Must Have For Your Library

“Elisa recommends these books for every college-bound student”

Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps, Second Edition: Crafting a Winning Personal Statement

Highly Recommended

A guide to crafting a meaningful and polished college admissions essay that gets students into the school of their dreams by expressing their unique personality, strengths, and goals.

Stand out from the crowd with a memorable, meaningful personal statement that will capture the attention of college admissions officers.  Writing a college admissions essay is no easy task—but with college essay coach and New York Times contributor Alan Gelb’s accessible and encouraging step-by-step instructions, you’ll be able to write an honest, one-of-a-kind essay that really shines.

Gelb’s ten-step approach has garnered great results for the students who have tried it, many of whom were accepted into their dream schools (Harvard, Brown, Yale, and more). This to-the-point handbook shows you how to identify an engaging essay topic, and then teaches you how to use creative writing techniques to craft a narrative that expresses your unique personality, strengths, and goals. Whether you’re an A-student looking for an extra boost or a less-confident writer who needs more intensive help, Gelb’s reassuring and concise guidance will help you every step of the way, from your initial draft to final revision. In the end, you will have a well-polished, powerful, and profound personal statement that you can feel proud of—a college essay that doesn’t feel “pre-fab,” but is a real reflection of your own individuality.

The Official SAT Study Guide, 2016 Edition

Highly Recommended

The Official SAT Study Guide includes 4 official SAT® practice tests created by the test maker. As part of the College Board’s commitment to transparency, all four practice tests are available on the College Board’s website, but The Official SAT Study Guide is the only place to find them in print along with over 300 pages of additional instruction, guidance, and test information.

Launching in March 2016, the new SAT introduces new question formats and content. Be ready with strategies and up-to-date information straight from the team that created the exam. Students will gain valuable experience and raise their confidence by taking practice tests, learning about test structure, and gaining a deeper understanding of what is tested on the SAT.

There’s also a complete chapter on the new PSAT/NMSQT®, which is aligned to the content and scores of the new SAT. The new PSAT/NMSQT also has over $180 million of scholarships connected to student performance.

The Official ACT Prep Guide, 2016 – 2017

Highly Recommended

The Official ACT Prep Guide 2016-2017 is the bestselling resource for students gearing up for the ACT test. This comprehensive guide walks you through the entire test experience, from registration through results, with expert advice straight from the test’s creators. You’ll find effective test-taking strategies, tips for boosting your score on the English, math, reading, and science tests, and detailed information on the enhanced optional writing test. Three new full-length practice tests help you assess your readiness so you can spot weak areas well in advance, and the ACT experts provide valuable advice on preparing both mentally and physically so you can manage anxiety and be fully confident on test day. You also get free online bonus content to help you start college on the right foot, including tips for preparing an application that gets noticed, getting into your first-choice school, being a successful student, and much more.

The 2016-2017 version of the ACT guide includes a number of changes, including reading test sections with two shorter prose passages and the enhanced writing test’s prompts. This guide provides a preview of what to expect for the entireexam, so you can go into the test feeling fully prepared and ready to excel.

College Essay Essentials: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Successful College Admissions Essay 

Highly Recommended

So you’re a high school senior given the task of writing a 650-word personal statement for your college application. Do you tell the story of your life, or a story from your life? Do you choose a single moment? If so, which one? The options seem endless.

Lucky for you, they’re not. College counselor Ethan Sawyer (aka The College Essay Guy) will show you that there are only four (really, four!) types of college admission essays. And all you have to do to figure out which type is best for you is answer two simple questions:

1. Have you experienced significant challenges in your life?
2. Do you know what you want to be or do in the future?

With these questions providing the building blocks for your essay, Sawyer guides you through the rest of the process, from choosing a structure to revising your essay, and answers the big questions that have probably been keeping you up at night: How do I brag in a way that doesn’t sound like bragging? and How do I make my essay, like, deep?

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges

Highly Recommended

Colleges That Change Lives is a college educational guide, originally by longtime student advocate and former New York Times education editor Loren Pope. It was first published in 1996, with a second edition in 2000, a third edition in 2006 and a fourth edition in 2013. It concerns college admissions in the United States.

The third edition profiles 40 choices for liberal arts colleges that, according to Pope, offer as much, if not more, than Ivy League schools: “The phrase ‘Ivy League education’ is an oxymoron when compared to the benefactions to mind and soul the colleges in this book bestow. Not only are they better, but they want you, and you will love them for making a new and better you. Your satisfaction will be lifelong.

STEM Gems: How 44 Women Shine in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and How You Can Too! 

Highly Recommended

Give girls and young women role models in STEM, and open their eyes to a world of opportunity! Tired of seeing the same careers foisted upon women in TV, movies and magazines? Chemical engineer Stephanie Espy, a graduate of MIT, UC Berkeley and Emory University, tells the stories of 44 inspiring women in STEM to show girls and young women around the world a new set of women heroes to look up to. The statistics for women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers are just plain sad.

In recent years, fewer than 20% of college graduates in engineering and computer science were women. While stereotypes pervade about women in these fields, the truth is that most girls have never even heard of these careers and are not aware of the wide range of options that exist.