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The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College
In the fall of 1999, New York Times education reporter Jacques Steinberg was given an unprecedented opportunity to observe the admissions process at prestigious Wesleyan University. Over the course of nearly a year, Steinberg accompanied admissions officer Ralph Figueroa on a tour to assess and recruit the most promising students in the country. The Gatekeepers follows a diverse group of prospective students as they compete for places in the nation's most elite colleges. The first book to reveal the college admission process in such behind-the-scenes detail, The Gatekeepers will be required reading for every parent of a high school-age child and for every student facing the arduous and anxious task of applying to college.
294 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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1018 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Steinberg
3 books7 followersJacques Steinberg is the author of The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College, a New York Times-best seller. He has been a staff reporter for The New York Times for more than two decades, and is currently a national education correspondent for the paper. Steinberg also moderates The Choice, the Times college admissions blog, which he created for the paper in spring 2009. He graduated in 1984 from Dartmouth College, where he majored in history and edited the student daily, The Dartmouth. He can sometimes be seen swimming and biking in and around Westchester County, New York, though slowly, and not at any distance approaching that of an Ironman. He has two school-age children and is married to Sharon Weinstock, a lawyer."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 221 reviews
October 1, 2020
Another reviewer said that this book is guaranteed to give high school kids a nervous breakdown, and I'm sure it's true because I'm over 40, and it's given me a mid-life crisis. Reading it brought me right back to my high school and college years, except that now with an adult's perspective, I can see all my mistakes more clearly than ever. I kid you not; I spent several sleepless nights obsessing about things like "If only I'd taken more AP classes," "If only I'd understood that the letter I got from College X meant that they really wanted me," "If only I'd listened to my intuition and not to labels," "I made such bad decisions; why didn't I get more guidance?" and on and on and on.
You'd think that since the book had such a negative effect on me, I wouldn't give it a 5, but I figure, if a book is that powerful, it deserves it. It did what it set out to do, which is to inform the reader about the admissions process, and made it a grippingly human story by focusing on people: Wesleyan admissions officer Ralph Figueroa and six applicants he considered for the class of 2004. Some were accepted, some were rejected, and some were wait-listed, but whatever the outcome, incredible human consideration went into each decision. Contrary to what I thought, the admissions process is neither cold nor impersonal. Ralph and his colleagues really do read those entrance essays. In fact, he used to read his favorites to his wife. Applicant Jordan Goldman won Ralph over with his essay on his friendship with a handicapped boy, which came as a big surprise to Jordan. He thought it was the recommendation he got from a famous published author.
As much as I might wish it, I can't turn back the clock and undo my mistakes. But I can change my present, and since reading this book, I've been seriously considering graduate school. I know that part of my motivation is a poor one. I want the validation of an admissions committee putting the words "would add" [to this institution] on my application. But on the other side, I feel this is one way to really reach my potential. When I went to college, I had no kind of career goal, no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. But now I am grown up, so perhaps I can use a graduate level education to better advantage than I did my undergraduate.
Gut-wrenching as this book was for me, I recommend this book to all parents who intend to send their kids to college, probably before sophomore year, and then coach their kids through the admissions process. Perhaps some kids have the inner grit to read it themselves, but if it put me through the ringer 20 years after I was in the middle of the admissions process, how much anxiety-producing for them?
You'd think that since the book had such a negative effect on me, I wouldn't give it a 5, but I figure, if a book is that powerful, it deserves it. It did what it set out to do, which is to inform the reader about the admissions process, and made it a grippingly human story by focusing on people: Wesleyan admissions officer Ralph Figueroa and six applicants he considered for the class of 2004. Some were accepted, some were rejected, and some were wait-listed, but whatever the outcome, incredible human consideration went into each decision. Contrary to what I thought, the admissions process is neither cold nor impersonal. Ralph and his colleagues really do read those entrance essays. In fact, he used to read his favorites to his wife. Applicant Jordan Goldman won Ralph over with his essay on his friendship with a handicapped boy, which came as a big surprise to Jordan. He thought it was the recommendation he got from a famous published author.
As much as I might wish it, I can't turn back the clock and undo my mistakes. But I can change my present, and since reading this book, I've been seriously considering graduate school. I know that part of my motivation is a poor one. I want the validation of an admissions committee putting the words "would add" [to this institution] on my application. But on the other side, I feel this is one way to really reach my potential. When I went to college, I had no kind of career goal, no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. But now I am grown up, so perhaps I can use a graduate level education to better advantage than I did my undergraduate.
