Getting In: How one ingenious applicant induced a letter of acceptance from America's most selective university

by Julian F. Thompson

GETTING IN records the route taken by an ingenious applicant, Tapioca Strangeways of Rising Gorge, Vermont, in order to gain admission to highly selective Riddle University. It begins when Tapioca receives permission from Dean Dorman, a young admissions officer at Riddle, to write an Admissions essay that's far longer than the one required of all the other applicants. And that essay goes on for ten autobiographical chapters, each of which charmingly and modestly presents one or more facets of Tapioca's depth, unique well-roundedness and overall worth to a university like Riddle. Interrupting the flow of these chapters are the letters that fly back and forth between Rising Gorge and South Riddle, MA. In them, Tapioca's plan can be seen taking shape. The last one from Riddle is, of course, the treasured acceptance letter.

150 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2009

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Speedy and mildly amusing, for which it gets an extra star. The massive typeface and significant white-space (due to the epistolary format) make it read more like a 72-page book. Regarding the ending (which would have made a 2-star rating out of a book of typical length): I suddenly don't like Tapi very much, but Dean totally had it coming to him. And, really, how much of what came before can you believe when that is how things turn out? I wouldn't recommend this to anyone in conversation, but I wouldn't discourage them from reading it if they found it on their own. It's really so short that even if the reader hates it, they at least haven't invested very much time into reading it.