Finding the right colleges (yes, there are more than one) can sometimes seem like an impossible task, but it isn’t. Using the same skills they’ve developed in school, social media surfing, and texting, every student can find colleges that will offer them the right mix of challenge, opportunity and support. These same skills make applying to college a fun-yes, fun!-mix of students telling colleges about their life, and learning more about themselves along the way.

College is Yours 3 helps students apply the strong skills they already have to build their college plans. Each chapter is small enough to read in minutes, but complete enough to give them everything they need to know about their college search-and to use again and again as they complete their college process. From getting college ready in ninth grade, to building a personalized college list, to showing who they are in every part of the college application process, to preparing for the transition to college as a senior, College is Yours 3 offers the ideas students need to make a strong college choice, all in chapters they can refer to often, easily, and quickly.

If you’re looking for a book that will walk students through each step of choosing a college with clear, complete, encouraging advice, you’ve found it. If a student keeps this book close at hand throughout their search, they’ll soon see that college is theirs.

The latest in the College is Yours series includes updates on how COIVD has changed the way students learn about colleges, as well as new advice on how parents can support their child through the college selection process. New chapters were added to address the college application essay, a part of the application that colleges are looking at more closely.

Topics on researching and visiting college campuses include more information about how to find out what students really need to know about a campus, even if they can’t visit the campus. The three special chapters have also been updated, with the latest advice for artists, athletes, and students with special needs engaged in the college search.

Favorite chapters, including how to work with their school counselor, and how families can talk about college without driving each other crazy, have also been updated-and the ever-favorite mini-case studies of Sara (college readiness), Dave the pizza store owner (is college worth it?), and Joanna (clean up your social media accounts!) are back and better than ever. Updated information on college costs is also included, with updated information on how when-and how-college costs play a role in finding a college, and how to work with financial aid offices after they’ve been admitted to make sure students are getting all the financial support they deserve.

Like the editions before it, College is Yours 3 is written with the author’s knowledge of over 30 years of working with students. It’s based on the understanding that, once students are helped past the college hype of college stress and best of books, applying to college is easily within their grasp, just a series of activities they’ve done before, put together in a different package. This is why College is Yours 3 is more compact than other college guides; the advice students need is clear, easy to refer back to while they are actually going through the process, and well within their grasp. Applying to college isn’t onerous. Reading-and more important, using-a college guide shouldn’t be either.