The application process

Apply to American Colleges and Universities. Authors Moya Brennan and Sarah Briggs, published by NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group

This manual guides you through the admissions process step by step and contains all the essential information, helpful advice, and examples you need to successfully apply to US undergraduate and graduate schools including: understanding the admission process, getting application information, required tests and how to take them, completing the application form, writing essays, personal statements and letters, preparing financial documents and more.

Behind the Scenes - An Inside Look at the Selective College Admission Process, 13th Edition, author Edward B. Wall, published by Octameron Associates

Advice from the participants involved in the selection process such as deans, assistants. Eighteen profiles of successful applicants.

The College Admissions Mystique, author Bill Mayher, published by FSG

The book covers practical issues about admissions (how to select colleges, narrow the search, find financial aid etc.). It also deals with emotional issues since the application process is a time of transition and growth for the whole family.

College Match - A Blueprint for Choosing the Best School for You, 6th Edition, authors Steven R. Antonoff and Marie A. Friedemann, published by Octameron Associates

By combining easy-to-use worksheets with loads of practical advice, this book gives you control of the entire college

Colleges that Change Lives, author Loren Pope, published by Penguin Books

"40 schools you should know about even if you're not a straight-A student". The guide includes evaluations of each school's program and "personality" to help you decide if it is a community that is right for you. Evaluations of schools are made by students, who offer an insider's perspective, and by professors and deans who provide viewpoints on their school, their students, and their mission.

Cool Colleges for the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different, author Donald Usher

Schools are presented in a rather un-standardized manner: descriptions of schools are not alike, some listings of schools are in reverse order, sometimes SAT scores are not mentioned, because - as the author says, "finding the right school should be a process of discovery". Therefore, it is you, the reader, the applicant who will have to find what is important to YOU and where you will be happy.

The Fiske Guide to Colleges, author Edward B. Fiske, published by Sourcebooks

This guide lists each college's overlaps and strongest departments and majors. The volume is packed with students' tips on academics and social life. Offers a unique insight into "what's not to be missed and what's to be avoided" at each university, reveals the academic strengths, the role of athletics, and the social highlights at each school. Professor-student interaction, college setting and scholarships are also covered. Good for very relevant basic information. Use as a first step in the process of choosing and informing yourself.

Game Plan for Getting into College, author Patricia Aviezer, published by Peterson's

The book is a good starting point as you clarify the basic aspects of the admissions process. Plus some useful terminology in the Glossary section.

The Hidden Ivies: Thirty Colleges of Excellence, authors Howard Green and Matthew Greene, Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning series

The book focuses on liberal arts colleges and universities that are of comparable quality to the Ivy League schools. The information is based on surveys and interviews with students, faculty and staff, and presents an inside perspective of thirty leading institutions of exceptional merit: Amherst, Barnard, Bates, Bowdoin, Bryn Mawr, Carleton , Claremont-McKenna, Colby, Colgate, Colorado College, Davidson, Emory, Grinnell, Hamilton, Haverford, Middlebury, Mount Holyoke, University of Notre Dame, Oberlin, Pomona, Reed, Rice, Smith, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Vassar, Wake Forest, Washington and Lee, Washington University, Wellesley.
Eye opening!

If You Want to Study in the United States, booklet 1: Undergraduate Study, published by the US Department of State, Educational Information and Resources Branch.

The book provides objective and practical advice to prospective international students and scholars on studying in the United States. This book covers how to choose and apply to US Bachelor's degree programs, plus information on technical and vocational educational opportunities in the United States. Excellent for first-timers!

Inside the Top Colleges. Realities of Life and Learning in America's Elite Colleges, authors Howard Green and Matthew

Greene, Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning series The guide focuses on academic and social aspects of flagship colleges and universities: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, MIT, Northwestern University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan University, Williams College, Yale University - which are private schools, plus three public schools: University of California - Berkley, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Plus insiders' looks: what students think of their faculty.

The Insider's Guide to College Admissions, author Thomas C. Hayden, published by Peterson's

This book guides you through every essential step of the college process, from selecting and testing to applying and financing. Also covered: applying to college on the Internet, using the Internet to sharpen your research skills, academic advice on a year-by-year basis, creating admissions strategies, new information for student athletes, and how college admissions committees make decisions.

Looking Beyond the Ivy League, author Loren Pope, published by Penguin Books

"Finding the college that's right for you". The book includes an annotated selection of more than two hundred schools, including many less familiar colleges.

Making It into a Top College: 10 Steps to Gaining Admission to Selective Colleges and Universities, authors Howard Green and Matthew Greene, Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning series

This guide offers an inside look at how the admissions process works, explains how to choose the best college for you, how to present your qualifications, work experience and references, generally how to better organize your admissions "campaign".

Presenting Yourself Successfully to Colleges: How to Market Your Strengths and Make Your Application Stand Out, authors Howard Green and Matthew Greene, Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning series

The guide explains you how to assess your strengths and unique characteristics, assemble you application, write an outstanding personal essay that represents you well, put together a strong resume, submit supplementary materials with your applications, ask for recommendations, make yourself known to colleges.

