College Admission

Preparation -- that's the theme for the New York Times annual Symposium on College Admission. We'll be covering grades, testing, essays, "fit", affordability, how to research colleges, and exactly how relevant all those scarey headlines about hyper-selectivity are.

Please join me in conversation with Amy Carr of the Chicago Tribune and author Helene Tragos Stelian this Saturday at the Printers Row Lit Fest. We'll be talking getting into college -- from grades and testing and visits to what not to pack as you head off to the next four fabulous years of your life. No ticket necessary! Just come on down to the Dearborn Room at Hotel Blake at 2:30 p.m. Further details here. 

My review of the new parenting book from former Stanford dean of fresmen Julie Lythcott-Haims appeared in the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Review. Whether you're the parent of a toddler, teen or twenty-something, it's worth a read!

All parents are amateurs. So we turn to the "experts" to answer our questions about vaccinations and sleep schedules and developmental milestones, as well as the more cosmic queries we wrestle with: Will my child be happy? Will my child fit in? Will my child succeed?

How many times have you heard college-bound 18-year-olds and their parents weave the randomness story about college admission?

"It's sheer luck."

"It's unfair."

"It's a roll of the dice."

But is it? As the public conversation circles the admission decisions rolling in, it's a good time to look at the way the cookie actually crumbles -- or how admission decisions are really made.