Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 A must read for college applicants August 31, 2008
Buy it. Read it. Pass it on.
Great advice contained in a perfectly readable and entertaining 125 page book. In just a couple of hours students, and their parents, can get their heads screwed on straight before sitting down to create their personal masterpiece.
Although written years ago, the advice is timeless and the book is a proven classic. I almost didn't buy it because I thought it might be dated, but, aside from a minor fictional anecdote near the beginning, it feels current and up to date.
As the author points out, the advice within is useful for all writing, not just for the one time college application essay.
Buy it. Read it. Pass it on.
 broad August 24, 2008
good book (although some dated references) and great examples of types of essays with clear instructions. very readable and engaging.
best guide for college application essay-writing August 5, 2008
The personal essay is one of the less important factors in a college application. Your high school transcript and test scores are paramount, and the author of this book, a former college admissions dean himself, doesn't pretend that the essay counts for more than it really does. However, the personal essay can be a tie-breaker between two similarly-qualified applicants, so it pays to put time and care into the essay section, even though it can be the most time-consuming, challenging part of an application.
Back in my frenzied college application days, I read a couple of college application books. Most were mind-numbingly boring, both in style and content. This book, however, was a delight to read and by far the best of the lot. It's the only college application advice book that I was willing to buy for myself and that I would be willing to read again. I've still got my copy. It's witty, elegant, focused, and wise, both artistic and practical; everything a good book (of any kind) should be. It transcends mere advice/strategy and is really about the pursuit of excellence.
It has proved useful even beyond those hectic high school days, because Bauld knows that to be able to write a good college application essay, one has to write well. That means the essay you submit to those various colleges and universities should ideally be something that a person would choose to read in their spare time, or at the very least, that reading it should not involve mental pain for the harried admissions office worker to whom it is assigned. A tall order, perhaps. The personal essay is an art, and Bauld includes both excellent examples of essays both from high-school age college applicants and from masters of the form such as George Orwell, H.L. Mencken, and E.B. White. He also shows you what cliches to avoid, and what writing mistakes are the most common.
You will be inspired to write a better essay if you read this book. Also, as a coda, yeah, I did get into the school that was my first choice, though my initial joy faded into more complicated and contradictory feelings over time. But I don't regret that I made my best effort.
Grand Slam May 27, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
For the college bound and everyone else, this concise, well-written primer
holds the potential of dramatically improving your writing skills. Writing
with humor, common sense, economy of language, and a wonderfully entertaining
selection of illustrative essays, Harry has gone a long way to help us reach
that goal. This book by itself of course isn't getting anyone into college
with the possible exception of Harry Bauld. Harry can have his pick, though
I don't imagine returning to college offers much allure for a former athlete
who's lost a step and can no longer bend his unforgiving back.
Harry has done several tours in University Admissions and knows whereof he
speaks: The personal essay is how you tell them who you are, how you distinguish
yourself from the ever-multiplying hordes. When your future at the University
of Choice is being weighed, another asset in the plus column couldn't hurt. I
originally bought the book for my college-bound daughter, read it, loved it,
and in a few weeks will be substituting for Harry (I am also bauld) at a family
seminar in our kitchen. At this juncture my wife and I seem much more interested
than our daughter.
Fantastic! October 27, 2005
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
Do not apply to college without reading this book! At last something really different yet supremely helpful too on how to get into the best schools. Bravo Mr. Bauld, from far away Greece!
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