Gut-wrenching as this book was for me, I recommend this book to all parents who intend to send their kids to college, probably before sophomore year, and then coach their kids through the admissions process. Perhaps some kids have the inner grit to read it themselves, but if it put me through the ringer 20 years after I was in the middle of the admissions process, how much anxiety-producing for them?
January 18, 2014
I read this book grudgingly for work, but ended up really liking it. It shows admissions counselors for the subjective, tired, overworked, and (generally) genuinely caring people they are. Moreover, it shows college admissions for what it is: an equally subjective process in which any rule can operate OR be broken for any applicant at any time. Where you get in is not who you are or how good you are.
October 6, 2015
This is probably one of the most depressing books I've ever read. Although Steinberg seems to have no particular mission for this work, it is truly an expose in the arbitrary decisions that are made by college admissions committees.
Perhaps the saddest part is the coda, wherein two students who were accepted despite mediocre grades and SAT scores were unable to handle the academic work and had to take time off from college, whereas two students who were rejected despite great SAT scores soared at their back up schools. It really highlights how unfair the process has been to both sets of students.
I'll admit that I was emotionally invested from the beginning. Like Jordan in the book, I had dream grades, SAT scores, AP classes & the works. Like Jordan, everyone assured me that I would get into Brown...and I didn't. So, like Jordan, I want to a mid-tier liberal arts college that was anxious to snap up the Ivy League's remnants (although unlike Jordan, I was savvy enough to choose one that gave me a substantial merit scholarship). Unlike Jordan, I never got over Brown, and deeply resent the four years I spent with coursework that failed to challenge me, and classmates who were not my intellectual equals. (For others in the same boat, take heart: despite going to a mid-rung college, I managed to get into a top-tier medical school, and thereafter a top-tier residency. Work hard and make the best of it; the rest of the world is not as fickle as undergrad admissions.)
Perhaps the saddest part is the coda, wherein two students who were accepted despite mediocre grades and SAT scores were unable to handle the academic work and had to take time off from college, whereas two students who were rejected despite great SAT scores soared at their back up schools. It really highlights how unfair the process has been to both sets of students.
I'll admit that I was emotionally invested from the beginning. Like Jordan in the book, I had dream grades, SAT scores, AP classes & the works. Like Jordan, everyone assured me that I would get into Brown...and I didn't. So, like Jordan, I want to a mid-tier liberal arts college that was anxious to snap up the Ivy League's remnants (although unlike Jordan, I was savvy enough to choose one that gave me a substantial merit scholarship). Unlike Jordan, I never got over Brown, and deeply resent the four years I spent with coursework that failed to challenge me, and classmates who were not my intellectual equals. (For others in the same boat, take heart: despite going to a mid-rung college, I managed to get into a top-tier medical school, and thereafter a top-tier residency. Work hard and make the best of it; the rest of the world is not as fickle as undergrad admissions.)
April 17, 2012
If you are in the market for books about college admissions, give yourself a treat and read this well researched, tastefully dramatized account of a year in the life of a dedicated, highly principled, woefully underpaid, college admissions officer. I found myself becoming almost as passionate as he was about his top picks, agreeing with some of his decisions, disagreeing with others, discovering in the process that my biases—and his—have more to do with personal past experience than actual evidence at hand. Happily, this book contains an epilogue, which describes the fate of the college prospects. My judgements faced a comeuppance or two, and so did the admissions officer's.
It was fun to witness the whole fraught process with the God's eye view of a benevolent omniscient narrator. Jacques Steinberg was kind to all the individuals he described, but he was also unsparing. Wesleyan University comes off as something less than a prize. I hope I gained enough perspective from this book to remember that the admissions process is highly subjective, and therefore somewhat random, and should never be viewed as a referendum on the worth of any human being.
It was fun to witness the whole fraught process with the God's eye view of a benevolent omniscient narrator. Jacques Steinberg was kind to all the individuals he described, but he was also unsparing. Wesleyan University comes off as something less than a prize. I hope I gained enough perspective from this book to remember that the admissions process is highly subjective, and therefore somewhat random, and should never be viewed as a referendum on the worth of any human being.
