BOOK REVIEW

Game On: Why College Admission is Rigged and How to Beat the System by Susan Paterno.

This book would have better served its readers, in my opinion, if the author had left off the second half of its title. To be fair, there are a few relevant mythbusters interspersed throughout the book, along with a great deal of anecdotal evidence about students who got rejected or admitted at particular schools, or whose financial aid packages were unfair/didn’t meet their need/left them deeply in debt. But there isn’t much advice on ‘how to beat the system’ and what there is isn’t presented in a way that makes it easy to find or access.

What Paterno does do really well is describe the financial incentives behind college admission decisions, and the history of changes in college finances in recent decades, as states have cut back funding and private colleges have raised their rates at astronomical speeds. She makes a convincing case that the real solution is more government investment in public education. Her bottom line on financial aid – basically that it’s almost impossible to know how much a college will give you until they make the offer – is an important point. And I was glad to see her acknowledge that some students may pay less at a private college than at a state school – while of course this isn’t true for everybody, I’ve known a number of middle class students who didn’t even apply to private schools, assuming they wouldn’t be able to afford it. 

If you want to read a book about why colleges have gotten so expensive, and personal stories showing the effect that has on students who graduate with a large amount of student debt, Game On is well written and easy to read. If you’re looking for tips on how to choose a college or get into the school of advice, you will probably find better advice elsewhere.