Study Aids

Offers twenty-four ideas to help with college selection, admissions, and financial aid, including attending an online college fair, highlighting talents, and registering on official college Web sites.

Expert advice helps you get into the business school of your choiceEarning an MBA from a leading business school can be an important career boost. But first you have to get accepted. This straight-talking guide is dedicated to helping you conquer the business school admission process. Here, Phil and Carol Carpenter show you, step-by-step, how to confidently develop your own winning marketing campaign, including:
* Tips on matching your strengths and interests with those of your target schools
* Candid interviews with admissions directors and alumni
* Advice on writing focused, persuasive essays
* Twenty actual applicant essays on frequently asked topics --with frank evaluations of why these essays worked
* Ratings of the top programs from U.S. News & World Report


""This easy-to-read guide demystifies the MBA admissions process. It provides a detailed and useful strategy for all MBA applicants by illustrating ways in which applicants can exert control and influence over the process."" --

""Candid and comprehensive...the Carpenters write with the voice of experience and share practical knowledge rather than generalized suggestions."" --Jon Megibow, Director of Admissions University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration

Expert advice helps you get into the business school of your choiceEarning an MBA from a leading business school can be an important career boost. But first you have to get accepted. This straight-talking guide is dedicated to helping you conquer the business school admission process. Here, Phil and Carol Carpenter show you, step-by-step, how to confidently develop your own winning marketing campaign, including:
* Tips on matching your strengths and interests with those of your target schools
* Candid interviews with admissions directors and alumni
* Advice on writing focused, persuasive essays
* Twenty actual applicant essays on frequently asked topics --with frank evaluations of why these essays worked
* Ratings of the top programs from U.S. News & World Report


""This easy-to-read guide demystifies the MBA admissions process. It provides a detailed and useful strategy for all MBA applicants by illustrating ways in which applicants can exert control and influence over the process."" --

""Candid and comprehensive...the Carpenters write with the voice of experience and share practical knowledge rather than generalized suggestions."" --Jon Megibow, Director of Admissions University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration

Your One-Step Resource for Choosing the Right College, Getting in and Paying the Bill

• Inside tips on admissions
• Profiles of 100 top colleges
• Hundreds of scholarship sources

How do you pick the right college? Can you get in? And if you get in, how will you pay for it? Choosing a college is the most important—and daunting—decision facing today's high school students. Unfortunately, when it comes time to narrow down the choices and throw the perfect admissions punch, young people are often left to navigate the tricky admissions process on their own.

Now, from the nation's top African American college guidance service, comes help at last—a comprehensive, one-stop guide to finding the right college, getting in, paying the bill, and much more. With insider tips on the entire admissions process, including advice on choosing a school, getting into the elite colleges, writing a powerful essay, preparing for the SATs, and packaging the application, the book shows students how to package themselves. No wonder college counselors nationwide look to Black Excel for resource materials. A one-of-a-kind manual for success, African American Student's College Guide also provides:

• In-depth profiles of the top 100 colleges for African American students
• Black Excel's exclusive list of hundreds of scholarships
• The "Get-the-Money Guide"
• Extraordinary sample essays
• Invaluable Internet resources

Whether you're a superstar student shooting for the Ivy League or a high school underachiever who needs a "second chance," African American Student's College Guide will give you that much-needed edge-including the "real rules," insider's tips, and how to beat the admissions odds.

Your One-Step Resource for Choosing the Right College, Getting in and Paying the Bill
* Inside tips on admissions
* Profiles of 100 top colleges
* Hundreds of scholarship sources


How do you pick the right college? Can you get in? And if you get in, how will you pay for it? Choosing a college is the most important--and daunting--decision facing today's high school students. Unfortunately, when it comes time to narrow down the choices and throw the perfect admissions punch, young people are often left to navigate the tricky admissions process on their own.

