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Getting In
Q: What does a parent need to survive the college application process?
A. A sense of humor.
B. A therapist on 24-hour call.
C. A large bank balance.
D. All of the above.
Getting In is the roller-coaster story of five very different Los Angeles families united by a single obsession: acceptance at a top college, preferably one that makes their friends and neighbors green with envy. At an elite private school and a nearby public school, families devote themselves to getting their seniors into the perfect school--even if the odds are stacked against them, even if they can't afford the $50,000 annual price tag, even if the effort requires a level of deceit, and even if the object of all this attention wants to go somewhere else.
Getting In is a delightfully smart comedy of class and entitlement, of love and ambition, set in a world where a fat envelope from a top school matters more than anything . . . almost.
A. A sense of humor.
B. A therapist on 24-hour call.
C. A large bank balance.
D. All of the above.
Getting In is the roller-coaster story of five very different Los Angeles families united by a single obsession: acceptance at a top college, preferably one that makes their friends and neighbors green with envy. At an elite private school and a nearby public school, families devote themselves to getting their seniors into the perfect school--even if the odds are stacked against them, even if they can't afford the $50,000 annual price tag, even if the effort requires a level of deceit, and even if the object of all this attention wants to go somewhere else.
Getting In is a delightfully smart comedy of class and entitlement, of love and ambition, set in a world where a fat envelope from a top school matters more than anything . . . almost.
404 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
4 people are currently reading
492 people want to read
About the author
Karen Stabiner
14 books17 followersKaren Stabiner is a journalist and author of narrative non-fiction. She has co-authored the cookbooks Family Table, a collection of staff meal recipes and backstage stories from Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group restaurants, and The Valentino Cookbook with Piero Selvaggio. Her feature articles and essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, as well as in the Los Angeles Times, Saveur, Travel & Leisure and Gourmet. Her work has appeared in Best Food Writing anthologies. Stabiner teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
April 26, 2010
With one child that just entered college and another starting the process, this book was very easy to identify with. It was a fun and quirky read that I really enjoyed. No, my children aren't going to the elite private colleges, and this makes me appreciate how little I had to deal with through the process we did go through. (Man, and I thought that was bad!)
Getting In is a great book for anyone that has children looking at going to college, starting the process, are in, or have graduated. It's a book that will have you laughing and shaking your head, and really enjoying what you did and didn't have to go through. For those that don't have to worry about facing the college woes, make sure to pick this up so you can appreciate what you missed!! This is a great read for every adult.
Getting In is a great book for anyone that has children looking at going to college, starting the process, are in, or have graduated. It's a book that will have you laughing and shaking your head, and really enjoying what you did and didn't have to go through. For those that don't have to worry about facing the college woes, make sure to pick this up so you can appreciate what you missed!! This is a great read for every adult.
February 15, 2025
I’ve read many books in the same genre/theme that this book was trying to emulate, but here’s what it was missing:
1. Any redeemable characters. People want to read about rich annoying people only if they don’t get want they want or if they redeem themselves by the end. What was the point of this if no character learned anything, and no one didn’t get what they wanted? The author created a battle between Williams and Yale that ended up not being ironic at all. Even the adults couldn’t be liked.
2. Foil characters. Another way to make a book like this work is to create a “normie” character who balances the rest out and points out their idiocracy and privilege. There were none of those. Even the Ocean Heights characters, who were probably meant to provide this balance, were equally entitled and got sucked into the same problems as the Crestview kids.
3. A focus on any one plot. I do appreciate the style when an author lets us see into the minds of random side characters to see how their story briefly passes through a main character, but this went too far. Too many character names and full stories to keep track of, without enough time or detail to fully separate them.
1. Any redeemable characters. People want to read about rich annoying people only if they don’t get want they want or if they redeem themselves by the end. What was the point of this if no character learned anything, and no one didn’t get what they wanted? The author created a battle between Williams and Yale that ended up not being ironic at all. Even the adults couldn’t be liked.
2. Foil characters. Another way to make a book like this work is to create a “normie” character who balances the rest out and points out their idiocracy and privilege. There were none of those. Even the Ocean Heights characters, who were probably meant to provide this balance, were equally entitled and got sucked into the same problems as the Crestview kids.
3. A focus on any one plot. I do appreciate the style when an author lets us see into the minds of random side characters to see how their story briefly passes through a main character, but this went too far. Too many character names and full stories to keep track of, without enough time or detail to fully separate them.
