What do you think?
Rate this book
Conning Harvard: Adam Wheeler, the Con Artist Who Faked His Way into the Ivy League
Adam Wheeler’s plan was as audacious as it was illegal: He gained admission to Harvard through fraud. While countless students dreaming of an Ivy League education compete honestly, Wheeler resorted to faking SAT scores, transcripts, and letters of recommendation. And after he enrolled at Harvard, Wheeler plagiarized his classwork and bilked the university out of thousands of dollars in prizes and grants. But then he shot too far. He applied for nomination to the illustrious Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships, and that gamble finally exposed his academic fraud. Alerted that he was under suspicion, Wheeler fled Harvard but did not stop trying to scam universities. He filed more phony applications to top-tier schools until vigilant college administrators and eventually the police forced him off his computer and into court, thereby bringing to light his astonishing tangle of lies.
As a reporter for The Harvard Crimson, Julie Zauzmer covered the case from the moment the news of Wheeler’s indictment broke. She interviewed dozens of friends and teachers who knew Wheeler throughout his suspect academic career and dug through records to expose even more instances of deception. This fascinating account reveals how one plagiarist took on the Ivy League—and almost won.
As a reporter for The Harvard Crimson, Julie Zauzmer covered the case from the moment the news of Wheeler’s indictment broke. She interviewed dozens of friends and teachers who knew Wheeler throughout his suspect academic career and dug through records to expose even more instances of deception. This fascinating account reveals how one plagiarist took on the Ivy League—and almost won.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 2012
43 people are currently reading
284 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
March 19, 2023
This book is both fascinating and irritating. First the upside. Zauzmer has done meticulous research and the story provides a lot of detail on how Harvard's admission process works (which is interesting to me as a former dean of admissions and current independent college counselor). The details of Wheeler's cons and forgeries are almost always fascinating. The story does not really work well, however, because Wheeler is only seen from the outside. His voice is sorely needed. He did crazy stuff with a 100% chance of being caught. While Zauzmer's perspective is that he is just enormously dishonest, he sounds to me pathological.
Zauzmer has really "drunk the KoolAid" concerning Harvard, and ends the book saying that the effectiveness of a $30-billion corporation in vindictively puinishing a student who made a fool of it is a stand for truth which benefits all of us. Get real! Adam Wheeler is in no way a symbol of dishonesty among college applicants in general. The case is clearly an outlier, not a symbol of anything. Was John Wayne Gacy a symbol of anything about modern society?
There is an underlying arrogance which disturbs me. Zauzmer is in general patronizing about Bowdoin, where Wheeler started his college career. She says at one point that it's hard to understand how a student with Wheeler's (forged) credentials would have chosen a school this lacking in prestige (though Bowdoin is consistently ranked among the top few institutions of higher education in the US). She says more than once that Brunswick, ME (where Bowdoin is located) possesses an uncomfortably arctic climate, though its average annual temperature of 45 degrees is only six degrees lower than Cambridge, MA.
And what especially troubles me is that it took so very long for Harvard to question Wheeler's absurdly lofty credentials. His achievements were so extensive that it is hard to believe that they were not cause for concern, and indeed Wheeler was denied admission at several schools, though that is not mentioned in the book aside from a reference to Yale. It takes a kind of arrogance for a admissions readers to see an admissions candidate whose prose is so abstruse as to be a burlesque of normal writing to be a match for the education their institution offers.
I am also struck by a student who was more or less an "above average" student at a fairly average public high school was able to get mostly B/B+ grades at Harvard before he started cheating in his coursework. How demanding can the education be if a student whose credentials are well below the threshold for, say, thirty or forty of the most selective colleges and universities in the US can do competent if undistinguished work?
But most of all, there is a human tragedy here to which the author seems immune. There is no evidence Wheeler is a truly bad kid. What made him embark on all this fraud and do it for so long? I feel sad for Wheeler and his parents, and wish he were described more fully as a human being, rather than oversimplified as merely a criminal. This is not the symbolic story the author claims, but the painful tale of the degeneration of an adolescent for reasons which are never explored.