Now, from the nation's top African American college guidance service, comes help at last--a comprehensive, one-stop guide to finding the right college, getting in, paying the bill, and much more. With insider tips on the entire admissions process, including advice on choosing a school, getting into the elite colleges, writing a powerful essay, preparing for the SATs, and packaging the application, the book shows students how to package themselves. No wonder college counselors nationwide look to Black Excel for resource materials. A one-of-a-kind manual for success, African American Student's College Guide also provides:
* In-depth profiles of the top 100 colleges for African American students
* Black Excel's exclusive list of hundreds of scholarships
* The "Get-the-Money Guide"
* Extraordinary sample essays
* Invaluable Internet resources


Whether you're a superstar student shooting for the Ivy League or a high school underachiever who needs a "second chance," African American Student's College Guide will give you that much-needed edge-including the "real rules," insider's tips, and how to beat the admissions odds. BLACK EXCEL: THE COLLEGE HELP NETWORK is the nation's premier college help service for African Americans. Founded in 1988, it has garnered continuous praise for its personal counseling services, information packets, and its award-winning web site

Complete Guide to Academic & College Planning for Teens

A must for every high school student." —Christie Barnes, author of What Every Parent Needs to Know About College Admissions

The College Bound Planner is your step-by-step comprehensive college planning guide to organize every step of your high school education while preparing smart goals for college.

Get your teens ready now! College may seem far away but thinking ahead and understanding how things work will help your teen prepare. In these uncertain times, parents and students are feeling even more anxious about how to approach college readiness. This book provides advice and guidance starting at freshman year of high school up through senior year. This step-by-step guidance empowers students to take control of their academic futures and thrive, no matter what the future brings.

Develop skills for a lifetime of success. The College Bound Planner helps teens master skills including note taking, studying, test taking, and writing essays and research papers. Being college ready is also about having life skills such as time management, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, and communication, as well as the discipline and drive needed to succeed. This college planner is the best college planner to get a teen ready for college.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Academic direction and academic planning tips
• Good study skills and life habits to set yourself up to succeed
• Ways to stay organized and how to do proper goal setting
• Guides to prioritizing your personal goals while participating in extracurriculars
• How and when to apply for college using proper college planning
• What to do to get ready for your first day as an undergraduate college student

If you liked What Color Is Your Parachute?, Fiske Guide to Colleges 2021, or Teens' Guide to College & Career Planning, you’ll love The College Bound Planner.

The Truth About Career Planning and the College Search Process

“…the go-to guide for students to find the right path, at the right time, for the right tuition amount to lead to their best career outcome.” ―Anna Costaras and Gail Liss, authors of The College Bound Organizer

#1 New Release in Education Research

Society's guiding “truths” about higher education are now incorrect. In What Every Parent Needs to Know About College Admissions, Christie Barnes helps parents and students alike cut through the noise and find the best school, which might not always be the most prestigious or expensive one.

College planning re-examined. All economic levels are getting vastly incorrect information for college and career planning, leading to anxiety-ridden youth and crippling student debt. Less affluent students are being led to more expensive options and high achievers feel compelled to apply for college at the most prestigious institutions. But, whether it’s a state school, safety school, or public school―there are other options beside an overpriced private school. It could be, but it might not be.

A guidance counselor for parents. Learn that it’s not just about the “right” college, it’s about the “right fit” college. Using statistics, experts, and multi-factor analysis to clarify what should and should not be a worry in college planning, Barnes helps parents identify better, and often overlooked, options. In this guide, she dissects the top ten parental worries about  how to get into college, including college applications, college admissions, college requirements, and college acceptance.

Inside find:

• The first comprehensive individualized career and academic planning guide available to parents and teens
• Details on new innovative programs endorsed by schools, colleges, and HR departments
• A bonus “Academic Planning Guide”

If you enjoyed books like Launch, Prepared, or Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be, you’ll love What Every Parent Needs to Know About College Admissions.

Eliminate Your Student Loan Debt

Step-by-step approach to financial freedom: David Carlson is the author of the book Hustle Away Debt and founder of the millennial personal finance blog Young Adult Money. In Student Loan Solution David explains what student loan borrowers should be focusing on. He provides a 5-step approach to help you understand your loans, your options, and how to improve your greater financial life, while paying down your student loan debt. Learn how to take advantage of strategies that help you make more money, save more money, and ultimately pay down your student loans faster.

