
Dear Parents
A Field Guide for College Preparation
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Graham Rowat
About this listen
Created for parents and families of college-bound students, Jon McGee's Dear Parents is an essential tool you'll need to navigate the complex and often emotional challenge of getting your daughter or son prepared for - and through - college. Organized chronologically, the book takes listeners through the stages of childhood leading up to college, as well as the process of searching for and selecting a college. From the decisions you make during your child's early years to the process of setting up their dorm room, this book provides parents with insights, wisdom, and guidance about college, college preparation, and choosing a college.
Letters written by college and educational professionals, all with children, frame and illuminate each chapter. Drawing on their personal and professional experience, these experts offer practical and sympathetic advice about preparing for college. The book concludes with insights about sending children off to college and the appropriate roles for parents as your children experience these important years. Undergirded by research but informed by on-the-ground insight, Dear Parents is designed to both engage and inform while demystifying the daunting and ever-changing process of entering college.
©2018 Johns Hopkins University Press (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Financially Smart Career Planning for Teens
- The Roadmap to Making Informed Decisions in an Uncertain Job Market, Prevent Feeling Overwhelmed & Analysis ... To Achieve Affordable College Degrees
- By: P.D. Mason
- Narrated by: Chandler Clark
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the secrets to graduating from high school without taking on crushing student debt and launching into a flourishing career! In this information-packed guidebook, you'll learn how to access valuable training and practical experience without having to enter the working world in Major College Debt.
-
-
Great guide for both parents and teens
- By Roshani Herath on 08-02-23
By: P.D. Mason
-
Never Enough
- When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—and What We Can Do About It
- By: Jennifer Breheny Wallace
- Narrated by: Jennifer Breheny Wallace
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ever more competitive race to secure the best possible future, today’s students face unprecedented pressure to succeed. They jam-pack their schedules with AP classes, fill every waking hour with resume-padding activities, and even sabotage relationships with friends to “get ahead.” Family incomes and schedules are stretched to the breaking point by tutoring fees and athletic schedules. Yet this drive to optimize performance has only resulted in skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and even self-harm in America’s highest achieving schools.
-
-
If you live or work in one of these communities, you will see yourself
- By Paula on 09-04-23
-
How to Raise an Adult
- Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success
- By: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Narrated by: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research; on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers; and on her own insights as a mother and as a student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large.
-
-
Target Audience- Upper-Middle Class
- By Savy shopper on 06-02-16
-
The Price You Pay for College
- An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make
- By: Ron Lieber
- Narrated by: Ron Lieber
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sending a teenager to a flagship state university for four years of on-campus living costs more than $100,000 in many parts of the United States. Meanwhile, many families of freshmen attending selective private colleges will spend triple - over $300,000. With the same passion, smarts, and humor that infuse his hugely popular personal finance column, Ron Lieber offers a much-needed roadmap to help families navigate this difficult and often confusing journey.
-
-
College, one of the biggest financial decisions of life for many
- By D L Blanchard on 04-12-21
By: Ron Lieber
-
The Art of College Admission
- Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting an Unforgettable Application and Avoiding the 11 Mistakes College Admissions Officers Say Lead to Rejections
- By: Noah Craig
- Narrated by: Genesis Renji
- Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ready for college? Take a confident approach to college admissions with this definitive guide – all without stressing yourself out. Getting into college is a magnificent stepping stone that can definitely give you an edge in your professional career and in your life. Unfortunately, the part that comes before all this is not so easy.
-
-
Great resource for any student
- By Marcia B. on 01-02-23
By: Noah Craig
-
Saving for College
- A Parents Guide to Empowering Your Child’s Future Without Going Broke
- By: Orson Vaughn
- Narrated by: John Griffith
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Surveys have consistently found that saving for a child’s college education is the top money concern for parents in the US, with over 70 percent saying they’re worried about being able to pay for their child’s education. Tuition fees are rising year after year, and for many parents, this makes the prospect even more daunting. So, should you just give up and invest in your child’s present, rather than their future? The short answer is no - there’s really no need.
-
-
Secure Your Child's Future
- By Silvia Bustamante on 03-07-24
By: Orson Vaughn
-
Financially Smart Career Planning for Teens
- The Roadmap to Making Informed Decisions in an Uncertain Job Market, Prevent Feeling Overwhelmed & Analysis ... To Achieve Affordable College Degrees
- By: P.D. Mason
- Narrated by: Chandler Clark
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the secrets to graduating from high school without taking on crushing student debt and launching into a flourishing career! In this information-packed guidebook, you'll learn how to access valuable training and practical experience without having to enter the working world in Major College Debt.
