Robin Mamlet

I spent the first 23 years of my professional life in college admission, most recently as dean of admission and financial aid at Stanford University. Like so many who find themselves in this line of work, I never planned to become a college admission officer; I fell into it. I began my career at my alma mater, Occidental College, and then served as associate director of admission at Pomona College; dean of admission and financial aid at Sarah Lawrence College; and dean of admission at Swarthmore College. I was also dean of admission at The Lawrenceville School and a college counselor at The Castilleja School. With each successive position I thought, 'surely this is my last stint,' imagining that someday I would grow up and get a "real job." Somehow, I still haven't strayed far.

Since 2005, I have led the admission and enrollment practice of executive search firm Witt/Kieffer, where I have worked with over 40 colleges and universities, placing deans of admission, directors of financial aid, and chief enrollment officers. I love this job, and live just outside Philadelphia with my two children.

Weirdly, writing this book was reinforced by what was happening in my own home as my oldest child applied to college. I had a quick immersion in that special level of purgatory reserved for parents of the college applicant, keeping in check - or trying to, at any rate - my own fears as I struggled to calm hers, biting my tongue in an effort (often in vain) to rein in my nearly-daily queries as to how much progress she'd made on her essays. My daughter caused me the same anxiety I'd seen in so many parents of college aspirants. After all, I was available to her 24/7 to answer even the most trivial of questions, and yet the night before the application was due, there she was sprawled across my bed at 10:30 pm, saying, “Mom, this question says 'optional' – it's not that important, is it?” Are you kidding me?!

I have been writing this book for a very long time. When you are an admission dean at a very, very selective college or university, you know a great deal that could be helpful to students and families. For my last few years at Swarthmore and certainly my entire deanship at Stanford, I was dying to speak and write about what I thought the college admission process was doing to our brightest young people. I found myself with strong opinions about how families could best approach applying to college so as to gain the most from the process, not get sucked into the bad behavior and often counter-productive efforts, and “keep their heads when everyone around them was losing theirs.”

I was also – and remain - keenly aware that the public exposure to college admission is both far greater than ever, and woefully insufficient. This exposure leaves in its wake a public ravenous for real information. I have seen this play out on so many levels.

The nearly 70 or so admission deans who helped us with this book did so because they knew the subject would be treated with both expertise and respect. I am tremendously grateful to my former colleagues and current friends in admission and financial aid who gave their time and wisdom so freely.

Christine and I hope this book will make life easier for 17-year-olds around the country, not to mention their parents and teachers. While many students have access to sound school-based college counseling, far too many students are not so lucky. Some find strong college counseling outside their schools while others pay extraordinary amounts of money for less sound advice, and still others - the vast majority, in fact - get no help at all. Christine and I hope this book will offer expert counsel to students from all backgrounds in a highly accessible way.