December 21, 2017
Definitely took some time to get into it, the cast of characters is large and I had a hard time keeping everyone straight or remembering their storyline. But it was a different style than the typical novel and I liked how everyone’s stories interacted. A few characters had their storylines wrapped up too neatly but for the most part it was a pretty realistic look at the hell that is the college application process. I wouldn’t want to relive my senior year!
January 30, 2011
I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. It reminded me of when I was a private college advisor in an elite county and it reminded me why I stopped being a private college advisor in that county and instead decided to move to work at a Charter School in a small town where it's a huge deal if many of my students decide to go to a two year school. To me, this book did such a wonderful job of capturing "the world" that so many families get sucked into believing is the only world in relation to college, an elite world that consumes and seems really important until a person just simply decides to live in a different world for awhile. I really like the teenagers in this book (though I would have liked to see one of the kids have a better relationship with their parents...but that wasn't the story Stabiner chose to write). I really liked the private school/public school glimpses and especially connected to the family of Nora, Joel and Lauren. One of my favorite lines from the book is when Joel says, "People don't put decals on their cars because they need to be reminded where their kids go to school. They put them on to impress the person behind them at the traffic light." It reminded me of a private client's parent I had a looooooong time ago who told me, "I really don't care where he wants to go, I want a Cornell sticker for my car" (One of the defining moments for me changing my geography). This book has plenty of gems in it and it's also just a really fun read.
April 30, 2011
Reading on a strong recommendation from a colleague...
A fine specimen of intense helicopter parenting and the competitive college admissions process. I really disliked this book, but I read it to the end hoping for some sort of payoff, which was foolish because the signs were there right from the beginning. These kids come off as very spoiled and self-obsessed, the parents come off as indulgent and self-obsessed. The characters are largely stock, and there are pop culture references littered generously throughout. I could see this as being very interesting to anybody who has just gone through the college applications rigmarole, and the writing is good enough, but it just ended with me thinking "who cares?"
A fine specimen of intense helicopter parenting and the competitive college admissions process. I really disliked this book, but I read it to the end hoping for some sort of payoff, which was foolish because the signs were there right from the beginning. These kids come off as very spoiled and self-obsessed, the parents come off as indulgent and self-obsessed. The characters are largely stock, and there are pop culture references littered generously throughout. I could see this as being very interesting to anybody who has just gone through the college applications rigmarole, and the writing is good enough, but it just ended with me thinking "who cares?"
February 28, 2012
This book took far too long to finish, mostly because it just seemed so... snooty? conjectured? I'm not sure, exactly, but I didn't like it. And it didn't redeem itself by the end. This is a good idea for a plot- the pressure parents and high school seniors put on themselves to get into college- but it ended up being about money and privilege and not at all about "real life" as I know it. I couldn't connect with the characters and frequently lost track of who was who. Not good. Not impressed.
August 17, 2012
Meh. It was ok and a relatively quick read but it wasn't much of a story.
July 4, 2014
Too long and I found it difficult to care about privileged, wealthy students whining about which out-of-state private school they wanted to or didn't want to attend.
November 25, 2021
I'm really not certain if I missed something important here, in reading Karen Stabiner's curious novel about American high school students "Getting In" to their preferred choice of college, or university. Is it meant to be taken seriously, as a genuine commentary on this bizarre educational ritual of American middle class life, or is it a spoof, a satire, or perhaps even a comedy?
Because, if it's meant to be 'straight' story telling, if Stabiner is not actually taking the piss, big time, why would anyone bother spending valuable time writing about a corrupt, immoral, 'first-world' system, full of insincere, privileged, spoiled, and wholly ungrateful characters, that depicts middle-class American society as shallow and obsessed with social status and brinkmanship.
If it's a comedy, well, it's not funny and I didn't laugh. Mostly I grimaced. If it's meant to be a satire, then maybe that just wasn't clear to me and maybe I needed a whack on the head with something a little more obvious so that I got the intended message.
As it is, I was left confused, embarrassed, disgusted and nauseated about how goddamn awful these characters, students and parents alike, truly are, (every single one of them!) and how corrupt and immoral the process is, and somewhat thankful that this is a uniquely American phenomenon and nothing quite like it exists in Australia.
Definitely not recommended - hitting the Kindle delete button.
Because, if it's meant to be 'straight' story telling, if Stabiner is not actually taking the piss, big time, why would anyone bother spending valuable time writing about a corrupt, immoral, 'first-world' system, full of insincere, privileged, spoiled, and wholly ungrateful characters, that depicts middle-class American society as shallow and obsessed with social status and brinkmanship.
