8 First Choices: An Expert's Strategies for Getting into College

Review\nHARVARD “Mitchell offers many great insights into the complexity of the college admissions process and what should be the overriding concerns of the vital issue of the match between the student and the college.”
—William R. Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions\nCONNECTICUT COLLEGE “Joyce Slayton Mitchell has won my heart with this thoughtful and practical guide to the college admissions process. Her advice is straight up and free of gimmicks—a rarity found in today’s college admissions resource books.”
—Martha C. Merrill, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid\nNORTHWESTERN “Trust Joyce Slayton Mitchell. Her advice gives everyone—students, their parents, and their counselors—the ‘can do’ confidence to get through college admissions without meltdown. Read this book in sections and read some of it out loud. You’ll like what you hear. Ms. Mitchell knows the hearts—and minds—of students and their parents.”
—Sheppard Shanley, Senior Associate Director of Admissions\nLYNN UNIVERSITY “It’s a how-to-with heart—less about gimmicks and more about caring for the student and his or her experience of the admissions process. The approach is quite sane and really very helpful.”
—Delsie Z. Pillips, VP for Enrollment Management\nCARLETON “Mitchell provides a strong personal advocacy for student decision making in the college-search process. If you can compare the search for the right college in 21st-century America to a wild, white water rafting ride, then you want this author as your river guide. There are…uncertainties, unseen rocks, and too many rapids among the many options facing young people in choosing a just-right college. Ms. Mitchell places the decision-making process squarely in the hands of…student[s] and provides the most useful tips for guiding their choice process. It is well done and [a] must read for every college-bound student.”
—Paul Thiboutot, Dean of Admissions\nSMITH "Eight First Choices makes a scientist out of the high school senior who sets out to collect data until she finds her eight perfect matches. America’s vast college resources are highlighted as this book shows students how to measure all of our different campus cultures.”
—Audrey Y. Smith, Director of Admission\nUNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN “This is one of the finest publications about college admissions that has come out in some time. The author was able to apply her extensive knowledge of the real issues that create anxiety among students and parents and artfully provide an effective road map to help students navigate their way through the college admission process.”
—Ted Spencer, Director of Admissions\nMACALESTER “Mitchell offers a primer on how to help the deans get to know you. She convincingly makes the point that the key to ending up with a satisfying final college choice relies on the student’s approach to the process—critical self-examination, thorough research, complete investigation, plenty of organization, and an open mind throughout.”
—Lorne T. Robinson, Dean of Admissions\nDUKE “For many years Joyce Slayton Mitchell has given outstanding advice to families seeking guidance through the college admissions maze. And we in the admissions profession have enjoyed her valuable insights, sharp opinions, and clear writing as she has examined the college selection process. This thoughtful and well-organized book, which distills her years of experience, is no exception.”
—Christoph Guttentag, Dean of Admissions\nDICKINSON COLLEGE “After thirty years in college admissions, including Colgate and Johns Hopkins, I know that highly selective college admissions has become superficial—colleges are now arrogant (‘maybe you just might be good enough to get in, maybe not’) and the students are myopic (‘I must get into an Ivy university or I will be nothing’). And in my thirty years, I have read countless books claiming an insider’s view and offering advice. They have way too much clutter for profit and are too short on sound counsel that is student centered. Enter Joyce S