I agree with the other reviewers who see the book as not especially well-written. It also has a "look at me" quality somehow, and the book lacks the objectivity which should characterize good journalism. The "we're good and he's bad" tone becomes offensive, because both sides of that are an over-simplification. Adam has major and obvious flaws, and Harvard has none. Not very interesting, at least not to me.
Zauzmer has really "drunk the KoolAid" concerning Harvard, and ends the book saying that the effectiveness of a $30-billion corporation in vindictively puinishing a student who made a fool of it is a stand for truth which benefits all of us. Get real! Adam Wheeler is in no way a symbol of dishonesty among college applicants in general. The case is clearly an outlier, not a symbol of anything. Was John Wayne Gacy a symbol of anything about modern society?
There is an underlying arrogance which disturbs me. Zauzmer is in general patronizing about Bowdoin, where Wheeler started his college career. She says at one point that it's hard to understand how a student with Wheeler's (forged) credentials would have chosen a school this lacking in prestige (though Bowdoin is consistently ranked among the top few institutions of higher education in the US). She says more than once that Brunswick, ME (where Bowdoin is located) possesses an uncomfortably arctic climate, though its average annual temperature of 45 degrees is only six degrees lower than Cambridge, MA.
And what especially troubles me is that it took so very long for Harvard to question Wheeler's absurdly lofty credentials. His achievements were so extensive that it is hard to believe that they were not cause for concern, and indeed Wheeler was denied admission at several schools, though that is not mentioned in the book aside from a reference to Yale. It takes a kind of arrogance for a admissions readers to see an admissions candidate whose prose is so abstruse as to be a burlesque of normal writing to be a match for the education their institution offers.
I am also struck by a student who was more or less an "above average" student at a fairly average public high school was able to get mostly B/B+ grades at Harvard before he started cheating in his coursework. How demanding can the education be if a student whose credentials are well below the threshold for, say, thirty or forty of the most selective colleges and universities in the US can do competent if undistinguished work?
But most of all, there is a human tragedy here to which the author seems immune. There is no evidence Wheeler is a truly bad kid. What made him embark on all this fraud and do it for so long? I feel sad for Wheeler and his parents, and wish he were described more fully as a human being, rather than oversimplified as merely a criminal. This is not the symbolic story the author claims, but the painful tale of the degeneration of an adolescent for reasons which are never explored.
I agree with the other reviewers who see the book as not especially well-written. It also has a "look at me" quality somehow, and the book lacks the objectivity which should characterize good journalism. The "we're good and he's bad" tone becomes offensive, because both sides of that are an over-simplification. Adam has major and obvious flaws, and Harvard has none. Not very interesting, at least not to me.
December 6, 2022
I have a weakness for books about con artists and this was no exception. It's well-reported and a page-turner for those of us partial to con artist stories!
However, it does have some flaws:
1. It's boringly written, even for a newspaper journalist like Zauzmer (she now works for the Washington Post). The presence of just a few sentences with a little style or zing would have helped.
2. It doesn't delve into Wheeler's mental state enough. Certainly Zauzmer can't be expected to produce quotes from Wheeler given that he didn't respond to interview requests. But nonetheless, a little commentary on his potential mental state would have been interesting. For example, even after he was caught, he immediately produced a plagiarized application to Stanford and again was accepted. Doesn't this suggest that he may have been a pathological liar, i.e. mentally ill in some way? This line of inquiry isn't explored by the author. Personally I have some sympathy for Wheeler, as he seems to have been a very intelligent person (able to BS his way in person, not just by mail) who ended up going down a very unfortunate path, while the author parlayed her writing of this book into eventually getting a full time job at the WaPo).
3. It doesn't hold the universities to account enough, or even suggest how fraud could be better prevented. A big part of Wheeler's success was sending fake/doctored transcripts as part of his applications. To me this was surprising; in my experience, one asks the institution in question to send the transcript *direct to the university one is applying to*, thereby preventing a doctored transcript from being part of the app. Or anyway the system could be set up that way.