Everything you need to know about student loan debt: Student loans are complicated. College financial aid terms like “federal direct subsidized” and “GRAD Plus” mean little to most of us. Each type of student loan is slightly different, with its own set of rules and repayment options. Student Loan Solution explains everything you need to know about your student loans including how they work, repayment options and opportunities for loan forgiveness, and plans for managing and paying down your loans. David Carlson covers it all.

De-complicate your life: By the time you are done reading this book, you will understand student loans, gain control of your finances, and be armed with strategies to improve your finances.

Don't be a statistic: For millions of Americans, paying for college meant taking out loans. If you are one of the 70% of college graduates burdened with these loans, Student Loan Solution could change your life. Fight the student loans epidemic affecting 40 million borrowers―learn the best way to pay off the college degree you worked so hard to earn.

Student Loan Solution has the tools you need to start your student loans repayment with a bang. Learn how to:

• Pay off your student loan debt
• Personalize your student loan repayment plan
• Live a happier, financially smarter life

College Applications, College Admissions, and College Planning Guide

“Using The College Bound Organizer is one way to help you stay focused on what is really important.” —Edward B. Fiske, bestselling author of Fiske Guide to Colleges

#1 Best Seller in College Guides

The College Bound Organizer is your step-by-step comprehensive college planning guide to organize every step of the college application process from college search through college admission.

College admissions is tougher than ever.  Over 20 million people in the U.S. try to get into college each year. Each of these students applies to many schools—5, 10, perhaps as many as 20—and each of those applications has a daunting number of T’s to cross and I’s to dot. With standardized test taking and school visits, the college application essay to write and forms to fill out, there is so much to do. Applying to college is intimidating and overwhelming for both teenagers and parents.

College bound? The challenge is to be well informed, prepared, focused and organized throughout the multi-step college search and admission process. Your solution is The College Bound Organizer, the ultimate guide you effectively navigate this complicated and stressful process.

The College Bound Organizer helps you:

• Understand what admission officers are looking for in an applicant
• Prevent common mistakes students make on applications
• Build a personal profile
• Plan an individualized testing schedule
• Research colleges to identify good fit schools
• Develop a balanced list of schools
• Secure letters of recommendation
• Complete and submit applications accurately and on time
• Develop your college application essay
• Apply for financial aid and scholarships
• Ace interviews
• Sort and manage application results
• Make a final decision

If you have found books such as Teens' Guide to College & Career Planning, College Essay Essentials, or College Admission helpful, you are going to love The College Bound Organizer.

#1 Best Seller in High School Test Preparation, SSAT & COOP ─ Comprehensive boarding school guide

• What is boarding school really like?
• What are my chances of getting into U.S. boarding schools?
• How do I evaluate private schools vs. public schools?

What is boarding school really like? U.S. boarding schools offer a superb preparation for college bound students, but they are not for everyone. American Prep is the only comprehensive guide for parents and students interested in investigating, applying to, and succeeding at these great schools. Meticulously researched and thoughtfully written, American Prep is an essential guide through the world of U.S. boarding schools – their history and culture, their resources and support systems, their opportunities and challenges – and the only book that leads you through the entire prep school experience. You will learn about:

• Why boarding schools are increasingly valuable in the 21st century
• The pros and cons of private school vs public school
• How to select a school that is right for your student and your family
• How to navigate the admission process – detailed insider advice
• The emotional challenges of prep school for students and families – what to expect and when
• How to secure generous financial aid for prep school
• Student success on campus – getting in is only the first step

An insider's perspective on U.S. boarding schools: Award winning writer/critic Ronald Mangravite has multiple perspectives on the American prep school world. An alumnus of the Lawrenceville School, he is a current prep school parent, an alumni class officer, and an admissions volunteer. His extensive teaching experience includes universities and private schools, with service on admissions and curricula committees. He holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and UCLA.