January 20, 2011
The Gatekeepers is both an intelligent expose of the college admissions system and yet a frightening picture of what is, and will continue to be, a maddening system of partial judges. While it may paint a bleak picture of the higher education landscape (one that is becoming more exclusive every day), the Gatekeepers seeks to (and succeeds in) shed light on an admissions system plagued by too many applicants and too few admissions officers. At times, it will drive you insane to see students wtih the right credentials be denied admission in favor of someone "lesser." But as you read, it becomes clear that college is not, and should not, be focused solely on grades. People with a variety of talents and backgrounds are recognized for their unique abilities out of the classroom. While it only profiles one college mainly, and others offhand, it provides a better description than many traditional guidebooks into the college admissions process.
November 27, 2007
Really good read. A year in the life of a college admissions counselor. I thought it was fascinating.
August 26, 2018
(Note: Unless you are directly involved with the admissions process, you may not appreciate this book the same way I did. I'm a tutor, and this is all... too real. Much too real.)
I was very down on this book after the first ~40 pages, when we'd gone deep into the background of Ralph the admissions officer without ever meeting a single named high school student. But when the students entered the picture, The Gatekeepers got interesting FAST.
This is an honest book. Witheringly honest, in some cases, as when we see a student's life story dismissed by a panel of judges within minutes. And beautifully honest, whenever we get to spend some time with the kids and explore their lives, their decisions, their hopes and fears. I have no idea how many kids Steinberg met, but I fell in love with the half-dozen he chose to show.
And then we're back to withering, as these kids are torn up by people who've known them for minutes, or given the chance of their lives only to find that it wasn't the dream they'd been sold. But that's honest, too, and in the end, everyone seems to be doing pretty well. (This part's a little unrealistic, in that Steinberg only followed students of unusual intelligence and/or charisma, but that's the price of writing about reasonable applicants to Wesleyan.)
This book's funny moments are as funny as the best bits of actual high school, the cute moments as cute, and the sad moments as sad. I was racing to finish by the time I hit the last few chapters, devouring everything I could learn about every character. To my vast surprise, the only number of stars I could justify at the end was... five.
(That said, I still skimmed over the bits where we left the students and went back to Ralph's life. Sorry, Ralph.)
I was very down on this book after the first ~40 pages, when we'd gone deep into the background of Ralph the admissions officer without ever meeting a single named high school student. But when the students entered the picture, The Gatekeepers got interesting FAST.
This is an honest book. Witheringly honest, in some cases, as when we see a student's life story dismissed by a panel of judges within minutes. And beautifully honest, whenever we get to spend some time with the kids and explore their lives, their decisions, their hopes and fears. I have no idea how many kids Steinberg met, but I fell in love with the half-dozen he chose to show.
And then we're back to withering, as these kids are torn up by people who've known them for minutes, or given the chance of their lives only to find that it wasn't the dream they'd been sold. But that's honest, too, and in the end, everyone seems to be doing pretty well. (This part's a little unrealistic, in that Steinberg only followed students of unusual intelligence and/or charisma, but that's the price of writing about reasonable applicants to Wesleyan.)
This book's funny moments are as funny as the best bits of actual high school, the cute moments as cute, and the sad moments as sad. I was racing to finish by the time I hit the last few chapters, devouring everything I could learn about every character. To my vast surprise, the only number of stars I could justify at the end was... five.
(That said, I still skimmed over the bits where we left the students and went back to Ralph's life. Sorry, Ralph.)
November 20, 2012
I usually try not to read work-related books for fun, but this account of the college admissions process really drew me in. I got so invested in all the characters (who are real people!) - the students anxious about their college prospects, the admissions officers forced to make tough choices that are anything but shallow (though they may seem arbitary to people on the other side), and the counselors strategically playing middleman.
It is so impressive that the author was able to get such an insider view of the admissions process (props to Wesleyan for allowing this level of transparency) and that all the players were willing to let this stranger into their lives -- especially the students and their families. This book helped cast light on a process that has always been a great mystery to me - why some students get into a particular college and not others - and what the process of choosing who gets in (and when) reveals about our beliefs about merit and fairness.