Random comments:
First, it's kind of comical that so many professors and admissions reps fell for Wheeler's BS. 16 AP classes & 16 AP exams with all 5s (the top) for grades? Nothing but straight As, class after class? High level of expertise not only in English & American lit but also in (what was it?) Turkish ballads? Co-authoring multiple upcoming books with faculty members? Don't any of these people have a "BS Detector"? Thankfully the professor evaluating his Rhodes application raised his eyebrows at the level of blarney he was seeing, and started the whole house of cards to begin falling down.
Second, as an ex-English major, I'm disappointed but not surprised to see that "my" subject area turned out to be most susceptible to a BS artist like Wheeler. Unfortunately, in recent decades the field has been somewhat overtaken (and for some reason, especially on some of the most elite campuses) by very abstruse & obscure writing and analysis. I remember encountering this when I was briefly in English grad school in the late 1970s. Is Shakespeare, or Melville or Chaucer really that complicated?? (Soon after I dropped out of grad school.)
Despite all these complaints, I still found the book entertaining & interesting! And I hope Mr. Wheeler has been able to recover from his history of pathological lying. He seems like a smart and decent guy in many ways.
However, it does have some flaws:
1. It's boringly written, even for a newspaper journalist like Zauzmer (she now works for the Washington Post). The presence of just a few sentences with a little style or zing would have helped.
2. It doesn't delve into Wheeler's mental state enough. Certainly Zauzmer can't be expected to produce quotes from Wheeler given that he didn't respond to interview requests. But nonetheless, a little commentary on his potential mental state would have been interesting. For example, even after he was caught, he immediately produced a plagiarized application to Stanford and again was accepted. Doesn't this suggest that he may have been a pathological liar, i.e. mentally ill in some way? This line of inquiry isn't explored by the author. Personally I have some sympathy for Wheeler, as he seems to have been a very intelligent person (able to BS his way in person, not just by mail) who ended up going down a very unfortunate path, while the author parlayed her writing of this book into eventually getting a full time job at the WaPo).
3. It doesn't hold the universities to account enough, or even suggest how fraud could be better prevented. A big part of Wheeler's success was sending fake/doctored transcripts as part of his applications. To me this was surprising; in my experience, one asks the institution in question to send the transcript *direct to the university one is applying to*, thereby preventing a doctored transcript from being part of the app. Or anyway the system could be set up that way.
Random comments:
First, it's kind of comical that so many professors and admissions reps fell for Wheeler's BS. 16 AP classes & 16 AP exams with all 5s (the top) for grades? Nothing but straight As, class after class? High level of expertise not only in English & American lit but also in (what was it?) Turkish ballads? Co-authoring multiple upcoming books with faculty members? Don't any of these people have a "BS Detector"? Thankfully the professor evaluating his Rhodes application raised his eyebrows at the level of blarney he was seeing, and started the whole house of cards to begin falling down.
Second, as an ex-English major, I'm disappointed but not surprised to see that "my" subject area turned out to be most susceptible to a BS artist like Wheeler. Unfortunately, in recent decades the field has been somewhat overtaken (and for some reason, especially on some of the most elite campuses) by very abstruse & obscure writing and analysis. I remember encountering this when I was briefly in English grad school in the late 1970s. Is Shakespeare, or Melville or Chaucer really that complicated?? (Soon after I dropped out of grad school.)
Despite all these complaints, I still found the book entertaining & interesting! And I hope Mr. Wheeler has been able to recover from his history of pathological lying. He seems like a smart and decent guy in many ways.
December 1, 2012
For me, this kind of book is a guilty pleasure. I love stories about frauds and con artists. Usually I root for them, but it was hard to like the fraudster in this book because he lied and plagiarized not just to get into Harvard, Bowdoin, and Stanford, but also to be a straight A student and win top prizes. At first I was not very impressed by the writing style of this book, but once I realized that the author is a college kid herself I had a lot of respect.
The story of what the con artist did is quite interesting, and I won't spoil it here, except to say that he was following the school of thought that says the bigger and more ridiculous your lies are, the more likely it is that you'll get away with it. The author is too respectful of the Harvard admission's department and administration to delve deeply into why it took them so long to catch on. A smarter, more moderate cheater would never be caught. If all he'd wanted was to collect a Harvard diploma, no one would ever have caught Adam Wheeler, but then he set his sights on a Fulbright.
