned to people whom I knew in the college admission world, some of whom had revolutionized the search and test-prep landscape over the past two decades: Edward Fiske, the former Education Editor of The New York Times, and founder/editor of the Fiske Guide; John Katzman, the founder of the Princeton Review; and various college counselors and admissions officers (most of whom want to remain anonymous.) And thus the College Admissions Report was born.
Our goal is to give you, the parents of high school kids in the throes of the college admissions process, several things:
- First, real insight into the process; information that is trustworthy, understandable, and useful.
- Second, practical tools to help you manage the process effectively.
- And third, some perspective to help you and your family get through what is often a difficult, anxiety-provoking experience.
Will we be able to help your child get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton or whatever college you (or your child) have your hearts set on? Absolutely! OK, so that’s an exaggeration. But we will give you a better chance of understanding and successfully navigating the system. And trust me, that goes a long way.
As a former so-called expert – but more importantly, as an educator with 25 years of teaching college kids, and as a fellow-neurotic parent – I know what you’re going through. If you have questions, suggestions, or comments, please let us know. We’ll do our best to help.
