Getting Ready for College

Getting Ready for College (Everything you need to know before you go from bike locks to laundry baskets, financial aid to health care) by Polly Bercnt Random House (New York, 2003) $12.95, 209 pages, paperback

Polly Berent created Getting Ready for College from her self-published pamphlets, of the same name, written in I 993 and 1997. She got the idea for her book after her son returned from his first year of college, wishing he had known certain things beforehand. In talking with her son and his friends, Berent attempted to create a practical guide to preparing for the college experience. She followed up with twenty of her sons friends and "with scores of others long after my son and his friends had graduated."

The book starts with a checklist of items to pack. This is a good basic list of essential (and not so essential) items every student needs. However, colleges and universities usually provide this information free of charge. The book is loaded with useful "tip" boxes and "true story" segments. The true stories, recounted by the students, are not just positive fluff about how great college is. She includes stories about students who learn the hard way about theft on campus, and other unfortunate aspects of campus life. Although useful, this portion of the book seems more suited for the original pamphlet format.

Two problems with expanding a pamphlet to a full-length book plague Berent throughout. First, she mixes audiences. The book is clearly written for the student; however, in several places, she shifts to the parent audience without warning.

Second, Berent uses a light, informal tone throughout the book. While making the book easy to read, the tone and nature of the information date the book. Also, as things change on campuses, such as technology and safety regulations, the book will become outof-date. A more general guide would better serve students.

This tone does not mix well with serious issues, such as eating disorders. While Berent acknowledges she is not an expert and advises students to find the counseling center, the serious subjects get only a paragraph's worth of mention in an otherwise upbeat book.

Berent also throws in several diagrams that seem to depart from the tone of the book. She provides a daily planner, monthly expense sheet and loft-building directions, in addition to a "connections" figure to help students. The daily planner and expense sheet seem unlikely to be used in the format provided. The instructions on how to build a loft are helpful, but this information can be found in many other locations. The connections figure asks the students to fill in each circle with the name of someone who supports them and to leave some circles blank to fill in new friends names. This section of the book lost me as an adult, professional reading it, I can only imagine what a high school senior will think. Berent needs to stick to the light, fun tone she establishes early in the book and to avoid sounding philosophical.

Most of the advice Berent dispenses is good, practical information. However, in one section she advises students to avoid getting a part-time job until after their first year. Studies have proven countless times that students do better academically when they have a part-time job. In addition, many departments on campus prefer to hire freshman students likely to stay with that office for their entire time on campus. This, like many other sections, offers no concrete reason to wait to adjust to their new environment. Clearly, Berent has not done any research on many of these subjects and is simply offering her opinion.

Getting Ready for College is an easy, quick read, but not worth the $12.95 for information found in many other places for free. Berent should stick to pamphlet writing. There are better books on the market for helping students and parents get ready for the college experience.

Reviewed by Tricia Georgi Howard, admissions counselor at Bowling Green State University, OH

Copyright National Association of College Admissions Counselors Fall 2004
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