I like that the author has an insider's view because she is a Harvard student herself, but I think it also made her blind to questions that would occur to an outsider. Like, what is so great about Harvard that people will do anything to get in; what is the spell that people are under? That is so bizarre it should be a chapter in itself. But I got the sense that the author feels that way too, like naturally the highest dream of any student would be to go to Harvard, so no explanation needed. And my biggest questions went unanswered. What motivated this guy? Why did he keep on doing the same things even after he got caught? No one knows the answers to these questions, probably, but I would be curious to hear what the people who knew him thought. Also, what was his childhood like? Any interesting backstory on this guy? What was wrong with him, anyway?
At times the fraudster must have spent much more time copying and editing little snippets of plagiarized material than he would have just writing a few sentences. The few pieces of his own writing in the book are almost complete gibberish. Did he do any of his college course work? Would he read the assigned books in his classes? I thought it was interesting that the person who finally caught him was not more cynical or suspicious than the other people who'd read Adam Wheeler's amazing transcripts, recommendations, and resumes. He was just more caring, worried that this student was taking on too many responsibilities at a young age. Oh, and he'd read the essay that the fraudster lifted. Anyway, the whole book brought back my college days in the humanities, where it didn't matter if my papers made sense or were on-topic, as long as they had a certain tone and lots of three-dollar words.
The story of what the con artist did is quite interesting, and I won't spoil it here, except to say that he was following the school of thought that says the bigger and more ridiculous your lies are, the more likely it is that you'll get away with it. The author is too respectful of the Harvard admission's department and administration to delve deeply into why it took them so long to catch on. A smarter, more moderate cheater would never be caught. If all he'd wanted was to collect a Harvard diploma, no one would ever have caught Adam Wheeler, but then he set his sights on a Fulbright.
I like that the author has an insider's view because she is a Harvard student herself, but I think it also made her blind to questions that would occur to an outsider. Like, what is so great about Harvard that people will do anything to get in; what is the spell that people are under? That is so bizarre it should be a chapter in itself. But I got the sense that the author feels that way too, like naturally the highest dream of any student would be to go to Harvard, so no explanation needed. And my biggest questions went unanswered. What motivated this guy? Why did he keep on doing the same things even after he got caught? No one knows the answers to these questions, probably, but I would be curious to hear what the people who knew him thought. Also, what was his childhood like? Any interesting backstory on this guy? What was wrong with him, anyway?
At times the fraudster must have spent much more time copying and editing little snippets of plagiarized material than he would have just writing a few sentences. The few pieces of his own writing in the book are almost complete gibberish. Did he do any of his college course work? Would he read the assigned books in his classes? I thought it was interesting that the person who finally caught him was not more cynical or suspicious than the other people who'd read Adam Wheeler's amazing transcripts, recommendations, and resumes. He was just more caring, worried that this student was taking on too many responsibilities at a young age. Oh, and he'd read the essay that the fraudster lifted. Anyway, the whole book brought back my college days in the humanities, where it didn't matter if my papers made sense or were on-topic, as long as they had a certain tone and lots of three-dollar words.
April 6, 2013
A rather interesting book that at times gets bogged down in the recitation and review of the length Adam Wheeler went in perpetrating his fraud on several institutions of higher education, most notably Harvard. I would have preferred more about Adam the man, but his reclusive tendencies probably did not offer much more to look at.
Yes his conduct was certainly criminal in the fraud and deceit and he was eventually punished with equal measure, but I could not escape the presence of the giant elephant looming in the background, Harvard University. It is true they have many thousands of applications to review each year to enter their hallowed academic environs. Yet this great institution of most learned scholars at the very pinnacle were entirely duped, caught up in their own hubris and romance of seeming brilliance and accomplishment. And their outrage at being duped and financially taken advantage of for around $40k or so was somewhat amusing. The court ordered restitution. The richest educational institution that controls and endowment of around $30 billion, that's billion with a B. How dare they be embarrassed this way, caught with their pants down for all the world to see.
