Where you go is not who You'll be : an Antidote to the College Admissions Mania

Locations
Call Number: BOCD 378.161 Br
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	BOCD 378.161 Br	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Compact discs.
Unabridged.
Read by the author.
A manifesto that puts the college admissions process into desperately needed perspective. It not only dissects the limited meaning of a rigged and sometimes random admissions process, it also discusses many of the hugely successful Americans who didn't go to Ivy League schools. Profiles young adults who were denied their dream colleges but found that the schools where they ended up were perfect for them. The attitude with which a student approaches college matters more than the college itself.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

yeah, but... submitted by camelsamba on June 30, 2016, 9:40pm I read the print edition so do not know what is added by having Bruni read his own book. But what it boils down to is this: "It's not necessary to get into a highly selective school in order to be successful," he said. "What's necessary is to understand what you want to do and how to do it well, and to be a self-starter." (Quote of someone whose name I didn't note down, Chapter 9)

Perhaps because I honestly don't know the people who are obsessed with getting their kids into the Ivy League from the time they are in diapers, I don't understand the mindset that he seems to be targeting. Thus, much of the book just annoyed me, it seemed overblown. My frequent reaction was "yeah, but" (and I would have scribbled notes if it weren't a library copy!) and then he might raise my objection a page later. So that writing style annoyed me as well.

At the same time, my oldest son is applying to a handful of high-power big-name schools, not because of the name but because they have people doing research in areas that interest him. He's self-directed. But I worry that he might be missing out because he's not looking at the so-called "Schools That Change Lives."

So on the one hand, I feel like Bruni is perhaps saying some important things - but I'm not his primary audience, so maybe I can't feel the full import of his argument. I also feel like he has cherry-picked his examples to support his point. We aren't getting any case studies of those who DON'T do well in the settings he lauds. It's basically saying if you are motivated and a self-starter, you'll do fine anywhere. (For that he needed 200+ pages??) But what about those who are just ordinary?