Education
What You Don't Know Can Keep You Out of College
By
Aug 12, 2008 - 7:52:14 AM

A Top Consultant Explains the 13 Fatal Application Mistakes and Why Character Is the Key To College Admissions


(HealthNewsDigest.com) - When Don Dunbar was a college counselor for Phillips Academy, he had the unique opportunity to sit in on meetings with the nation’s top colleges as they decided whether or not to admit his students—a privilege no longer granted to prep school counselors. Don held onto the valuable insights of those discussions and discovered a little-known key to college admissions that still holds true today. Many college counselors refer to the college application process as a “crap shoot” because of the many qualified applicants who all look alike, but Dunbar has identified the factors aside from grades, test scores, and extracurriculars that colleges want. In short, they want something more: They want applicants with character.

We all have an idea of the definition of character, but in WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN KEEP YOU OUT OF COLLEGE: A Top Consultant Explains the 13 Fatal Application Mistakes and Why Character Is the Key to College Admissions (Gotham Books; July 5, 2007; $15.00), Dunbar enlightens his readers as to what character means from an admissions officer’s point of view. Admissions officers have tremendous integrity, and to them, character equals what a student will contribute to his or her school over the next four years.

Working within these guidelines, Dunbar redefines the “rules” of applications seen in other college guides. The clichéd “Just be yourself” becomes “Show them your best self by connecting with your interviewer.” The tired “Breadth over depth” transforms into “Show schools the areas where you feel the most passion.”

Colleges want active, caring, productive students, but how do applicants manifest those qualities subtly in an interview or an essay? Using terms that high schoolers can understand and examples from his thirty years of working with young adults, Dunbar explains the concept of character and how to make it apparent in an application. He shows readers how to avoid the thirteen fatal character mistakes that even the brightest make when applying to college, surpassing other college guides through his honesty and direct approach.

The fatal mistakes Don Dunbar identifies and offers solution to are:

Not understanding what it is to be “prepared”
Being yourself
Lack of passion
Misunderstanding leadership
Appearing as a threat
Social insensitivity
Dependency
Negativity
Exclusivity
Narrow thinking
Wasting special qualifications
Unwilling to learn from rough times
Waiting for your life to happen

Don’s private clients pay $7,000 for his expert advice, but with WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN KEEP YOU OUT OF COLLEGE, the “key” is available to everyone. Why succumb to the crap shoot of college applications? By relying on character and Don’s thirteen principles, both applicants and parents can experience a process that is far less stressful and far more rewarding. Amazon has given the book a five star rating.

http://www.dunbarconsultants.com/

About the Authors

Don Dunbar is a former admissions consultant for Philips Academy, Andover, and he is one of the nation’s premier experts on the college admissions process. Over thirty years, Don also counseled at Weston High School in Massachusetts, St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire and Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. He founded Dunbar Educational Consultants, which has helped clients gain acceptance to all of America’s top colleges and universities. Dunbar lives in Fairfield, Connecticut.

www.HealthNewsDigest.com

© Copyright by HealthNewsDigest.com