It is so impressive that the author was able to get such an insider view of the admissions process (props to Wesleyan for allowing this level of transparency) and that all the players were willing to let this stranger into their lives -- especially the students and their families. This book helped cast light on a process that has always been a great mystery to me - why some students get into a particular college and not others - and what the process of choosing who gets in (and when) reveals about our beliefs about merit and fairness.
March 9, 2008
Fascinating behind the scenes look at the college admissions process. The author shadowed an admissions officer and had contact with several others during an entire admissions season. To me, it showed how arbitrary the whole system is, even though the admissions officers really put their hearts into it and fight for individual candidates.
November 16, 2017
Although a bit outdated, I thoroughly enjoyed this look at what goes on during the admissions season at a prestigious University. (Weslyean) Perhaps not the smartest book to read while my own child goes through this process, I actually felt reassured that at small select liberal arts schools, my daughter's application will get a thorough review. In an odd way, the book was almost a page turner, as I became invested in the applicants and wanted to know where they decided to go to school.
August 27, 2022
This book was surprisingly intriguing. It was so well written and easy to read. It really dives into the college admissions process and gives you a whole new perspective on the higher education system. Would recommend.
“Standards and rules are written in black and white, life’s truths are more likely to be found in shades of gray.”
“Standards and rules are written in black and white, life’s truths are more likely to be found in shades of gray.”
March 14, 2014
"The Gatekeepers" offers great insight into the admissions selection process at a competitive, liberal arts college in New England. Jacques Steinberg follows an admissions officer for a year to see the ins and outs of the decision making process, and comes away with a well written and well researched book that provides some wonderful insight.
To give us a better understanding of the choices that admissions officer Ralph Figueroa makes, “New York Times” education writer Steinberg follows six students throughout the process. Although Wesleyan University is predominantly white, I found it interesting that four of these students were minorities. This purposely gives us a front row view of one college’s attempt to create a diverse, dynamic class composed of students from different social, ethnic, academic and economic backgrounds.
In choosing these students, Steinberg demonstrates how deeply affirmative action plays a role in the admissions process at this particularly liberal Connecticut college. It was so important to Wesleyan to bring an American Indian to its school that they accepted one with Cs and Ds on his high school transcript while students at significantly more rigorous high schools with As and Bs in their Advanced Placement classes were not.
One take away is that every college is looking to add depth and personality to its incoming class in the admissions process in ways that are not always apparent to the high school senior (or their parents) and whose decisions are made by a small coterie of admissions “gatekeepers” like Mr. Fiueroa. Steinberg writes thoroughly and respectively about the process without judgment or hesitation. He presents the facts carefully and in a way that is engaging, entertaining and enlightening.
I’d recommend “The Gatekeepers” to any parent who is looking to understand and able to appreciate the view from the other side of the admissions process.
© 2014 Kristin N.P. Rappe
To give us a better understanding of the choices that admissions officer Ralph Figueroa makes, “New York Times” education writer Steinberg follows six students throughout the process. Although Wesleyan University is predominantly white, I found it interesting that four of these students were minorities. This purposely gives us a front row view of one college’s attempt to create a diverse, dynamic class composed of students from different social, ethnic, academic and economic backgrounds.
In choosing these students, Steinberg demonstrates how deeply affirmative action plays a role in the admissions process at this particularly liberal Connecticut college. It was so important to Wesleyan to bring an American Indian to its school that they accepted one with Cs and Ds on his high school transcript while students at significantly more rigorous high schools with As and Bs in their Advanced Placement classes were not.
One take away is that every college is looking to add depth and personality to its incoming class in the admissions process in ways that are not always apparent to the high school senior (or their parents) and whose decisions are made by a small coterie of admissions “gatekeepers” like Mr. Fiueroa. Steinberg writes thoroughly and respectively about the process without judgment or hesitation. He presents the facts carefully and in a way that is engaging, entertaining and enlightening.
I’d recommend “The Gatekeepers” to any parent who is looking to understand and able to appreciate the view from the other side of the admissions process.
© 2014 Kristin N.P. Rappe
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August 24, 2016Beats me why I'm happily reading this genre of Elite-American-College-Process all of a sudden, except some kind of train wreck fascination. Yes, I'm in the midst of applying for PhDs, which is what led me here, but as I understand it, (I hope) that has little in common with the nonsensical rigamarole of grades, scores, activities, essays, affirmative action, secret handshakes and random idiosyncracy described as undergraduate addmissions. Steinberg does his damn best to paint very sympathetic portrait of the process, and it just kind of about works, which in a way made it all the more unappealing as everyone involved trundles through with high-minded, systemic self conviction and seemingly no capacity for any criticism of the system. I was left mostly going 'ugh'.