If it's a comedy, well, it's not funny and I didn't laugh. Mostly I grimaced. If it's meant to be a satire, then maybe that just wasn't clear to me and maybe I needed a whack on the head with something a little more obvious so that I got the intended message.
As it is, I was left confused, embarrassed, disgusted and nauseated about how goddamn awful these characters, students and parents alike, truly are, (every single one of them!) and how corrupt and immoral the process is, and somewhat thankful that this is a uniquely American phenomenon and nothing quite like it exists in Australia.
Definitely not recommended - hitting the Kindle delete button.
May 11, 2017
Bought it a library sale for $.25 and I must say, I got my money's worth. A beach book or a fun read for a long plane read. All I can say is, quoting "Gigi", "I'm glad I'm not young anymore" If this is the insanity of college admissions, I'm glad it's behind me. Fiction or no fiction.
October 29, 2017
This book was an educational experience wrapped up into a story. I found myself thinking of my daughter’s path to college. 🙂
January 5, 2018
It took some time to get into it. And i was prepared to give it 3 stars, but the very end almost had me weepy. So it’s at least 3.5.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
April 10, 2013
I love books about college admissions. If I didn't work in book publishing, I would work in college admissions somehow, probably as a high school guidance counselor. I even applied to and got into graduate programs for that, but while waiting for my own admissions, I got my first job in the world of books and didn't look back.
This book tells the story of five seniors in Los Angeles worrying about colleges and the future, and their families. Three go to a prep school, a fourth used to until her parents' divorce, and the fifth is her tutor. Aspirations are high (Northwestern! Harvard! Yale is a backup!), competition is intense, the future is uncertain, and everything is tense.
I bought this book on impulse and was very pleased. The book was relatively light, without major themes or symbolism, but the issues in the book seem like life or death to the people involved. (And as I remember, that's relatively accurate.) And light was just what I was looking for after lots of dense nonfiction and deep book club novels. All these characters seemed pretty real, although there also were cliches. But the cliches felt legit, like this is the reason why cliches exist: because those actually do happen in the real world. There are studious Asian-American students who are a shoe-in for Harvard, there are Mean Girls who have easy lives, high school is populated with ditzes and nice girls and popular boys, and they all are in Getting In. We also get the parents' perspective and the guidance counselor.
If you have students approaching college age, or if you are through the process and would like to see it without the accompanying stress, or if you just want to read a fun book mostly about people in a certain income bracket, Getting In is perfect. It would be an ideal poolside read, and the timing is perfect to read it when school's out!
This book tells the story of five seniors in Los Angeles worrying about colleges and the future, and their families. Three go to a prep school, a fourth used to until her parents' divorce, and the fifth is her tutor. Aspirations are high (Northwestern! Harvard! Yale is a backup!), competition is intense, the future is uncertain, and everything is tense.
I bought this book on impulse and was very pleased. The book was relatively light, without major themes or symbolism, but the issues in the book seem like life or death to the people involved. (And as I remember, that's relatively accurate.) And light was just what I was looking for after lots of dense nonfiction and deep book club novels. All these characters seemed pretty real, although there also were cliches. But the cliches felt legit, like this is the reason why cliches exist: because those actually do happen in the real world. There are studious Asian-American students who are a shoe-in for Harvard, there are Mean Girls who have easy lives, high school is populated with ditzes and nice girls and popular boys, and they all are in Getting In. We also get the parents' perspective and the guidance counselor.
If you have students approaching college age, or if you are through the process and would like to see it without the accompanying stress, or if you just want to read a fun book mostly about people in a certain income bracket, Getting In is perfect. It would be an ideal poolside read, and the timing is perfect to read it when school's out!
May 1, 2010
For Nora being a mother was the easy part. Preparing her daughter Lauren for the SATs and helping her find a really good college was another story. Nora didn’t realize there were so many different factors to consider in the equation like…hiring a tutor, distance versus notoriety of one college over the other. All Nora wants is for her daughter, Lauren to be happy and get into a good college. SATs, ACTs, grants, loans…all these things are Greek to Nora but she is willing to try her hardest to study up on this stuff for Lauren’s sake.
Getting In started out funny and enjoyable but towards the middle and end, I found that I didn’t really care about what happened to most of the characters in the story. They were kind of self-centered. Of course this could be attributed to being obsessed to get your children into a really good prominent college. After seeing and experiencing what these families and children had to go through, I am glad I was never got this worked up about getting into a really good college. Luckily reading Getting In, you don’t have to worry about there being any prep studying required like taking the SATs.
