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New York Times Best-Selling Author

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The College
Conversation

By Eric J. Furda
& Jacques Steinberg

From an Ivy League dean and a college admissions expert, a guide to help parents support their children as they navigate their way to college.

The College Conversation is a comprehensive resource for mapping the path through the college application process that provides practical advice and reassurance to keep both anxious parents and confused children sane and grounded. Rather than adding to the existing canon of “How to Get In” college guides or rankings, Eric Furda and Jacques Steinberg provide a step-by-step approach to having the tough conversations on this topic with less stress and more success.

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“A family new to the process will be glad for the book’s detailed timeline and instructions for essay writing, test taking and applying for financial aid. Recognizing the value of a range of options, the authors discuss the wisdom of starting at a community college, entering the military first, or, if freshman year isn’t working out, transferring from one college to another. Such discussions are rare in books of this kind and thus particularly welcome.”

– Wall Street Journal

About Jacques

Jacques Steinberg is a New York Times best-selling author and longtime, award-winning Times journalist whose knowledge of — and passion for — college access, equity, affordability, readiness and success has more recently led to roles as a senior leader, communications strategist, adviser and board member for several national nonprofit organizations. He also speaks regularly to groups of high school students, their families and their counselors.

His latest book, co-authored with Eric J. Furda, the former Dean of Admissions of the University of Pennsylvania, is The College Conversation: A Practical Companion for Parents to Guide Their Children Along the Path to Higher Education, which was published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in Fall 2020.  

 Jacques is also the author of The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book selection first published by Viking in 2002. The Gatekeepers was reissued in 2012 with a new afterword and is now in its 25th printing.  His book You Are an Ironman: How Six Weekend Warriors Chased Their Dream of Finishing the World’s Toughest Triathlon was first published by Viking in 2011, and was excerpted in The Times as well as Time magazine’s Science of Exercise, and featured on NBC’s Today show.

Other Books

The Gatekeepers

In the fall of 1999, Jacques, then a New York Times education reporter was given an unprecedented opportunity to observe the admissions process at prestigious Wesleyan University. Over the course of nearly a year, he accompanied admissions officer Ralph Figueroa on a tour to assess and recruit the most promising students in the country. 

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Provides the deep insight that is missing from the myriad how-to books on admissions that try to identify the formula for getting into the best colleges…I really didn’t want the book to end.” 

– The New York Times

You are an Ironman

A compelling portrait of people obsessed with reaching a life-defining goal. In this instance, the target is an Ironman triathlon-a 2.4-mile open-water swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride, then finally a 26-mile marathon run, all of which must be completed in no more than seventeen hours.

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“The athletes are fascinating in their own right, which helps to create an instant bond with readers and should make the book a compelling and inspirational read for obsessive exercisers and couch potatoes alike.” 

– The Associated Press

Contact Jacques