两本揭开进入美国顶尖大学秘诀的新书

      什么样的申请人在顶尖大学录取过程中最具有竞争力？顶尖大学的招生办公室究竟考虑申请人的哪些因素？为什么爸爸是工厂工人妈妈是残疾人的申请人构成优势案例, 而爸爸是耶鲁本科毕业哈佛商学院毕业妈妈持有布朗大学博士学位的申请人构成劣势案例？前达特茅斯学院的招生办官员Michele A. Hernández的新书《Acing the College Application》为你解密申请美国顶尖大学的秘诀。

      如果你的目标是进入美国顶尖大学，那就从高中一年级甚至初中开始做准备。优秀高中虽然有一流的教学大纲，师资力量与教学设备的硬件， 但却缺乏给你一个不可拒绝的简历的结构。如何构建一个进入美国顶尖大学的一流简历？如何提前做好充分准备而不至于在申请大学时手忙脚乱？教育战略家Elizabeth Wissner-Gross在她的新书《What High Schools Don't Tell You》为你设计未来。

      今天《华尔街日报》对两本书的书评：

A Desperate Need for Acceptance

By NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY， The Wall Street Journal
January 3, 2008

Given that, with the arrival of the new year, college applications are now flooding into admissions offices all over the country, it might be a good time to reflect on the absurdity of the whole college-admissions process. Take this passage from Michele Hernández's "Acing the College Application," where she assesses the chances of a high-school student getting into a college of his choice. "Best case: Neither of your parents attended college at all, your father is a factory worker, and your mom is on disability. . . . Worst case: Your father went to Yale as an undergraduate and then Harvard Business School and is now an investment banker and your mom went to Brown, holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and works as a research chemist."

《华尔街日报》书评全文链接

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119931385884163383.html

Acing the College Application
By Michele A. Hernández
(Ballantine Books, 262 pages, $14.95)

What High Schools Don't Tell You
By Elizabeth Wissner-Gross
(Hudson Street, 300 pages, $23.95)