As a parent, psychologist and academician, Sally Springer knows all too well how painful it can be to navigate the college admissions process these days.

"In general, people don't realize how difficult it can be to get into the most competitive schools," says Springer, associate chancellor at UC Davis and co-author of "Admission Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting Into College."

She and co-author Marion Franck set out to remove the mystery, stress and anxiety from the admissions process for parents and their college-bound students. The resulting book, published this month by Jossey-Bass, explains how the admissions process works, discusses what students can do to submit strong applications, puts college rankings in perspective and suggests how parents and students can best work together.

"Students should first do a careful self-assessment to decide what's really important to them about their future college experience, Springer says, "then go out and explore a wide range of colleges that will meet their needs."

She urges students and parents to focus on what they can control about the admissions process -- such as selecting colleges that are a good fit -- and not dwell on those things that are out of their control, like "institutional priorities" that can vary from college to college and from year to year. Institutional priorities can include a college's need to diversify its student body or find specific talent for its orchestra or football team.

She and Franck suggest that a typical student submit applications to anywhere from five to eight colleges, including a good mix of institutions that are "good-bets," "possible" or "long shots" in terms of likelihood of admission. All should be colleges or universities where the prospective student feels he or she would be happy to go.

The writers stress that the admissions story usually has a happy ending. Interviews with college students around the country revealed that, once they are well into their freshman year, most college students were happy where they were.

"And it's important to remember that the particular place where you wind up going to college has little to do with how successful you are in life -- regardless of how you define success," Springer says.

Springer is a psychologist with more than 30 years of experience in higher education as a professor and administrator. She is the co-author of "Left Brain, Right Brain" and "How to Succeed in College." Marion Franck is a newspaper columnist and formerly a university lecturer and student adviser.

More information about their 284-page paperback book is available online at http://www.admissionmatters.com.