Making the transition from home to college:

* Coburn, Karen, and Madge Treeger. Letting Go: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997.  First half tells you what to expect.  The second half covers adjustment to college.

* Pasick, Patricia. Almost Grown: Launching Your Child from High School to College. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.  Pasick is a psychologist and a parent of two "launched" young adults.  She provides a helpful perspective from both roles.

Borden, Marian, and Mary Anne Burlinson and Elsie Kearns. In Addition to Tuition: The Parents’ Survival Guide to Freshman Year of College. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1995.

Upcraft, M. Lee, and John Gardner and Associates. The Freshman Year Experience: Helping Students Survive and Succeed in College. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., 1989.

* Tyler, Suzette.  Been There, Should've Done That:  505 tips for making the most of college. Haslett, Michigan, Front Porch Press, 1997.  A "little" book covering everything about the college transition, from roommates to credit cards; scheduling tips to Greek membership.

* Adler, Joe Anne.  100 Colleges where Average Students can Excel.  Arco Press. 1999.  A nationwide listing, with good details, about serious, respectable colleges where students with GPA's between 2.0 and 2.9 and ACT scores from 20-22 or SAT I scores between 950 and 1050 can thrive. 

Grayson, Paul A. and Meilman, Philip W.  Beating the College Blues 2nd Edition.  Checkmark Books, Facts on File. New York, 1999.  Written by directors of college counseling centers, this book covers issues and stresses students face on campuses these days:  academic stress, alcohol and sex, family contact, roommate tensions, eating disorders, drug abuse, etc.

   Writing the College Application Essay

* Curry, Boykin, and Kasbar, Brian.  Essays That Worked:  50 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation's Top Colleges.  New York: Fawcett Columbine Books, 1990.

* Ehrenhaft, George.  Writing a Successful College Application Essay, 2nd Edition.  New York, Barrons, 1993.

* McGinty, Sarah Myers.  Writing Your College Application Essay.  New York, College Board, 1991.

Van Raalte, Susan, College Applications and Essays:  What to Say and How to Say it--in 10 Easy Steps!  Arco Book, Macmillan, New York, NY, 1997.  Understanding the questions, recycling your essays, and electronic applications are features.

Ripple, G. Gary, Do It Write:  How to Prepare a Great College Application.  Octameron Associates, Alexandria, VA, 1997.  Compact booklet, under 50 pages.

Books for parents about college admissions Rubenstone, Sally, and Dalby, Sidonia.  College Admissions:  A Crash Course for Panicked Parents.  Arco Book, Macmillan, New York, NY, 1998. Shields, Charles. The College Guide for Parents.  College Board, New York, NY, 1994.  Written by a retired Chicago public school guidance counselor, and is on the Phi Beta Kappa list of good resources. *  Nieuwenhuis, Marjorie.  Parent's Guide to College Admissions 2nd Edition. Simon & Schuster (Kaplan Publishing), New York. 2000.  A step-by-step approach from academic planning to searching, to financing, to testing, to applying.  How to help and how to get information.