The naked, slavering enthusiasm over an unusual racial background in a kid first, seemingly with passing relief that good grades and 'leadership' (what's that?) accompany it. The tediousness of the whole thing. The stifling vision of diversity on offer and the obvious failure to back it up - with money, first and foremost - once admission are done and coveted rankings gained. The enforced cynicism of fourteen year olds having to spend years of their lives figuring out what possibly makes them special in very narrow ways, how to package it, and finally how to conform to it.
It brought out all my latent pedagogical-ideological background, (probably because I couldn't help think of myself at 17-18, also, which is when I learned this stuff,) straight back to Paulo Freire and Martin Buber, with a level of irritation I'm actually a little surprised by. Makes me oddly grateful for my dodgy education of Marxist debate circles at that age instead of college. We were all fiercely wanted there, entirely regardless of 'what we could add.'
The naked, slavering enthusiasm over an unusual racial background in a kid first, seemingly with passing relief that good grades and 'leadership' (what's that?) accompany it. The tediousness of the whole thing. The stifling vision of diversity on offer and the obvious failure to back it up - with money, first and foremost - once admission are done and coveted rankings gained. The enforced cynicism of fourteen year olds having to spend years of their lives figuring out what possibly makes them special in very narrow ways, how to package it, and finally how to conform to it.
It brought out all my latent pedagogical-ideological background, (probably because I couldn't help think of myself at 17-18, also, which is when I learned this stuff,) straight back to Paulo Freire and Martin Buber, with a level of irritation I'm actually a little surprised by. Makes me oddly grateful for my dodgy education of Marxist debate circles at that age instead of college. We were all fiercely wanted there, entirely regardless of 'what we could add.'
June 6, 2016
Steinberg creates almost an epic retelling of the struggles of an admissions officer in a highly selective college - Wesleyan in Middletown, Connecticut. As someone who has read admissions statistics since the age of 12, or more than half of my life, I was fascinated at the unflinching portrayal of the intensity of life in the collegiate admissions sphere. These men and women give their lives to their institution, pouring their hearts out to fight for high school students that deserve a chance to better themselves through higher education.
The beauty of Steinberg's text is that he has no problem portraying quirks, idiosyncrasies, and even faults in the schools and people he is researching. Taking it one step further, the New York Times journalist has no qualms complimenting other universities, like Yale, Cornell, Amherst, or others as he details the thought processes of the students seeking admissions. Overall, this book, paired with The Price of Admission, gave me the second wind I so desperately needed after living through my first semester of a graduate program in higher education. I can hardly wait to visit other schools, interviewing for positions in their admissions or orientation offices.
The beauty of Steinberg's text is that he has no problem portraying quirks, idiosyncrasies, and even faults in the schools and people he is researching. Taking it one step further, the New York Times journalist has no qualms complimenting other universities, like Yale, Cornell, Amherst, or others as he details the thought processes of the students seeking admissions. Overall, this book, paired with The Price of Admission, gave me the second wind I so desperately needed after living through my first semester of a graduate program in higher education. I can hardly wait to visit other schools, interviewing for positions in their admissions or orientation offices.
May 24, 2013
The Gatekeepers, by Jacques Steinberg, was a very useful and informative account of the process a college goes through each year to ultimately decide who to accept into their institution. It gave some interesting insight as to what colleges primarily look for in students, and how they decide whether or not a person may be fitting for them. I could use this information for my own college applications, which is why I really liked all facets of the book. In addition to that, Steinberg made sure to include individual narratives of applicants, and the admissions officer to add a more real feeling to the story. This also made sure that the reader, who could be in the same situation as one of the included applicants, was able to evaluate their own potential before applying. I found it very interesting being in my senior year at high school, and I would definitely recommend this book for anyone seeking a fascinating look into what has proven one of the most intriguing environments.
July 8, 2008
If you're thinking about college or starting to apply then this is a book you must read. It gives a detailed account about the admissions process into a highly selective college. Our college counselor assigned this book as reading over the summer. I at that class meeting she continually warned us not to be afraid and that we were all capable of getting into a good school. When I read this book I wasn't afraid at all in fact was very interested in learning more about the college admissions process. I was more afraid the book was going to be boring, but I actually really liked it. I was well written and it was only about the admissions process it also looked into the lives of several applicants as well as the admissions officer. If you have any questions about college and how everything works then this is a great book to read.
February 12, 2011
I work in independent school admissions at a highly competitive school. The workload can be crazy and the decisions agonizing, but it pales in comparison to the admissions process at a place like Wesleyan University. The extremely long odds for almost all applicants to a school like this, much less Harvard or Yale, make me question the sanity of anyone who goes this route. This book should be required reading for all DC area high school juniors and their parents.
January 30, 2019
This book was highly entertaining--I even stayed up late to finish--but at the end I felt a little manipulated and soiled. So much was sloppy. What happened to the applicant in an early chapter who could sing and who got put in the "defer" pile? How much did the author make up, after hasty shallow interviews, about people's decision-making and their feelings about the college search? Because the whole thing felt a little bit off, a little bit forced, a little bit false.
March 12, 2015
I haven't felt this way since I was pregnant for the first time and reading What to Expect When You're Expecting. Same desire to know/not know the gruesome possibilities and Warning Signs. Same mixture of helplessness and resolve in the teeth of great crushing cogs of machinery through which I, tiny scared thing, must somehow shove my baby to the other side. Very, very, very thorough research here, and incredibly full picture of the entire process from multiple points of view.
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July 4, 2015Compelling piece of journalism that reinforces both how intensely rational and how essentially unpredictable the admissions process is at highly selective colleges. This book, by the NYTimes's chief education reporter, is full of revelations, sympathetic people, irritating imperfections in the system, and cringe-worthy glimpses into the sausagemaking of college classes. I recommend it highly.
October 10, 2009
This is a "must read" if you really want to know about the college admissions process for the top schools. I love the way the story was told because it followed one admissions officer and several different high school prospects. What you realize is that the process is flawed, but eventually, everyone seems to find a place they belong...and that gives me hope!
March 14, 2022
A little outdated but still captures the essence of the college admissions process in an informative and entertaining way. Makes me nostalgic for my days working in the admissions office.. and even sparks an interest in returning.
August 5, 2007
A really interesting non-fiction book about the admissions process at an "ivy league light" instituion. It follows an admission officer on his recruitment trips and the process in general. Reads like a novel.
August 21, 2007
Guaranteed to make any college applicant highly anxious. Interesting, though.
August 28, 2011
Fascinating look at what goes on in the admissions office of a highly selective university.
December 23, 2015
Great book for anyone interested in how selective institutions (especially private colleges) select their students.
July 30, 2016
I wish I'd read this before applying to college, if only to make myself feel better about that one wait listing I got.
April 1, 2019
This book is more than a decade old, but events of recent weeks have brought it back to light. NYTimes writer Jacques Steinberg spent a year following the Admissions staff at a private liberal arts college in Ct to get an understanding of trends happening with college admissions across America. He was allowed to follow half a dozen students aiming for admission at some of America's top colleges then and wrote his obvervations of the process.
Unfortunately, Steinberg missed so many of the lessons that he needed to see in order to report what was going wrong with American Higher Education. The pressure by parents, school leaders and admissions departments across America to get into named schools rather than to succeed at them and the steps that elite private schools and their more elite patrons followed to get into schools shows how unlevel the playing field is.
Steinberg never delves far into the difference between private and public schools at the time, or that has continued since. He glosses over one elite school in California where 100 or so seniors seek admission to Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Weslyan by the dozens but ignores the inequty of far greater majority of schools in America being limited to sending students to state colleges regardless of those students potential to benefit from a Stanford or Vasser education.
If you are a parent reading this book to get an idea of what you can do to help your child get into one of the elite schools in America...here is my advice based on this book.....Be Rich and send your kid to a private high school first.
If its too late for you to do that...then try this. Have your kid take calculus and 4 years of Spanish....get nothing but A's and some B's. Score over 1400 on the SAT's. Take 5 AP Exams in the senior year. Be Captain of more than on sport, or invent a new technology, sing like an Opera Star and have a stellar record. It also doesnt hurt if you make sure your high school hires people who have friends who work in Elite schools.
Oh big spoiler though....while you are busy helicoptering your first born into the halls of Harvard....you might want to consider that getting in and getting a diploma are not the same thing. The Gatekeepers, your son or daughter's guidance counselor and the sticker you put on your car only care about getting in to the front door. The real measure is what happens once a child is there. Someone needs to write a book about this.
Unfortunately, Steinberg missed so many of the lessons that he needed to see in order to report what was going wrong with American Higher Education. The pressure by parents, school leaders and admissions departments across America to get into named schools rather than to succeed at them and the steps that elite private schools and their more elite patrons followed to get into schools shows how unlevel the playing field is.
Steinberg never delves far into the difference between private and public schools at the time, or that has continued since. He glosses over one elite school in California where 100 or so seniors seek admission to Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Weslyan by the dozens but ignores the inequty of far greater majority of schools in America being limited to sending students to state colleges regardless of those students potential to benefit from a Stanford or Vasser education.
If you are a parent reading this book to get an idea of what you can do to help your child get into one of the elite schools in America...here is my advice based on this book.....Be Rich and send your kid to a private high school first.
If its too late for you to do that...then try this. Have your kid take calculus and 4 years of Spanish....get nothing but A's and some B's. Score over 1400 on the SAT's. Take 5 AP Exams in the senior year. Be Captain of more than on sport, or invent a new technology, sing like an Opera Star and have a stellar record. It also doesnt hurt if you make sure your high school hires people who have friends who work in Elite schools.
Oh big spoiler though....while you are busy helicoptering your first born into the halls of Harvard....you might want to consider that getting in and getting a diploma are not the same thing. The Gatekeepers, your son or daughter's guidance counselor and the sticker you put on your car only care about getting in to the front door. The real measure is what happens once a child is there. Someone needs to write a book about this.
January 1, 2019
I'm now shocked that I got into college at all, amazed that my daughter got into a college she likes, and terrified about the white boy I've gotta place in another few years.
Jacques Steinberg enjoyed unlimited access to the admissions office at Wesleyan, a highly selective private college in Middletown, Connecticut. He observed the selection process for the class of 2004. The admissions officers and their dean traveled, sold the college to prospective applicants, and made decisions that were life-changing for the students hoping to matriculate at the school. It's very interesting to see how they juggle competing goals: to gain Wesleyan the most qualified and diverse class possible (thereby scoring stellar rankings in the college guidebooks) and to accept or reject applicants based on their potential for success at the school.
I admit to rolling my eyes more than a few times at the teenage drama (PLEASE, I can see that at home) and at the cavalier manner with which some of the students approached the immense privilege of even being able to aspire to attend such schools. I also admit to being a scosh bitter at seeing my own alma mater mentioned in the book (as a school that had next to no chance of landing one of the most in-demand applicants in the entire country).
With the benefit of hindsight, I'd like to say to these kids that it doesn't matter that much where you go undergrad. I have friends who attended Ivy League schools and believe me, they're no more or less happy than those of us who didn't. So relax -- these things have a way of working themselves out, and one of the greatest life skills is learning to bloom where you're planted. Harvard can't do a better job of teaching you that than your local community college can.
Jacques Steinberg enjoyed unlimited access to the admissions office at Wesleyan, a highly selective private college in Middletown, Connecticut. He observed the selection process for the class of 2004. The admissions officers and their dean traveled, sold the college to prospective applicants, and made decisions that were life-changing for the students hoping to matriculate at the school. It's very interesting to see how they juggle competing goals: to gain Wesleyan the most qualified and diverse class possible (thereby scoring stellar rankings in the college guidebooks) and to accept or reject applicants based on their potential for success at the school.
I admit to rolling my eyes more than a few times at the teenage drama (PLEASE, I can see that at home) and at the cavalier manner with which some of the students approached the immense privilege of even being able to aspire to attend such schools. I also admit to being a scosh bitter at seeing my own alma mater mentioned in the book (as a school that had next to no chance of landing one of the most in-demand applicants in the entire country).
With the benefit of hindsight, I'd like to say to these kids that it doesn't matter that much where you go undergrad. I have friends who attended Ivy League schools and believe me, they're no more or less happy than those of us who didn't. So relax -- these things have a way of working themselves out, and one of the greatest life skills is learning to bloom where you're planted. Harvard can't do a better job of teaching you that than your local community college can.
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