When we decide to apply for a college some issues arise: where to apply, how to choose the best options that fit me, can I afford it, or where to start from. Once we make up our minds we get down to work. It can seem to us that we have enough knowledge on the subjects, however, there are always a bunch of doubts and a lack of practice and experience.
The web is full of books and materials to practice for university entrance exams. These books offer explicit information on the subject that we will need. There are guides or admission step by step explaining books. Yet, among so much variety we are faced with a dilemma: which one to choose? Which one will best suit our needs and which would be more effective?
There are hundreds of books with very attractive titles, there are others that do not give so much confidence. Thus, what type of content is needed to prepare for college entrance?
Let’s have a look at the top 3 essential books for College Admission.
- Book 1
The College Conversation: A Practical Companion for Parents to Guide Their Children Along the Path to Higher Education
(2020, by Eric J. Furda and Jacques Steinberg)
This book is a conversation between the authors and confused parents and future students. Eric J. Furda, the coauthor of the book, is a Senior Associate Director of College Counseling at William Penn Charter School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Arts from Pennsylvania University and a Master of Arts, Education Policy from the Teachers College of Columbia University.
Jacques Steinberg journalist, adviser, and strategist in the New York Times best-selling author. He has actively participated in the promotion of higher education and formed part of the Say Yes to Education partnership. He has been volunteering in different educational projects.
The passion for the education of these two authors resulted in an interesting College admissions guide, a valuable book among the wide variety of books for college admission consulting. The bullet points of The College Conversation are:
- More for parents – This book is more for the parents. This is a support to explain and solve the confusion. The College Conversations aims to help parents guide their children and solve their doubts. The authors try to give information about how to achieve the goals rather than how to enter a college. This guide is also a psychological help for the family to reduce stress and consolidate the whole energy on overcoming difficulties.
- Chronological axis – The College Conversation: A Practical Companion for Parents to Guide Their Children Along the Path to Higher Education is a chronological axis that guides the process from the very beginning, including scholarships and aid information.
- Didactic book – This guide has didactic purposes and teaches parents how to find out the real interests of their children and not to force them to study something they are not interested in.
- Book 2
Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022
Edward B. Fiske has studied at Wesleyan University. His passion for education resulted in several investigations and school reform projects. He constantly visits schools and educational centers and is highly involved in the promotion of smart schools. A meticulous investigation of the colleges gave him the idea of writing a College entering guide, which is the number one bestseller in the market.
What makes this guide special?
- School Information – The book gives detailed information about hundreds of educational centers. This guide is being updated constantly and is a reliable source of information.
- UGC – the guide includes user-generated content, real students’ experience information, and quotes. We can read students’ reviews about their experience at the colleges and the application processes. They tell their stories about university life, its challenges, and motivations.
- Major rankings – Fiske’s Guide to Colleges is peculiar because it classifies the most attractive majors of each college and makes the student’s choice easier.
- More than a guide – This book is more than a guide. It helps the students in all the aspects of the educational choice including financial aid information, social content, or curiosities of college life.
- Easy find – Fiske splits universities into groups according to their location, rate, fare, and more. It makes it easier to reduce the circle of your search.
Fiske has similar books with more specific content like Fiske Guide to Getting Into the Right College or Fiske Countdown College which offers you a to-do list.
- Book 3
Grown and Flown 2020 (by Lisa Heffernan)
Lisa Heffernan with Mary Dell Harrington founded the Grown and Lown website devoted to parenting.
This book is more supportive, psychological material rather than a strict guide. What makes this book special:
- Parenting guide – Grown and Flown is a parenting guide to help families in their relationship with teenagers. This book helps parents to guide their children through studies; first in the last years of school and later at the universities. It is also a way to reduce the stress of families when it comes to choosing a career and strategies for reaching their goals.
- From general to specific – This book covers all the aspects of parenting. It gives you a detailed scheme on how to deal with your children, help them in their education as a broad concept, and then specifies the content up to very explicit and specific matters.
- Professionals give advice – The book includes specific professional advice from specialists. These opinions or explicit information cover the most important areas of the educational life of the students.
- Real-life stories – Real people’s stories and experiences are also part of Grown and Flown. Practical examples help readers to make a clear idea of the aspects they had doubts about.
Grown and Flown is a manual to have with you and consider any time you want. It is also a support for the mental health caused by stress and anxiety. Children and family occupy a big part of our time and thoughts. Too much information and no help is stressful. Grown and Flown reduce this stress by reducing unsolved issues with easy-to-understand tips.
Final thoughts
The three essential books we have chosen for this article cover the area of education. They are different but share the same aim: to facilitate the work not only of students who are going to apply for universities but also of parents. Very often families cannot help their children because they do not have enough information in this regard. There are more sources to consult, there are books that offer research-based approaches to help parents and students to apply for the colleges, or scholarship guides to start with.
All these books for college admissions are only guides and motivational sources for you. The main task depends on you and your choice. Try to make sure you study something you enjoy, create your own goals, and move towards them step by step without giving up.
