Admissions Confidential An Insider's Account of the Elite College Selection Process

by Toor, Rachel

• ISBN13: 9780312302351
• ISBN10: 0312302355
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-17
• Publisher: Griffin

Summary

There are hundreds of books available that coach kids to write attention-grabbing college application essays, improve SAT scores, and try to beat the admissions system. And there is a system. Rachel Toors Admissions Confidential is a fascinating look at why those books dont work. Toor lifts the veil on a process that thousands of anxious parents and high school students have never had decoded before. They may be shocked to find out: That elite colleges spend thousands of dollars recruiting students they will never admit How similar most applicants look on paper Why some students at the bottom of their high school classes are admitted to top schools while the valedictorians are rejected How students personal essays are read How pricey independent counselors can hurt an applicants chances Why admission to top schools depends on who reads the application Why the top of the class at a high-performing high school may end up at their second- and third-choice schools.

Author Biography

Rachel Toor was an admissions officer at Duke University for three years. She currently writes for The Chronicle of Higher Education and various running magazines.

Table of Contents

Note to Reader	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Introduction: Farewell to an Idea	p. 1
Space May Create New Worlds: Settling In	p. 13
The Auroras of Autumn: On the Road	p. 33
Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction: Describing Duke	p. 57
A Mind of Winter: Learning to Read	p. 79
Song of Myself: Applicants and Their Essays	p. 111
Much Madness Is Divinest Sense: Alumni Interviews and Counselor Interventions	p. 141
The Emperor of Ice Cream: Selection Committee Rounds	p. 163
Ivy Day in the Committee Room: More Rounds	p. 187
April Is the Cruelest Month: Decisions	p. 215
The Malady of the Quotidian: Perspective	p. 233
Acknowledgments	p. 253
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