College Counseling

Suggested Readings

Students and Parents:

  1. Colleges That Change Lives (by Loren Pope): “40 schools that will change the way you think about colleges.”
  2. On Writing the College Application Essay by Harry Bauld (former Putney School English Dept Chair): Secrets of a former Ivy League admissions officer with "tough and funny advice on warming up, coming alive and coming up with the best essay of your life".
  3. Admission Matters (by Sally Springer and Marion Franck): “The truth about rankings, understanding the new SAT, how colleges decide, assessing your chances, making smart choices, preparing strong applications, getting financial aid, and lots of tips and tools.”
  4. The College Hook (by Pam Proctor) “A comprehensive guide to the powerful packaging tool called the ‘Hook’--a special talent or achievement that leaps off the page of a college application and catches the eye of admissions officers.”
  5. Getting in Without Freaking Out: The Official College Admissions Guide for Overwhelmed Parents (by Arlene Matthews): “College consultant Matthews offers a helpful and humorous look at the process of college admission from the parents' perspective. Her 101 truths cover the gamut from researching colleges, to SAT test preparation, to touring colleges, to sending the freshman off to college.”
  6. Fat Envelope Frenzy by Joie Jager-Hyman: A former Ivy League admissions officer follows five stellar students in their quest to enter Harvard University and uncovers the mystery behind the daunting college admissions process.

Parents:

  1. Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond (by Marilee Jones and Kenneth Ginsburg): “Co-written by a top college admissions dean and a leading pediatrician, this book delivers strategies for surviving the admissions process while strengthening parent-child relationships, managing the stress of applying to college, and building resilience to meet challenges today and in the future.”
  2. The Price of Privilege (by Madeline Levine): “How parental pressures and material advantage are creating a generation of disconnected and unhappy kids.”