-
-
Great guide for both parents and teens
- By Roshani Herath on 08-02-23
By: P.D. Mason
-
Never Enough
- When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—and What We Can Do About It
- By: Jennifer Breheny Wallace
- Narrated by: Jennifer Breheny Wallace
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ever more competitive race to secure the best possible future, today’s students face unprecedented pressure to succeed. They jam-pack their schedules with AP classes, fill every waking hour with resume-padding activities, and even sabotage relationships with friends to “get ahead.” Family incomes and schedules are stretched to the breaking point by tutoring fees and athletic schedules. Yet this drive to optimize performance has only resulted in skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and even self-harm in America’s highest achieving schools.
-
-
If you live or work in one of these communities, you will see yourself
- By Paula on 09-04-23
-
How to Raise an Adult
- Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success
- By: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Narrated by: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research; on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers; and on her own insights as a mother and as a student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large.
-
-
Target Audience- Upper-Middle Class
- By Savy shopper on 06-02-16
-
The Price You Pay for College
- An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make
- By: Ron Lieber
- Narrated by: Ron Lieber
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sending a teenager to a flagship state university for four years of on-campus living costs more than $100,000 in many parts of the United States. Meanwhile, many families of freshmen attending selective private colleges will spend triple - over $300,000. With the same passion, smarts, and humor that infuse his hugely popular personal finance column, Ron Lieber offers a much-needed roadmap to help families navigate this difficult and often confusing journey.
-
-
College, one of the biggest financial decisions of life for many
- By D L Blanchard on 04-12-21
By: Ron Lieber
-
The Art of College Admission
- Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting an Unforgettable Application and Avoiding the 11 Mistakes College Admissions Officers Say Lead to Rejections
- By: Noah Craig
- Narrated by: Genesis Renji
- Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ready for college? Take a confident approach to college admissions with this definitive guide – all without stressing yourself out. Getting into college is a magnificent stepping stone that can definitely give you an edge in your professional career and in your life. Unfortunately, the part that comes before all this is not so easy.
-
-
Great resource for any student
- By Marcia B. on 01-02-23
By: Noah Craig
-
Saving for College
- A Parents Guide to Empowering Your Child’s Future Without Going Broke
- By: Orson Vaughn
- Narrated by: John Griffith
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Surveys have consistently found that saving for a child’s college education is the top money concern for parents in the US, with over 70 percent saying they’re worried about being able to pay for their child’s education. Tuition fees are rising year after year, and for many parents, this makes the prospect even more daunting. So, should you just give up and invest in your child’s present, rather than their future? The short answer is no - there’s really no need.
-
-
Secure Your Child's Future
- By Silvia Bustamante on 03-07-24
By: Orson Vaughn
-
Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?
- The Case for Helping Them Leave, Chart Their Own Paths, and Prepare for Adulthood at Their Own Pace
- By: Blake Boles
- Narrated by: Blake Boles
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For some kids, school offers a positive and engaging experience. For others, it's a boring, stressful, and frustrating waste of time. If your child is in the second category, why keep tormenting them? Instead, why not help them find an educational environment where they feel genuinely motivated, excited, and empowered? In this eye-opening book, Blake Boles makes the case for leaving conventional school and taking one of the many alternative paths through K-12 that exist today.
-
-
eye opening/ must read for every parent
- By Angelika on 07-01-20
By: Blake Boles
-
Pay Off
- How One Millennial Eliminated Nearly $80,000 in Student Debt in Less than Five Years
- By: Shannon Young
- Narrated by: Sandy Rustin
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2009, amid the global financial crisis, 21-year-old Shannon Young graduated from college with a degree in English and more than $80,000 in student debt. Less than five years later, she was completely debt-free. This is her story - a cautionary tale with a surprisingly hopeful outcome.
-
-
Completely Unremarkable.
- By Drew on 03-15-15
By: Shannon Young
-
Who Gets in and Why
- A Year Inside College Admissions
- By: Jeffrey J. Selingo
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Getting into a top-ranked college has never seemed more impossible, with acceptance rates at some elite universities dipping into the single digits. In Who Gets in and Why, journalist and higher education expert Jeffrey Selingo dispels entrenched notions of how to compete and win at the admissions game and reveals that teenagers and parents have much to gain by broadening their notion of what qualifies as a "good college". Hint: It's not all about the sticker on the car window.
-
-
A must-read for anyone applying to college
- By Nom de Guerre on 10-21-20
-
Thinking Differently
- An Inspiring Guide for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities
- By: David Flink
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Thinking Differently, David Flink, the leader of Eye to Eye - a national mentoring program for students with learning and attention issues - enlarges our understanding of the learning process and offers powerful, innovative strategies for parenting, teaching, and supporting the 20 percent of students with learning disabilities. An outstanding fighter who has helped thousands of children adapt to their specific learning issues, Flink understands the needs and experiences of these children firsthand.
-
-
Great Read!
- By Ilene on 10-15-15
By: David Flink
-
Passion-Driven Education: How to Use Your Child's Interests to Ignite a Lifelong Love of Learning
- By: Connor Boyack
- Narrated by: Connor Boyack
- Length: 3 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do you need parenting advice on how to inspire your child to love learning? Whether you homeschool, or send your kids to public or private school, this is essential listening for your situation. Why? Because schooling has become a disaster. Your child's interests and uniqueness are disregarded, and structured curriculum and standards like Common Core place them on a conveyor belt that treats all children the same. This system crushes a child's curiosity. Your child deserves better!
-
-
It makes me cry
- By Becky on 12-15-17
By: Connor Boyack
-
The Nordic Theory of Everything
- In Search of a Better Life
- By: Anu Partanen
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving to America in 2008, Finnish journalist Anu Partanen quickly went from confident, successful professional to wary, self-doubting mess. She found that navigating the basics of everyday life - from buying a cell phone and filing taxes to education and childcare - was much more complicated and stressful than anything she encountered in her homeland. At first she attributed her crippling anxiety to the difficulty of adapting to a freewheeling new culture. But as she got to know Americans better, she discovered they shared her deep apprehension.
-
-
A non-radical perspective on two societies
- By kwdayboise (Kim Day) on 06-20-17
By: Anu Partanen
-
Creative Schools
- The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education
- By: Lou Aronica, Ken Robinson
- Narrated by: Ken Robinson PhD
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Robinson is one of the world's most influential voices in education, and his 2006 TED Talk on the subject is the most viewed in the organization's history. Now, the internationally recognized leader on creativity and human potential focuses on one of the most critical issues of our time: how to transform the nation's troubled educational system.
-
-
The Answer to Why Students Stop Trying
- By Alison Sattler on 07-21-15
By: Lou Aronica, and others
-
Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be
- An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania
- By: Frank Bruni
- Narrated by: Frank Bruni
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the last few decades, Americans have turned college admissions into a terrifying and occasionally devastating process, preceded by test prep, tutors, all sorts of stratagems, all kinds of rankings, and a conviction among too many young people that their futures will be determined and their worth established by which schools say yes and which say no.
-
-
A relatable and relevant book for our time
- By M_BTV on 05-18-15
By: Frank Bruni
-
Debt-Free Degree
- The Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Kid Through College Without Student Loans
- By: Anthony ONeal
- Narrated by: Anthony ONeal
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every parent wants the best for their child. That’s why they send them to college! But most parents struggle to pay for school and end up turning to student loans. That’s why the majority of graduates walk away with $35,000 in student loan debt and no clue what that debt will really cost them. Student loan debt doesn’t open doors for young adults - it closes them. They postpone getting married and starting a family. That debt even takes away their freedom to pursue their dreams. But there is a different way. Going to college without student loans is possible!
-
-
Overall, great information
- By Alonnah on 10-09-19
By: Anthony ONeal
-
You, Your Child, and School
- Navigate Your Way to the Best Education
- By: Sir Ken Robinson PhD, Lou Aronica
- Narrated by: Sir Ken Robinson PhD
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Parents everywhere are deeply concerned about the education of their children, especially now, when education has become a minefield of politics and controversy. One of the world's most influential educators, Robinson has had countless conversations with parents about the dilemmas they face. As a parent, what should you look for in your children's education? How can you tell if their school is right for them and what can you do if it isn't? In this important new book, he offers clear principles and practical advice on how to support your child through the K-12 education system.
-
-
A great reminder
- By angeline on 10-26-20
By: Sir Ken Robinson PhD, and others
-
Soundbite
- The Admissions Secret That Gets You into College and Beyond
- By: Sara Harberson
- Narrated by: Sara Harberson
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On average, an admissions committee takes seconds to decide whether to admit a student. They must sum up the student in one sentence that will tell them if a student is going to be a good fit for their program. What is the best way to transform this admissions process from a stressful, pressure-cooker arms race into an empowering journey that paves the way to the best individual outcome? Written by a college admissions insider turned consultant, Soundbite guides parents and students through the admissions process from start to finish.
-
-
A Gamechanger
- By Jen on 03-14-25
By: Sara Harberson
-
Excellent Sheep
- The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life
- By: William Deresiewicz
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Excellent Sheep takes a sharp look at the high-pressure conveyor belt that begins with parents and counselors who demand perfect grades and culminates in the skewed applications Deresiewicz saw firsthand as a member of Yale's admissions committee. As schools shift focus from the humanities to "practical" subjects like economics and computer science, students are losing the ability to think in innovative ways.
-
-
skip the book read the essay
- By Amazon Customer on 05-07-15
What listeners say about Dear Parents
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Melissa
- 04-10-19
Enlightening
McGee fills in all the the things I had and had not considered. I wish I'd had all of these details and insight when I was a high school student and much later, a graduate student. A must-read/listen for all of us,traditionally college-bound or not--McGee's and many other contributors' experiences keep it interesting & well-paced, as well as informative.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful