The 75 Biggest Myths about College Admissions: Stand Out from the Pack, Avoid Mistakes, and Get into the College of Your Dreams

258 Pages·2008·0.92 MB·English

by  Jerry Israel

75
A S C
DMISSIONS ECRETS OLLEGES
D ’ W Y K T THE
ON T ANT OU TO NOW H
7E
THECOLLEGEADMISSIONSPROCESSISINCREDIBLYIMPORTANT 5
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. . . and incredibly confusing. You have probably heard IGGEST YTHS
countless“facts”astowhatworks,whatcollegeswanttosee,
and how to get into competitive colleges. MB
Don’tbelievethehype!Followingthewrongcollegeapplication I
YG ABOUT
myths can cost you time, money, and most important, the
TG C
chance to get accepted into the school of your dreams.
OLLEGE
H
E
H
T •Collegesareverychoosyaboutwhogetsin. S
•Youcanfindallkindsofstudentsonanycampus. S A
Y T
DMISSIONS
•Collegesneedtochargeanapplicationfee.
M ABOUT
•Collegeshaveawell-thought-outfinancial
assistancestrategy. AC
•Collegesonlyknowwhatyoutellthemaboutyou. D
O Stand Out from the Pack,Avoid Mistakes,
M
The 75 Biggest Myths about College Admissions gives you and Get into the College ofYour Dreams
L
all the answers you need to approach this important I
journeycorrectly—bustingallthemythsthatstudentshear SL
and colleges want you to believe. S
E
I
Dr.Jerry Israel is a Senior Strategy Consultant specializing in higher education
O
initiatives for Simpson Scarborough Communications.Dr.Israel served as the G
UniversityofIndianapolis’sseventhpresident,from1998untilhisretirementin N
July2005. E
S
CollegeGuide/Reference
$12.95U.S./$15.50CAN/£6.99UK
www.sourcebooks.com
www.sourcebookscollege.com ISBN-13:978-14022-0995-6 ISRAEL
ISBN-10:1-4022-0995-9
C N DR. JERRY ISRAEL
P A
U E
FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
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75
THE
B M
IGGEST YTHS
ABOUT
C
OLLEGE
A
DMISSIONS
Stand Out from the Pack, Avoid Mistakes,
and Get into the College of Your Dreams
DR. JERRY ISRAEL
FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
75Myths 2228.qxd:Layout 1 4/4/08 11:01 AM Page ii
Copyright © 2008 by Jerry Israel
Cover and internal design © 2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover photo © Veer
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
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This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative informa-
tion in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding
that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other
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services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a
Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar
Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations.
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, regis-
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Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Israel, Jerry.
The 75 biggest myths about college admissions : stand out from the pack,
avoid mistakes and get into the college of your dreams / Jerry Israel.
p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-1932-0
1. Universities and colleges—United States—Admission. 2. College applica-
tions—United States. I. Title. II. Title: Seventy-five biggest myths about
college admissions.
LB2351.2.I85 2008
378.1'610973—dc22
2007045870
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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For all those students throughout the years
from whom I learned so much. . .
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75Myths 2228.qxd:Layout 1 4/4/08 11:01 AM Page v
C
ONTENTS
About This Book: A Reader’s Guide......................vii
If You Have Time for Just
Two Myths, Here They Are..................................1
Myths about High School
Performance and Standardized Testing ..............7
Myths about How Colleges Build the
Applicant Pool......................................................25
Myths about the Campus Visit ..............................51
Myths about Retention
(How Many Students Graduate)........................73
Myths about the Application Process....................83
Myths about Financial Aid ..................................119
Myths about Other Financial College Issues ..157
Myths about Making the Decision and
Preparing for School ........................................173
Myths about Last-Minute Preparations
before Starting ..................................................197
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Myths about Moving In........................................213
Final Thoughts..................................................229
Index......................................................................233
About the Author..................................................247
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A T B :
BOUT HIS OOK
A R ’ G
EADER S UIDE
What follows is a handbook—a guide, a tool—for
high school students in search of a college where they
can be admitted and succeed. Parents and others
interested in the college search will also find this
volume informative.
You will be reviewing 75 common myths about
the college application and admission process, as
well as the truth behind the myth. I want to share
with you what I have learned in my nearly fifty
years as student, teacher, dean, and college presi-
dent to help you make informed decisions in your
college search.
The book is organized in a roughly chronological
order, from college shopping through the first day of
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viii DR. JERRY ISRAEL
class. However, you are not required to read this
book from cover to cover, although you may find it
useful to read through the whole book once first and
then dip in and out to find relevant information at
the right time in the search process.
The 75 myths and the reality for each are
summarized in boldface at the beginning of each
subsection. They are also organized and connected
in chapters based on their relevance to a larger issue
of the college search process.
One way to attack the material included might be
to thumb through the pages, reading only the intro-
ductory statements one after another. If a particular
myth seems relevant, timely, or for that matter
disturbing, you can then choose to review the expla-
nation that follows. These details become, if you
will, almost like footnotes to the myths and realities
they explain.
There is little information in this volume that
higher education leaders don’t know. For whatever
reason, however, they have been somewhat reluc-
tant to share much of it with their consumers in the
general public. Colleges have a good record to share.
Their mission is to help students find their stories to
tell. There is no reason not to pull back the curtain
and let others in. Enjoy and learn from what follows.
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I Y H T
F OU AVE IME
J T M ,
FOR UST WO YTHS
H T A
ERE HEY RE
Myth 1: It is a seller’s market in which
colleges have all the control.
Reality: It is a buyer’s market where you
have many good choices.
A few brand-name schools can call all their own shots.
They get more unsolicited applications than they can
even read and basically pick the class they want
regardless of the price they charge (which is usually
extraordinarily high and far more than needed to