- ISBN13: 9780142003084
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
In the fall of 1999, New York Times education reporter Jacques Steinberg was given an unprecedented opportunity to observe the admissions process at prestigious Wesleyan University. Over the course of nearly a year, Steinberg accompanied admissions officer Ralph Figueroa on a tour to assess and recruit the most promising students in the country. The Gatekeepers follows a diverse group of prospective students as they compete for places in the nation’s most elite coll… More >>
The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College
I have read key excerpts from this book and an older book about the same topic written by Jean Fetter, former admissions dean at Stanford. While both admissions personnel discuss the subjective manner and sometimes mental anguish that goes into the process, I think the common denominator in both books is performance: good old fashioned hard work with a smattering of a little bit of smarts and an almost zealot like desire to succeed in everything you do. Case in point, my child recently received admission letters from Stanford, Dartmouth, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSD. Only rejection notice came from Yale. What do I attribute the high percentage of acceptance letters too? A 2320 SAT score (800 in reading), 4.4 GPA, a score of 5 on 8 out of 10 AP exams, President and co-founder of the schools National Honor Society, President of the Mentoring Club (Club that essentially runs the after school peer tutoring program), Secretary of the interact club, recommendation letter from an AP calculus teacher. Are you huffing and puffing yet. The bottom line is giving your child a goal to set their sights on and encouraging and mentoring them to meet those goals. Guess what: she attends a public school that is overcrowded.
Rating: 3 / 5
Boring book about a boring job. Another article stretched out into a book. Still in all well-researched and obviously appeals to some.
Rating: 2 / 5
I found Steinberg’s account interesting for a reporter’s perspective — he somewhat lionizes the director who from all accounts is a typical “try to do the right thing” type of guy. However, after reading about 10 college guides, I have to conclude that the only real “insider’s” guide I’ve read is … written by a real admissions officer, not a reporter parrotting what admissions officers want him to see. Parents will learn something about the process, but if they want to know real details and a true insider’s perspectives, hernandez’s book is the real groundbreaking one, with Howard Greene a close second. This book is solid, but nothing really new. Even the term Gatekeepers was coined by a NY Post writer who used A is for Admission’s results for the term.
Rating: 3 / 5
Item received prompty and in great condition. I’ve been very please with the majority of Amazon’s vendors. J
Rating: 5 / 5
Excellent read for parents of college bound children. Illuminates which attributes may differentiate a student from the crowd.
Jay Murray
Solutions for Tuition
Rating: 5 / 5