Get into College

Book by Rachel Korn & Jennifer Kabat
Review by Molly Morin
Academic Advising Center
Chapman University (Orange, CA)


Korn and Kabat’s Get into College is a great resource tool that prospective college students, parents, high schools counselors, and academic advisors working with students to make the transition process from high to college can benefit greatly from. This resource can be especially helpful for academic advisors working with first-generation college students as it provides an overview of the college admissions process, financial aid, and pre-college tips to help students make a successful transition into college life. What makes this book unique is that it provides stories and tips from admissions officers, current students, and parents of college students who have successfully navigated the college admissions process and are now enrolled in a four-year institution. This resource provides over 1,000 tips with voices from over 100 colleges and universities. 

As the college admissions process continues to grow increasingly competitive, it is key for students to be aware of how to put their best foot forward and take time to prepare and do their research. Students have many options of schools to apply to but Korn and Kabat remind students of the importance of applying to schools you would actually attend. Institutional fit is key and best explored through campus tours, connecting with current college students, and alumni before making the decision to apply. 

The college admissions process can be very daunting when you are not aware of the key components including the admissions essay, SAT/ACT, financial aid, grades, extracurricular involvements, and letters of recommendation. Within each chapter of Get into College Korn and Kabat outline each of these components by providing their own insight and real advice from current college students. This resource can be used by academic advisors to help students create goals and timelines for each of these components of the application process. This resource can also help academic advisors alleviate students’ fears and anxieties they may have about college by answering every question they would need to know about this process.

This book is geared toward students applying to four-year colleges/universities out of high school. Although this resource discussed options students can pursue during a gap year, for students who may begin their journey in higher education at the community college setting and transfer to a four-year institution additional tips could be provided. What I appreciate about this resource is that it encourages students to pursue optimistically realistic options when selecting where they should apply including options that are the ‘reach’ schools and ‘safety’ schools.

Overall, Korn and Kabat have compiled a very strong resource to provide students with the ABCs of the college admissions process. Advisors working with pre-college programs will find this resource very helpful and can adapt this material for workshops, curriculum, and appointments with students. This resource can also assist parents in learning about how they can support their student with this process while allowing their student to take the lead. Korn and Kabat close this text by summarizing a pre-college to do list for students to assist them in making a successful transition. A theme that is permeated throughout this resource is that the college admissions process is not something that should be taken on alone. The assistance and support of counselors, teachers, peers, and parents/family members is key to a student’s success. This is wise advice that students can take with them to college and beyond. 

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Get into College. (2009). Book by Rachel Korn & Jennifer Kabat (Eds.). Review by Molly Morin. Atlanta, GA: Hundreds of Heads. 560 pp., $17.95, (paperback), ISBN # 978-1-933512-15-0