The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities, authors: Howard Green and Matthew Greene, Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning series

A useful book that presents the differences between public and private higher education institutions, and shows you how to evaluate state schools, and how to get a premier education at a public college or universities.
The schools presented in the book are: College of William and Mary, Indiana University, Miami University (Ohio), Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, State University of New York, University of California, University of Colorado, University of Florida, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Texas, University of Vermont, University of Virginia, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin.

Winning the Heart of a College Admissions Dean, author Joyce Slayton Mitchell, published by Ten Speed Press

Step-by-step guidance, from developing the college list to applying to colleges, plus "a word to wise parents". The author also developed/includes a list of "Top 101 American Colleges"

You're Gonna Love this College Guide, author Marty Nemko, Ph.D., published by Barron's

Another general guide with tips on admissions. What's different? Insider's tips are presented in a very casual style, with "lots of stuff" on how to get into "killer colleges without killing yourself".

Essay writing

Best College Admission Essays, 3rd edition, published by Peterson's

The book includes tips from leading admission officials, 50 successful sample essays, the top 10 DOs and DON'Ts.

The Best College Admission Essays, published by ARCO

Inside advice and proven strategies to help you get into your first-choice school. You'll learn what kinds of questions are asked by top colleges nationwide, how to create and write essays that will impress admissions officers, do's and don'ts for essay themes, content and style.

Cash for College's: Write it Right, authors Cynthia Ruiz McKee and Phillip McKee Jr., published by Quill

The authors show students how to win the admissions dean's heart with a strong, powerful essay. The volume covers everything, from basic rules of good writing to actual questions admissions committees ask. The book also features more than 100 dramatic "essay makeovers" showing how a weak essay can be pulled into exceptional shape.

College Applications and Essays, 4th edition, published by ARCO

Step-by-step guidance from draft to finished product, an analysis of three good essays and a sample application.

College Essays That Made a Difference, published by the Princeton Review

Apart from essay fundamentals, the book focuses on 89 real essays and the profiles of applicants who wrote them: SAT scores, high school GPA, universities they applied to, the schools where they got in and where they got enrolled.

Do It Write: How to Prepare a Great College Application, 8th Edition, published by Octameron Associates

A complete guide to the college application process that shows you why some essays work and others don't.

Writing a Winning College Application Essay, published by Peterson's

You'll see how to deal with a bewildering range of topics and come up with a fresh angle, get over writer's block, turn rough drafts into polished final versions, adapt one essay to meet the needs of several applications and discover what admissions officers hope to find and hate to see in the essays they read.

Writing Your College Application Essay, published by the College Board

This book gives you timely examples of the pre-writing process, a detailed review of how to write a well-constructed essay, simple strategies for making your essays truly personal, analyses of six essays to help you pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. You will learn to recognize what colleges are looking for, choose and organize your essay, improve your writing skills and create an essay that reveals your unique strengths.

Catalogs and handbooks

Four-Year Colleges, published by Peterson's

Information on more than 2,000 accredited four-year institutions in the US, major listings, admissions calendar, financial aid.

College Handbook, published by the College Board

Information on accredited four-year and two-year colleges in the US. Indexes: college type, special characteristics, undergraduate enrollment size, admissions selectivity, alphabetical index of colleges.

International Student Handbook, published by the College Board

Tables on US colleges and universities with information on more than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate institutions in the United States. Information on degrees available, undergraduate enrollment, tests required for admission, TOEFL minimum and average scores, application deadlines and fees, academic year costs, financial aid (number of students receiving aid, average award).

Book of Majors, 1st edition, published by the College Board

Over 900 majors are listed alphabetically, with the colleges and graduate schools that offer them presented state by state. Each college listing also indicates at which degree level the major can be studied.

The Best 361 Colleges, published by the Princeton Review, 2006 edition

Over 100,000 students give their views on their colleges. Narratives highlight a wide range of student issues, from classes to financial aid and social life. Schools are ranked in terms of: academics, administration, quality of life, politics, demographics, social life, extracurriculars.

Best Buys, 7th edition, published by Barron's

The book presents 260 colleges arranged by different criteria: colleges with 20,000 or more undergraduates, colleges with 1000 or fewer undergraduates, colleges with tuition and fees of $10,000 or less, colleges with single-sex enrollments, etc. The largest section of the book is represented by college profiles and facts that include academic programs, campus life, special programs, and notes by students enrolled at the respective school.

Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges, 3rd edition, published by Barron's

Apart from information on admission requirements and financial aid programs at more than 60 of the most academically demanding colleges in America, the book also includes descriptions of campus environments and students' life written by recent graduates.

The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 30th edition, compiled and edited by the Yale Daily News staff

The guide covers 310 schools in terms of both academic and social life. Apart from mere figures (male-female ratio, average SAT scores, tuition and fees, number of volumes in the university library), you can also learn insiders' tips about the schools listed.

Top Colleges for Science, published by Peterson's

A guide to leading four-year programs in the biological, chemical, geological, mathematical, and physical sciences. Information on more than 1,000 science programs at 190 colleges and complete science school advisory.

Two-Year Colleges, published by Peterson's

This guide describes over 1,000 junior and community colleges in the US. It also features advice and tips on the college search and selection process such as how to decide if a two-year college is right for you, how to approach transferring between colleges, etc.