Yes his conduct was certainly criminal in the fraud and deceit and he was eventually punished with equal measure, but I could not escape the presence of the giant elephant looming in the background, Harvard University. It is true they have many thousands of applications to review each year to enter their hallowed academic environs. Yet this great institution of most learned scholars at the very pinnacle were entirely duped, caught up in their own hubris and romance of seeming brilliance and accomplishment. And their outrage at being duped and financially taken advantage of for around $40k or so was somewhat amusing. The court ordered restitution. The richest educational institution that controls and endowment of around $30 billion, that's billion with a B. How dare they be embarrassed this way, caught with their pants down for all the world to see.
December 13, 2013
A quick read. This book suffers from the author having been denied the opportunity to interview the subject: Adam Wheeler. Despite this, it was fascinating to read about his outright lies, deceptions and plagiarisms, the effort of which far exceeded what might have been necessary for him to write his own papers, achieve legitimate grades, or establish a reputation worthy of honest letters of recommendation. This is also an amusing story about the blindness of elite academia in America, a subject about which I'm passionate, having turned away from its groves years ago. This book is a worthwhile throw-away read, if only to give substance to one's own biases against elite education.
March 3, 2015
DNF. I'm not sure what I wanted when I began this book, but I didn't get it. There are some interesting tidbits about the college application process at top tier schools along with some general criticism of that process along with plagiarism and cheating among high school and college students. I was curious about Adam Wheeler and his specific cons (although I think calling him a con artist is going a bit far), but that took a backseat to the author's own agenda/viewpoint. Interesting topic but poorly executed. I just couldn't get into it.
October 4, 2012
It's written by a reporter for The Harvard Crimson, and to be frank, you can tell. Not that the reporting isn't thorough, but a) you can tell she disapproves of the whole scandal (while I was actually interested more in how he did it than in hearing "how bad it is to cheat"), and b) it is VERY dry. I gave it about 30 pages before quitting.
February 1, 2021
I feel like the book could have definitely been much shorter, however, some of the additional details were insightful. Overall I enjoyed reading this book and learning about all that goes through Wheeler's mind. Though he did plagiarize practically everything, he is still quite an intellectual and I could definitely see him as his own philosopher one day.
April 18, 2023
(3.5 rounded up)
The audacity… talk about a pathological liar. The story within these pages is mind-boggling. I never in my life would consider doing any of the things Adam did, and he did ALL of them with zero remorse! I found myself very irritated with him and how much he got away with. It surprises me that his amount of plagiarism wasn’t immediately caught.
This story was so interesting, but parts were a bit too researched. The authors had every detail imaginable about this case. They also had information on related cases. I found myself skimming though sections within the first half to get back to Adam’s story.
This was just a very factual account of each and every thing Adam did that he shouldn’t have in order to gain admission to colleges, earn prestigious awards, and get the grades he felt he deserved as worthy of. While I thought it would have been great to hear from Adam himself, you lear towards the end why he wasn’t a part of this story, and it certainly makes sense.
The audacity… talk about a pathological liar. The story within these pages is mind-boggling. I never in my life would consider doing any of the things Adam did, and he did ALL of them with zero remorse! I found myself very irritated with him and how much he got away with. It surprises me that his amount of plagiarism wasn’t immediately caught.
This story was so interesting, but parts were a bit too researched. The authors had every detail imaginable about this case. They also had information on related cases. I found myself skimming though sections within the first half to get back to Adam’s story.
This was just a very factual account of each and every thing Adam did that he shouldn’t have in order to gain admission to colleges, earn prestigious awards, and get the grades he felt he deserved as worthy of. While I thought it would have been great to hear from Adam himself, you lear towards the end why he wasn’t a part of this story, and it certainly makes sense.
June 11, 2017
The story itself was interesting and the book appears to be thoroughly researched. However, the author spends large chunks of the book editorializing about the college admissions process. This breaks up the flow of the book, is unnecessary, and gets to be pretty repetitive. The author's writing style is also very much like a journalist. The prose is pretty dry and unvaried. It feels like you are reading a serious of newspaper articles to a degree. The book would have been much better if it was crafted more as a story with better character development and better descriptions of events.
