College Advice Books: Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day

One of the best college advice books on the market, Elizabeth Wissner-Gross' "Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day" actually works. It unveils how college admissions officers think and what they're looking for in an admissions essay, and the "Be an Admissions Officer" exercise is particularly helpful. And even if your child had an actual childhood, thereby nixing any hope of writing the essay that starts "As the Nobel committee announced my name...," she can still write an impressive, attention-grabbing composition that sends all the right messages - in less than 5 hours. Highly recommended.

Everyone knows that a really good college admissions essay isn't written an hour before deadline. Ideally, your child spends the summer before senior year writing 12 of them - on a variety of topics, including her Nobel prize, her work founding orphanages on Mars, and her best-selling novel - so she can spend months revising and polishing them to perfection.

Yeah, right. Getting your kid to sit down and write just one can be such a frustrating experience, it might actually be worth it to hire someone else to do the nagging for you. For many parents, that's half the appeal of pricey private college admissions counselors. Better idea: drop $15 on this book.

College admissions expert Elizabeth Wissner-Gross, author of "What Colleges Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You to Know)," has penned what may be one of the most helpful college advice books around. In six, straight forward chapters, Wissner-Gross walks you through what admissions officers are looking for, how to pick a topic and structure the essay, and then slam bam, write it right now. And it works stunningly well.

It's a totally different approach to essay writing, one that looks to subtext and inner messages first. And it requires a leap of faith in the beginning. Do not skip around in the book. Do not pick a topic before chapter 4. Squelch your Type-A-ish instincts to get on with things, quash your jaded cynicism over gaming the system and start at chapter 1, which explains the rules of admissions essays. Play the role of admissions officer in chapter 2 and score some essays. And suddenly - suddenly! - the game is clear. Picking the right topic becomes a no-brainer, and writing it is no problem when you have the structure. The first half of the book, by the way, deals with the most commonly used Common App essay prompt - "Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk ... and its impact on you." Chapters 7-11, which are optional reading, deal with the other essay possibilities.

Wissner-Gross isn't over-promising when she says a high school senior can brainstorm, write and polish a terrific college admissions essay in under five hours, including snack breaks. It's true. And this volume may be one of the most useful college advice books on the market.