Summer Reading: Admission

Novelist Elizabeth Mosier served as acting director of admissions for Bryn Mawr's Class of 2006. Her recent book, Admission was reviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to the review, the author "...makes the personal universal by connecting her character's dilemma to larger issues that concern us all: how we will educate our children and how we want to live..."

The review continues, "... The college selection system matters - to legacy and first-generation applicants alike - because it shapes preparation into the form that garners reward. The revelation of Admission, which Portia is compelled by her position to explain to her partner, Princeton faculty members, and exasperated parents, is that "the much-maligned system . . . was not about the applicant at all. It was about the institution. It was about delivering to the trustees, and to a lesser extent the faculty, a United Nations of scholars, an Olympiad of athletes, a conservatory of artists and musicians, a Great Society of strivers, and a treasury of riches so idiosyncratic and ill defined that the Office of Admission would not know how to go about looking for them and could not hope to find them if they suddenly stopped turning up of their own accord."

Contact The College Trail for more information on guiding your student through the college admissions process.

How many AP classes is the right number for college?

How many AP classes should your student take throughout his high school career to be admitted to the college of his choice? The answer is that it varies, according to a recent article in the Examiner. Since most schools offer a different AP course load, college admissions officers do not look for a specific amount of AP classes. Rather, they look at what AP classes your student’s school offers and compares that to your student’s schedule. They want to know if your student has challenged himself at that particular school and taken advantage of all academic opportunities. So be sure to take another look at your student’s schedule over the summer to determine if they are taking classes that will show any college admissions officer that he has taken on a challenging schedule with a variety of AP courses, from AP Calculus to AP Language.