Getting In started out funny and enjoyable but towards the middle and end, I found that I didn’t really care about what happened to most of the characters in the story. They were kind of self-centered. Of course this could be attributed to being obsessed to get your children into a really good prominent college. After seeing and experiencing what these families and children had to go through, I am glad I was never got this worked up about getting into a really good college. Luckily reading Getting In, you don’t have to worry about there being any prep studying required like taking the SATs.
August 15, 2012
Quite a tomb despite the topic. A fictional account of kids and parents getting into college. I liked the setting a lot, as I could sort of but not really relate as the setting was West LA. So I know the craziness of it, but can't relate beyond that. A bit too many characters and it took me a while to figure out how they all overlapped each other because as well as the kids, there were also the parents and their names used as well. So there were a lot of people in this book. Maybe a bit too many details that went no where and really had nothing to do with the story except to enhance and use it to describe the people, which was maybe a bit much for me.
Throw in the who cares drama of kids getting into good schools, this book was just kind of meh. My favorite character was actually the kid who gamed the system and got what she wanted because in the long run of schools, that is really what it's all about. And if it's done in a good way, I like it. For such a huge book, I actually read it pretty fast. Probably more for high school kids then real adults. Real grown-ups might think the topic is too lame. Or relate too much, depending.
Throw in the who cares drama of kids getting into good schools, this book was just kind of meh. My favorite character was actually the kid who gamed the system and got what she wanted because in the long run of schools, that is really what it's all about. And if it's done in a good way, I like it. For such a huge book, I actually read it pretty fast. Probably more for high school kids then real adults. Real grown-ups might think the topic is too lame. Or relate too much, depending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2012
Upon the arrival of a new baby, parents may begin to sock some money away in a college fund for 18 years in the future. With Harvard's cost for 2010-2011 estimated (on their own website) to be $50,724 for tuition, room, board, and fees, parents are going to need a lot of socks!
Getting In is a fictional story (but very true at many high schools) of students, parents, and guidance counselors working around the clock to gain admittance to competitive colleges. The sad reality is that one blown test can lower a GPA a few hundredths of a percentage point to prevent admission. Stabiner excels at giving the reader a glimpse into the brutal process, from questioning the taking of a non-weighted art class to being a valedictorian that only got on Harvard's waitlist. Stabiner clearly shows us that being a private school guidance counselor has to be one of the most stressful jobs in the world.
This book is very enjoyable, a quick read, and unfortunately, quite true. If you are the parent of a high school student, it will probably scare you to death.
MY RATING - 4
See this review on 1776books.net...
http://1776books.blogspot.com/2010/04...
Getting In is a fictional story (but very true at many high schools) of students, parents, and guidance counselors working around the clock to gain admittance to competitive colleges. The sad reality is that one blown test can lower a GPA a few hundredths of a percentage point to prevent admission. Stabiner excels at giving the reader a glimpse into the brutal process, from questioning the taking of a non-weighted art class to being a valedictorian that only got on Harvard's waitlist. Stabiner clearly shows us that being a private school guidance counselor has to be one of the most stressful jobs in the world.
This book is very enjoyable, a quick read, and unfortunately, quite true. If you are the parent of a high school student, it will probably scare you to death.
MY RATING - 4
See this review on 1776books.net...
http://1776books.blogspot.com/2010/04...
April 4, 2010
Just finished this book...very quick read about how the college application process is stressful for both kids and parents. This is a novel about five students and their parents in Californis who are experiencing the process from the SATs during junior year all through the senior year events...early decision, regular decision, etc. The guidance counselor is also depicted as a master negotiator among college admissions officers as well as parents who use money and influence to obtain their goals. I enjoyed the book, having recently completed the process for the second and last time (hopefully), and related to the parent of the most anxious student, whose SATs are high, but school grades don't meet the cut for her dream school (what's wrong with regular science classes anyway, or B+ in AP classes?). Great book for anyone who just finished or is about to start the college process.
June 9, 2011
I thought this might tend toward chick lit, but had seen it on the lists of some reputable book rec sites, so decided to give it a try. I thought it was quite well-written and engaging. I read a simliar novel last spring -- kids angling to get into prestigious Ivy League universities -- but it was written from the point of view of a college admissions counselor (the author having been one herself). This was strictly from the POV of the families and students themselves. The author included five different families, but introduced everyone slowly enough that I didn't feel like I needed to make a chart to keep everyone straight. There was enough humor to balance the angst and it was done in a way that appealed to me even though I have no frame of reference to today's college application procedures and no children who will ever go through it. Well done, funny and satisfying.
