Winning the Heart of the College Admissions Dean: An Expert’s Advice for Getting into College
By Joyce Slayton Mitchell
Ten Speed Press (Berkeley, CA) 2005
$14.95, 194 pages, soft cover
Reviewed by Shelley Miller
Associate Director of College Counseling
Baylor School (TN)
Joyce Slayton Mitchell heads straight to the heart of the matter––no pun intended––in Winning the Heart of the College Admissions Dean. While articles professing advice about the college search and selection process abound, Mitchell’s work is set apart by her direct-to-student and her overriding emphasis, “personalize, personalize, personalize.” Her primary audience is college-bound juniors and seniors. However, the context of her discussion is appropriate for all high school students willing to take the initiative to follow the steps presented and any college counselors wishing to gain wisdom from an experienced colleague.
If the title does not pull the reader in, Mitchell’s stories, insights and examples surely will. Mitchell makes no qualms about emphasizing the need for students to take charge of their college search process, and she does a nice job of providing personal stories to which students can relate. She details the process students will face from beginning to end, and includes helpful tools to get students started from example questionnaires and organizational charts to a useful glossary of terms. Moreover, Mitchell makes the process more real for the reader, as she shares stories and advice from her own students’ journeys.
At the heart of the discussion is Mitchell’s emphasis on authenticity and individuality. With the admission process becoming more competitive and outcomes less certain, Mitchell’s book provides “how-to” tips for students to create an application that is unique rather than one of many. Self-assessment for Mitchell involves reflection upon one’s values, character, personality, academic interests, activities, and expectations; however, successful and thorough self-reflection takes students beyond the surface level to answering meaningful questions that influence what a student looks for in a college and how a student presents him or herself as an applicant. An anthropologist in her own right, Mitchell reminds the reader about the valuable information that can be attained from merely listening to and watching others interact, and she encourages students to keep data from all observations made and all questions answered during a college visit.
Mitchell believes the final college choice should be made in April of the senior year when students know their options, not in the fall when the college search is still evolving. She makes a great argument to students, parents and college counselors alike, for creating an unranked list of favorite schools, and thereby keeping the proverbial doors open to all possibilities. Legitimizing Mitchell’s perspective are the opinions of college deans’ and directors’ who touch on nearly all topics from the importance of students not narrowing their college focus to soon to how colleges make admission decisions and what truly makes an applicant stand out.
Organized in a logical progression from the self-assessment phase to the application and admission stage, Mitchell’s book, while occasionally repetitive, flows well, ending with a thoughtful section dedicated solely to parents in the process. In this ever-changing world of admission, Mitchell reflects on the stresses parents and students face and how the admission process is different now than it was for the parents of today’s college-bound teenagers. Her timelines and charts are accurate and useful, giving the reader much insight on how to apply the ideas presented. College counselors will also appreciate Mitchell’s reminder that students need to be as respectful and friendly to their guidance counselors as they are to the admission deans they are trying to impress. Moreover, she stays at the top of her game with her latest revision by addressing recent changes in college admission, including the adoption of Single-Choice Early Action and the release of the new college entrance exams.
A useful guide for curious students and anxious parents, and a resource from which new and old college counselors can be refreshed and enlightened, Mitchell’s Winning the Heart of the College Admissions Dean is an approachable, easily-followed discussion on making a unique statement and successfully navigating the college process in the 21st century.
Back to NACAC's Current Book Reviews.