April 1, 2019
A 21st Century Catch Me If You Can. I have little doubt that Adam Wheeler has a bright mind. What's most impressive is his grit to work overtime through the complex and involved application process and the resourcefulness to find the right words to plagiarize each of his college papers, writings and reflections.
February 26, 2023
This is my second time reading this book and is by far one of my all time favorite books of all time. The amount of unpredictable plot twists, will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat. Even though this was my second time reading it, I was still in complete shock every time a new lie came about.
March 19, 2023
There was an amazing amount of research revealed in this book, but the author's inability to interview Adam Wheeler hurt her a lot. It made the narrative wooden at times. And I kind of agree with Wheeler's father at the end. Wheeler was adjudged not insane and then declared in need of psychotherapy. His father objected that both can't be true.
May 15, 2023
Knowing how hard my children actually worked—really all their young lives—to acquire admittances to both MIT (1) and Harvard (2), I think this con artist deserves years of prison time. He took spots and prizes that should have been awarded to others. It was an interesting read and I’m glad he got caught—although he should have been exposed much sooner.
March 20, 2023
A fascinating well written account of academic fraud. The Adam Wheeler case was unknown to me so I found it extremely interesting as I am also an academic. What is lacking is the voice of Wheeler himself and those of his parents.
October 16, 2023
Though deep dive into the life of this con artist and a story that sounds so crazy it almost doesn't feel real. I enjoyed this read a lot and it also gives vivid details of some life in high acidemia that made me excited for my experiences in education.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2022
Very interesting and detailed vision of the encounter of the true story staring Adam Wheeler.
January 23, 2018
An interesting re-telling of real life Adam Wheeler, who conned his way into Harvard, as well as the broader social implications that contribute to cheating.
December 3, 2013
quick read about serial, compulsive plagiarist who BSed his way into Harvard as a transfer student, faked effusive recommendations for himself, invented credentials on his cv, won scholarships and writing prizes with other people's work, and so on and so on until getting tripped up when applying for a Rhodes scholarship using an essay written by a friend and colleague of one of the interviewers. Oops.
Author was on the story for the college newspaper at the time, which means she has lots of insight into the details of what made his Kirkland house suite so suitable for big parties, but also is predictably correlated with a youthful, inexperienced writing style.
Other major gap in this very interesting story is that she never got cooperation from the perp or even his family. So the technical details of his cheating are all here, including the somewhat ridiculous lengths to which he took it (e.g., cribbing from the acknowledgements of someone's dissertation in English lit), but any further intel on his life, how this all started, whether he was nervous about getting caught, etc. -- all lacking.
Author was on the story for the college newspaper at the time, which means she has lots of insight into the details of what made his Kirkland house suite so suitable for big parties, but also is predictably correlated with a youthful, inexperienced writing style.
Other major gap in this very interesting story is that she never got cooperation from the perp or even his family. So the technical details of his cheating are all here, including the somewhat ridiculous lengths to which he took it (e.g., cribbing from the acknowledgements of someone's dissertation in English lit), but any further intel on his life, how this all started, whether he was nervous about getting caught, etc. -- all lacking.
December 12, 2012
I was fascinated by this well-written and exhaustively detailed book about a young man who faked his background, transcripts, test scores, and personal recommendations to get into several universities, notably as a transfer student to Harvard and winner of several high-profile literary prizes. I was also surprised that his way-beyond exceptional applications never gave any of the admissions committees' people a moment of pause. He displayed himself as so unique and beyond the norm that I would have questioned a lot of things. I was disapppointed, however, by the author's inability to interview Adam Weaver for this book and to get into his head. There is no discussion of his motives, why he lied so outrageously when a lot less would have sufficed, and why he was such a risk-taker as a fraud. We also learn very little about his family and its role in Wheeler's story. Overall, a good read about how top-tier universities work -- and don't always work too well. Also a message to colleges to look more askance at college applicants.