July 3, 2012
A great book for any parent of children nearing the college application phase. In the book, we follow a handful of elite, over achieving high schoolers as they go after their dream colleges. I love how the author lets us sympathize with all the characters - we understand the students and what they want, the parents and what they hope for for their kids (often very different from the kid's plans), and even the faculty/guidance counselors who have their own set of agendas. The book is funny yet true. My only complaint is that there were so many characters - students, parents, faculty - and so many colleges mentioned, I kept wishing for a cheat sheet or something so I could keep track of who was who, and who had which school as their top choice.
February 7, 2016
Tense, painful, stressful novel for any parent who has lived through or is experiencing the college application process. Begins with SATs and ends with acceptances, rejections and wait lists. And then the financial aid story begins...I'm finally done with it all; glad I didn't read books like this before/during the process itself. The problem for the cut throat prep schools and their parents is that there are only 10-15 "acceptable " schools and thousands of qualified applicants seeking those coveted spaces. I never realized how extraordinary it was to have all my children attend MIT and Harvard.
January 22, 2013
I'm not sure if a literary critic would acknowledge that there is a genre out there that encompasses tales of getting into college. If there is such a genre, then this novel belongs in this realm. It is mostly about rich kids- hard to feel any empathy for their plight (oh yes- there is the stereotypical first generation Asian student who goes to the local public high school and tutors the rich kids). Most of the characters in this book were unlikeable. Which makes this a fun beach read if you are in higher education or have a child getting ready to apply to college!
January 4, 2014
Having spent most of my professional life teaching and working with high schoolers, and supporting many of them through the college admission process, this was a dead-on reflection of how it all works. Most of the characters are more like caricatures, too extremely likable or unlikable to be believable. However, I loved the underlying theme that there are no guarantees when it comes to college admissions, and that perfect scores or grades are less relevant than most people think when it comes to the most elite schools. Fun vacation read!
Want to read
April 27, 2010Heard Karen Stabiner speak at the 2010 LA Times Festival of Books. She was on a panel discussing Fiction-Forging Ahead. She was very articulate and I enjoyed hearing her insightful comments. She signed my book afterward. She saw me (eight months pregnant) and said that it would be awhile til I have to worry about "this." The book is about parents, children and the college application process. It was very nice to chat with her for a few minutes about the joys of having a daughter.
October 22, 2014
I actually quite enjoyed this book.
As a college student myself, I found it to be quite funny how obsessed these parents were with the colleges their kids plan to go to. As a Californian, i also found it funny how looked down upon UC's are with the private school crowd. I went to public school and getting into a UC was considered to be a big accomplishment. This book provided an interesting glimpse into the world of college applications.
As a college student myself, I found it to be quite funny how obsessed these parents were with the colleges their kids plan to go to. As a Californian, i also found it funny how looked down upon UC's are with the private school crowd. I went to public school and getting into a UC was considered to be a big accomplishment. This book provided an interesting glimpse into the world of college applications.
November 9, 2014
I'm disappointed. I love this type of books, but this one didn't work. The characters are almost all insufferable or obnoxious, none are described with sympathy except perhaps for Joel and Nora, and the immigrant engineer turned taxi driver, Yoonie his wife, and their daughter. Even them weren't fully fleshed out - there are 5 seniors and 5 sets of parents, plus the guidance counselor, so that's over a dozen people to keep track of, none of whom are overly nice.
January 8, 2013
who remembers the pressure of trying to pick a college? I do. My parents were really great about not putting too much on me, just making sure that I applied where there were classes I would be interested in, a safe environment and a fairly reasonable tuition. I dont have children but know that this must be a very stressful time for parents.!
September 16, 2013
I read this book hoping it would be a fun, breezy read but honestly there are just too many characters to remember and I often was mixing them up. Maybe it just wasn't what I was in the mood for but it seemed pretty cliche and predictable. The story seemed to carry on a bit too long and I got very disinterested with it.
May 5, 2014
This is a dense, rather lengthy read. It deals mostly with the immense pressures students face when entering into postsecondary education in the US, so if that doesn't interest you, this is not for you. I thought it well-written and interesting, but was less than enamoured with any of the characters and was glad to finish the book.
May 30, 2010
The overall message was nice, but the book was too long and the mix of characters too complicated for my liking. They were also pretty stereotyped, IMO, which didn't make for the most interesting / unique read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews