Game On: Why College Admission Is Rigged and How You Can Beat the System
- Downloads：8635
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-15 08:18:59
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Susan F. Paterno
- ISBN：1250622646
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
June
，
I have worked in and around admissions for nearly 20 years， and I have seen the changes for the worse in American universities' policies and administrations。 I enjoyed this book for the author's perspectives as a parent and a journalist， as well as her sense of humor。 She develops the story of how higher education has played an ever-changing role in society， and how corporate and political greed and manipulation have led to the mess in which we now find ourselves。 Her exploration of the world of I have worked in and around admissions for nearly 20 years， and I have seen the changes for the worse in American universities' policies and administrations。 I enjoyed this book for the author's perspectives as a parent and a journalist， as well as her sense of humor。 She develops the story of how higher education has played an ever-changing role in society， and how corporate and political greed and manipulation have led to the mess in which we now find ourselves。 Her exploration of the world of admissions in the past 20 years goes far beyond the Aunt Becky scandal， exploring the less criminal and slightly less expensive world of prepping， coaching， and becoming merit-worthy by any means possible。The tepid reviews of this book must be from Reagan apologists， because the author is not afraid to expose his extremely corrupt administration's role in ending the social contract of upward mobility -- college tuition has risen more than 800% since 1980， thanks to Reagan's cuts to taxes that subsidized student aid and his dismantling of regulations and reforms that had provided previous generations a stepping stone to the middle class。 The author offers advice for individual families to navigate the college admissions process， but， like many problems， there is a need for structural reform that is vast and daunting， and needs to be much more prominent in public discourse。 This book is a great addition to a parent's or grandparent's bookshelf， or anyone interested in social issues。Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review。 。。。more
Dayna
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Very informative & insightful， with helpful lists。 It explained how the entire process had become a nightmare for those without means （i。e。 the greater majority）。 The parts detailing the author's own search often felt tedious， though I supposed that's how she had experienced it。 I received an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway。 Very informative & insightful， with helpful lists。 It explained how the entire process had become a nightmare for those without means （i。e。 the greater majority）。 The parts detailing the author's own search often felt tedious， though I supposed that's how she had experienced it。 I received an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway。 。。。more
James
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I was asked to read a pre-publication version of this book by St。 Martin’s Press， the publisher。I’m sure the author is passionate about the topic of higher education cost and the student loan debt crisis facing millions。 Unfortunately， I did not find this book to be well-written。 It is repetitive to the point of distraction。 I often found myself wondering if there had been some sort of error with my digital copy and it was jumping back to sections I’d already read。 No， the author just really， re I was asked to read a pre-publication version of this book by St。 Martin’s Press， the publisher。I’m sure the author is passionate about the topic of higher education cost and the student loan debt crisis facing millions。 Unfortunately， I did not find this book to be well-written。 It is repetitive to the point of distraction。 I often found myself wondering if there had been some sort of error with my digital copy and it was jumping back to sections I’d already read。 No， the author just really， really， really wanted readers to know that college is expensive， rich people have it easier than the rest of us and the reason college costs so much is because Evil Republicans want it to。There are several typographical errors in the book that I hope will be corrected in the final version， but the book’s structure demands a major rewrite and a firm editorial hand。 It feels at times as if several independent essays were jammed together without editing for clarity and brevity。 I believe the book would be better if it were focused on suggestions parents and college-bound students could use to avoid being debt slaves for decades and omitted the author’s political views。Update， May 2， 2021: Neetu Arnold has written a cogent， concise， fact-filled analysis of the higher education finance issue here: https://www。nas。org/storage/app/media。。。This meticulously annotated study of the history and current status of the crisis in higher education is a must-read for parents planning to send their children to college， and for thoughtful young people who want to understand why things are the way they are and avoid enslaving themselves， to the extent possible， to debt incurred to pay for education。 。。。more
Amy
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As a community college professor with a child currently in college and a high school junior， this book should have been right up my alley。 I was not expecting this book to have so much history and so little that was helpful。 There was too much bashing of the system/ process of college admissions （although I agreed with much of what she said。） I also thought there were too many political references。 Overused the term “admissions industrial complex。” It was in almost every chapter。 Way too repetit As a community college professor with a child currently in college and a high school junior， this book should have been right up my alley。 I was not expecting this book to have so much history and so little that was helpful。 There was too much bashing of the system/ process of college admissions （although I agreed with much of what she said。） I also thought there were too many political references。 Overused the term “admissions industrial complex。” It was in almost every chapter。 Way too repetitive。 The same story was in multiple chapters。 I felt like I had read something before and then realized that I had！ There just wasn’t enough information that was actually helpful in the admissions process。 The help that was given was vague and not novel。There were quite a few typos， although I do expect that in advance copies。 One that stuck out was discussing getting a 2300 out of 2400 when the SAT is out of 1600。 I received an advance copy of the book from NetGalley in return for my opinion。 。。。more
Brian Miller
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As a parent of four children in public school who are all headed to college in the next decade， college admissions and mainly paying for it scare me more than anything in my life at this point。 I am not sure how a sane person has their child apply to a college， fall in love with the college only to get a statement of the costs to be expected each year， This book is a no nonsense guide from beginning to end on getting into college and paying for it。 I have also come to accept that most colleges c As a parent of four children in public school who are all headed to college in the next decade， college admissions and mainly paying for it scare me more than anything in my life at this point。 I am not sure how a sane person has their child apply to a college， fall in love with the college only to get a statement of the costs to be expected each year， This book is a no nonsense guide from beginning to end on getting into college and paying for it。 I have also come to accept that most colleges can get my children where they want in life and that choosing a higher ranked college and either saddling us or them with tremendous debt doesn't set anyone up for success。 I never knew about financial aid appeals which I plan to use for my children。 A well written book that is a must read for anyone with children going to college。 Thank you Netgalley， Susan F。 Paterno and St。 Martin's Press for the ARC for my honest review。 。。。more
Cindy McCarter
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This is a very informative book。 There are so many misconceptions about Ivy League schools and community colleges and state universities and how to get into them。 I like how the author， Susan Paterno， begins the book talking about her own family and how she helped all four or her kids navigate their way through the college process。 Everyone has their own need and not all schools are the same。 I recommend this book to all parents sending their high school students off to college。 I thought I knew This is a very informative book。 There are so many misconceptions about Ivy League schools and community colleges and state universities and how to get into them。 I like how the author， Susan Paterno， begins the book talking about her own family and how she helped all four or her kids navigate their way through the college process。 Everyone has their own need and not all schools are the same。 I recommend this book to all parents sending their high school students off to college。 I thought I knew a lot about this process since I had done it three times before and I just learned so much more。 I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book， I will be recommending it to several parents that I know that will be sending their kids to college over the next few years。 Special thanks to NetGalley and St。 Martin’s Press for allowing me the chance to enjoy an ARC of this book。 。。。more
Janet
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Date reviewed/posted: March 28， 2021Publication date: June 8， 2021When life for the entire galaxy and planet has turned on its end， you are continuing to #maskup and #lockdown to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation as the #secondwave （ #thirdwave ？）is upon us， superspeed readers like me can read 300+ pages/hour， so yes， I have read the book … and many more today。I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley， the publisher and the author in exchange for Date reviewed/posted: March 28， 2021Publication date: June 8， 2021When life for the entire galaxy and planet has turned on its end， you are continuing to #maskup and #lockdown to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation as the #secondwave （ #thirdwave ？）is upon us， superspeed readers like me can read 300+ pages/hour， so yes， I have read the book … and many more today。I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley， the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review。 From the publisher， as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews， I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸。How is it possible that Harvard is more affordable for most American families than the local state university？ Or that up to half of the eligible students receive no financial aid？ Or that public universities are rejecting homegrown middle-and working-class applicants and instead enrolling wealthy out-of-state students？ College admission has escalated into a high-stakes game of emotional and financial survival。 How is the deck stacked against you？ And what can you do about it？Susan F。 Paterno， a veteran academic and author， answers these questions and more in Game On。 Paterno helped her four very different kids navigate the application process to a wide range of colleges， financing their four-year educations on a finite budget。 She smartly decodes the college admissions industry--the consultants， the tutors， the rankers， the branding companies hawking “advantage”--and arms you with the knowledge you need to make the system work for you。This was an interesting book to read for a Canadian as our entries into colleges and universities are so different as there is generally a huge difference between colleges and universities up here。 （Although our community colleges can now grant degrees， they used to be diploma schools， much like "junior" colleges are in the USA。） Also， we do NOT have the SAT system， either， so entry is basically based on your grades and the occasional essay。 I live in a major university city and it used to be known for "the tall & blond/blonde & the beautiful with rich parents" and now it is the short， smart Asian/South Asian kids with parents who have even MORE money who buy their kids LUXURY condos to live in while at school！The US system is so different as we have all learned with the admissions scandal that sent rich， desperate parents like Lori Loughlin to prison for fraud （and their one daughter saying she had nothing to do with it， despite her photo on the rowing machine！！！）。 That brought up a lot of drama as we all know that the dumb-as-a-stump athlete（s） that can make the university football systems millions upon millions a year are given entry as well， whereas the hard-working non-athletic student is stuck at a lower-tier school as they do not MAKE THEIR SCHOOL MONEY！！！Paterno wrote an interesting book that will also entice parent to buy the book in hopes of their kid getting into a good school and it not costing their parents an arm and a leg as the odds are never in these kid's favours。 （I used to work in a registrar's office and in financial aid and MY PERSONAL #1 advice is 。。。 learn a trade or a skill: a degree in any of the arts is going to get you NO WHERE unless you want to teach or go all the way to a PhD if you are in the sciences arm of education。An excellent book to read if you are an American parent - but Canadians will not get a lot out of it so I doubt that I will purchase it for our collection for a casual reader。As always， I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I simply adore emojis （outside of their incessant use by "🙏-ed Social Influencer Millennials/#BachelorNation survivors/Tik-Tok and YouTube Millionaires/snowflakes / literally-like-overusers etc。 " on Instagram and Twitter。。。 Get a real job， people！） so let's give it 🏫🏫🏫🏫 。。。more
Albert Willem Mordhort
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Review coming soon， just won the book and added it to my library
Kimberly Barnes
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Game on is a user's guide with "how-to's" and information about the college admissions process。 Applying to college is stressful for both parents and children。 It is one of the first major decisions undertaken by high school aged youth。 A decision that has the possibility of changing the trajectory of your life。 This book provides insight on the price of room， board， tuition and how to negotiate a financial aid package。 It also explains how colleges choose students to enroll and how to give your Game on is a user's guide with "how-to's" and information about the college admissions process。 Applying to college is stressful for both parents and children。 It is one of the first major decisions undertaken by high school aged youth。 A decision that has the possibility of changing the trajectory of your life。 This book provides insight on the price of room， board， tuition and how to negotiate a financial aid package。 It also explains how colleges choose students to enroll and how to give your child a better chance of getting into the college that is right for them。 It also provides good information on why the price of college is steadily increasing。 This book is a no nonsense guide with valuable information provided that is of use to parents and high school aged students。 Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this advance review copy for my honest review。 I recommend this book to anyone sending navigating the college admissions and financial aid process。 。。。more
Dave
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