Taking Off on Getting In.

• Position: Review

You can't say they didn't warn you. The authors of the new Harvard Lampoon's Guide to College Admissions admit on an early page that following their tips "will likely get you smacked, kidney-punched, or rejected from your safety school." But their 165-page send-up of college-admission manuals is highly practical for making you laugh while groaning. It offers "Do's and Don'ts for Parents Raising a College-Bound Embryo," and surefire advice for maintaining control of the admissions interview: "Interviewer: If you could be any animal, what would it be and why? Student: I'd be the 780 on my verbal SAT." A sample recommendation letter notes sagely:

"Steener has all kinds of zits...