July 29, 2013
This was a very interesting and well-written book that I found hard to put down. Julie Zauzmer did an excellent job of weaving the story of how a pathological fraudster faked his way into Harvard (and Bowdoin) and, amazingly, how he was not caught until he came very close to winning Harvard's endorsement for a Rhodes scholarship. Particularly impressive is the fact that the author of this book was a senior in college at the time she wrote and published what is an incredibly compelling story. The book had only two shortcomings: First, there was insufficient information about Adam Wheeler and his family. This may have been due to a lack of access to them, but more insight into his background and upbringing, and his personal perspective and motivations would have helped round out the story. Second, Ms. Zauzmer was pretty easy on Harvard's complete and utter negligence in not catching Wheeler sooner. The claims he made on his application, and the nature of many of his "essays" and writings, were virtually unbelievable and should have resulted in some added due diligence.
September 2, 2015
I think that I was predisposed against the author/the book itself because as a graduate of a small midwestern liberal arts college, I am programmed to dislike all things Harvard. But in truth, it was solidly written and once it got going, I was effectively hooked. (Although the story almost wrote itself) I wish the author had delved more deeply into and had been more critical about the systemic flaws that allowed for this to happen. Wheeler built his entire scheme on a presumption that his parents, admissions officers and faculty members were clueless drones that could be fooled by esoteric language and impressive credentials. Zauzmer could have probed more deeply in that area which would have resulted in a more meaningful narrative.
January 5, 2013
I found the premise to be fascinating. I have often wondered how hard it would be to do this sort of thing just as a scientific experiment. I would say that it was amazing that he wasn't caught sooner but with the volume of applications Harvard and other schools receive then people are not going to read thoroughly.
I can't help thinking that if he had been a little bit less of a pretentious ass about the whole thing he probably would have gotten away with it and graduated without being caught.
I can't help thinking that if he had been a little bit less of a pretentious ass about the whole thing he probably would have gotten away with it and graduated without being caught.
December 23, 2024
An impressive piece of work from an undergraduate author (who is the real thing). Though she didn't directly interview the subject of the book, I get the sense that I know enough about him without that, thanks very much. The scale of his plagiarism into which he sank all his energy, a scam that came to define at least his early 20s, if not the rest of his life, is off-putting to say the least. I posted a longer reflection on Books Are Our Superpower.
December 12, 2012
This ended up being insanely interesting. Probably moreso if you work in academia (fellow academes, take note). Also, kind of reassuring. Most people don't use words like precis and demarche in emails. And if you read an email in which someone has done that, it's because they're a cheater. I might be overgeneralizing a bit, but um, yeah.
Also, what an ass. A pretentious ass. A FAKE pretentious ass.
Also, what an ass. A pretentious ass. A FAKE pretentious ass.
November 24, 2014
Interesting read about a kid who cons his way into Harvard and almost gets away with it, but these kinds of true crime stories always seem to end the same. The criminals are emboldened by getting away with more and more audacious acts and, of course, by their hubris that eventually leads to their downfall.
Quick read. Of interest to those who read and enjoyed books on crime and intrigue in an academic setting such as Mushroom or The Cuckoo's Egg.
Quick read. Of interest to those who read and enjoyed books on crime and intrigue in an academic setting such as Mushroom or The Cuckoo's Egg.
Read
September 8, 2015I could not finish this book. What could have been a fascinating story was completely blunted by the lack of first-hand insight into Wheeler's mind and motivations and by the bludgeoning of the reader with how prestigious Harvard is. (First, it's Harvard, we get it. Prestigious and competitive. Move on. Second, there are tons of great institutions of higher education that are not Harvard. Get over yourself.) The writing was sophomoric and needed an editor with a fresh box of red pens.
December 17, 2012
This was fascinating. I don't remember this story from a few years ago. It is about a man who faked his way into Harvard by lying about his transcripts, letters of recommendations, test scores, previous education history, and even more. His claims were outrageous and he kept doing it over and over again.
March 11, 2013
I honestly don't know who to resent more, the kid who did this or Harvard for not checking the applications claims and letting this happen. Adam doesn't get into any real trouble until Chapter 6, which is super annoying and he basically runs away like a coward when they try to confront him. Overall the book was interesting and I learned a lot of new words, which is a plus.
June 5, 2013
Probably would have been better as a newspaper article. Very poorly written. Felt like I was reading the author's notes. Way too much time spent on interviews and quotes from people who ran into him in school. Boring. Was hoping for something a bit deeper.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews