Truths and myths involved with student admission to Ivy League colleges are revealed by a director of admissions whose experience includes admission work at Vassar, Bowdoin, Harvard and Yale. Several basic concepts are offered as fact: most private colleges in America today are not highly selective; many colleges pose as being more selective than they really are hoping to attract the cream of the crop; few undergraduate institutions in America today are as highly selective as they ever have been; nothing speaks louder than a strong high school record; and given the (rare) highly selective college situation, "other considerations" can indeed enter the picture, some of which the candidate can capitalize on. Myths are centered on such factors as name, location, size, major, social type, and cost. Examples are described rebutting the following myths: the more prestigious the college, the better the college; the smaller the college, the more personal the education; the middle class has been squeezed out of Ivy-type colleges; and single-sex colleges are dead. Other chapters in the book discuss the criteria for admission, how colleges sell themselves, and how a student should choose a college. Five appendices are provided that examine such areas as how financial aid is determined, application procedures, transfer patterns, the Statement of Principles of Good Practice as adopted by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, and some humorous admission experiences as told by directors of admissions. (LC)