Syosset High School principal John Durante releases his novel after almost 300 interviews with college admissions experts
John Durante
Syosset High School’s principal John Durante began a podcast three years ago on the college admissions process, which he said now reaches 15,000 to 20,000 listeners a month.
Following the popularity of the podcast, Durante has now released a book “Straight From the Admissions Office: Insider Strategies for College Applications.”
Durante said the book is a “natural progression” from his podcast, “The College Admissions Process Podcast.”
After 270 episodes and counting, Durante said he has interviewed hundreds of college representatives, administrators and deans from across the nation.
Each podcast episode focuses on a particular school’s academics, extracurriculars, admissions process and social life so students can learn more about their top choices for college, Durante said.
After completing almost 300 interviews, Durante said he was inspired to compile the episodes into a book.
“I did not create the podcasts with the intent of writing a book, but it just seemed like a natural progression,” Durante said.
“Based on the number of people that are listening to the podcast, it’s clear that it’s definitely adding value to a lot of students and parents,” he said.
Durante said he has received emails from international podcast listeners from as far as England and China.
Using his podcast interviews, Durante’s book aims to help readers navigate the admissions process and create stand-out essays and applications.
Durante said the book was designed to be interactive. QR codes on pages allow readers to access additional information, like Durante’s “virtual college fair.”
The “fair” is a compiled list of each school Durante has interviewed. The list is alphabetized for user-friendliness and updated weekly when new episodes are released, Durante said.
“The goal there is that it’s on-demand,” he said.
Durante said with the QR codes readers have admissions resources that they can use even after finishing the book.
“I didn’t want to write a book where once you read the book, it’s over,” he said.
With advice from education experts, Durante said he hopes his podcast and book help families through the college application process.
Durante has been at the Syosset Central School District for over 30 years. He joined the staff in 1994 as a foreign language teacher and has acted as school principal since 2010.
But he didn’t start his podcast until he went through the admissions process with his own daughters.
“I felt it, for the first time,” he said. “The stress and anxiety that students and families go through.”
Durante said he wanted to connect parents with college resources during the stressful admissions process.
“I wanted to do something that is really going to add value to people,” he said.
Durante’s book is available on Amazon in paperback and ebook formats.