Customer Reviews

Getting In: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

There are so many horror stories (and success stories) out there about this looming transition from high school to college. So often, that which is talked about has little to do with the people that are involved, or more accurately, with how they feel about it. The spotlight is usually shown upon the status of the establishment at which a student is accepted. With a standardized result-oriented way of thinking of something as individual as what you want to be when you grow up, "Getting In" is a breath of fresh air. It focuses on the parts of these 'stories' that you don't often hear. The College Counselor...the un-cliché family...what families really fear and what they don't have to. And instead of leaving you with the aftertaste of fear or expectation, it leaves you with something to think about and a reassurance that maybe not everyone is the same, and that's ok. Better than ok, actually. Just as it should be.

Was Karen Stabiner wearing a wire as she made the rounds of private school events, poolside parties, kaffecafes and college advisors' offices in upscale LA? Or taking notes every time she eavesdropped on anxious teenagers and their tortured parents? My own kid is well past the college minuet, thankfully, but I'm treasuring this funny, insightful novel. It's a candidate for inclusion in a comprehensive anthropology text, or perhaps in a time capsule: This was aspiring, perspiring, excessive, obsessive LA in 2010.

Any parent and certainly any high school senior with eyes on Getting In to college will likely recognize the humor and drama that Stabiner creates in her book. She weaves a terrific story (with some well-turned phrases) that brings to life the transition from high school to college. You'll meet a collection of players--from the college counselor and high maintenance parents to the kids and cliques of two different high schools--that make the story enlightening, funny and worth the read.

This is the book for every parent whose child is going to apply to college, and for every parent who has lived through the process. At once funny, insightful and sobering, GETTING IN is a comedy of ill-manners, as parents go off the deep end. I wish I could have read this book before our child filled out the apps: GETTING IN is a masterful recounting of a year in the life of college applicants and their families.

If you are familiar with any of Karen Stabiner's other nine books, you will know that she is an extraordinary stylist and an excellent reporter. She brings both of these talents to bear on her new novel, Getting In. In fact, she easily could have presented this material as an insightful nonfiction guide for anxious parents facing the college application process. But she has wisely followed her instincts and proven the ancient writers' adage: "Truth is at the heart of every piece of good nonfiction; but there is a Higher Truth that usually can only be attained in fiction."

In Getting In, Stabiner follows five high school students and their families as they go through each step of the "getting in to college" dance. Manipulated by the College Counselors, parents and students learn more than they ever wanted to know about the realities of money, status, and those Bs that could have been As with a little more effort. Stabiner's wicked sense of humor cannot be restrained when she describes the private school's realization that attendance at a financial aid workshop might be perceived as a sign of wallet weakness, so they open the program to "...the overtly less privileged public school parents from Ocean Heights, whose Odyssey minivans and Chevys the security guard discreetly directed to Visitor Parking, a section of the lot a safe distance from the Crestview [fancy private school] parents' pristine BMWs and Mercedes."

Getting In is a wonderfully funny romp through all-too-familiar territory for parents and students who have already lived through this trial by fire. It is required reading, however, for those who are about to face the stark realities of getting in.

The saving grace of this important book for readers who are already fearful is that Stabiner points out the learning and growing experience this experience can be for both teenagers and their parents. Yes, it is frightening. Yes, it is funny. But in the conclusion of Stabiner's novel - and in real life -- most kids will go to schools that are, in many ways, right for them. And for the few who don't make a good match - there's always next year!

As an educator in a private school, I found this a "must read." The depiction of the insanity associated with the college admissions process are nicely captured in this novel. I was impressed enough to pass along to our College Counselor.

This book tells the story of a diverse group of LA high-schoolers angling for the holy grail: a college acceptance letter. Having been in that position myself, their anxieties and triumphs and failures felt extremely genuine. Their families' journeys, though, take center stage with everyone from helicopter moms to detached country-clubbers to Korean immigrants vying for what they've been told will cement their children's lifelong happiness.

These stories are poignant, cringe-worthy, and, in true Stabiner style, hilarious--a must read for any parent whose kid is applying to college.

Also a great insight into the LA private school scene, which Stabiner knows from extensive reporting for her book All Girls, and a fun read for Angelenos. It's clear that Stabiner is a reporter as well as a nimble fiction writer.

I must be really naive in thinking that getting good grades and SAT scores is all it takes to getting into a good college. I stand corrected. Do people really spend 350,000 under the table to get into Harvard ? REALLY ?

Not only do we see the behind the scenes action of a private school guidance counselor, we also see the lives of 5 college bound seniors vying for spots in their top college. I had such high hopes for this book but was sadly let down. Most of the characters and their families were detestable and egotistical. There is the run of the mill "nothing special" girl that we are supposed to like, the "it" girl that seemingly has it all, the poor but wickedly smart public school girl, the Harvard legacy, and the "poor little me" child of divorce who is not that smart...or is she ?

Stabiner's writing , which could have been better plotted, was too flowery for something marked as humorous. Sadly, the laughs were few. I found myself, instead of not being able to wait to see where they each got in, eager to just get the book over with. What could have been an A+ was indeed an F.

Reading this book totally made me glad that I am done with the entire college process. I would not want to relive this time period again regardless of what I've said before in the past. The pressure to live up to your application. The agony of waiting for a response. The thrill of acceptance. The pain of denial. I want to leave that overemotional roller coaster days behind me. This book read like a total behind the scenes look at what it takes to get your kids into the best college.

What I found most interesting is that for almost all of the students, it was the parent who wanted the top college for their child more than the actual child did. It was nothing more than a status symbol to them, to brag to other parents and show off. That actually made me quite sad to read this because I know that it's all too true in real life. Throughout the book, the parents were trying to do monitor all of their children's lives to ensure that they would get to the top. From getting the best SAT scores to not being able to date, the teens in this book had their lives completely controlled by their parents for the path to success. Obsession is the key word here.

I enjoyed reading both the parents and the teens points of views. In contrast to the frantic and hectic lifestyle of the parents, the teens were more down to earth and slower paced. Even if they had their eyes set on a certain college, they knew that all they could do was give their best, wait and not try to force the system. I found it sad that they never really got to enjoy their final years of high school. Life in college will probably be difficult for them since they won't have their parents breathing down their backs anymore, telling them what they need to do.

The only thing that I didn't like about the book was that I felt that there were too many characters. Not only are there five students to keep track of, but you also had to remember all their parents plus Ted as well. I got really confused trying to figure out which girl was which and which teen belonged to which parent. This was especially difficult after putting the book down for the night and then waking up the next day and trying to figure out who was who again. The ending seems a bit ambiguous as well. I felt that some characters got more time than others and some fates didn't seem as clear as others. Which then made me wonder why they were brought into the story in the first place.

Other than this, I really enjoyed reading this book. The fascination with getting into a good college is something that will probably be a mainstay of American life forever. Somehow our culture seems to associate prestige and social standing with the name of the college that you go to. Stabiner has perfectly captured that essence in this book.