Jacques Steinberg

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.)… (mer)

Easy, entertaining reading. I completed it cover to cover during a cross-country flight. The pace of the storylines and personal accounts kept me easily engaged. I participate in triathlons and have often considered training for a full distance ironman event. This book offered up the challenges and rewards of such an undertaking in a way that was both approachable and interesting.

I spend a lot of time networking (electronically and in real life) with other triathletes. If you are familiar with the lifestyle, there is nothing new or surprising presented in the book. It's not meant to be a training guide, but rather to provide anectdotal accounts of the 12 month preparation for Ironman Arizona. Though well written, I am not sure if the subject matter would be interesting to anyone outside the sport.

This would, however, be a useful read for anyone with a partner, spouse or family member who has dedicated themselves to training for a long distance event. The challenges to family life when one individual is focused on such a time-consuming goal were some of the more interesting parts to read.… (mer)

Unlike other college books that are intended to be "how to's", The Gatekeepers puts human faces on both the kids and the college admissions personnel who have vested interests in the process. Beginning in 1999, Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times, was given unfettered access to both a select group of high school seniors and the admissions department of Wesleyan University. It is through their eyes that he observes the selection process for that year.
What is most moving about this book is that way that Steinberg shows us how agonizing and personal the process is for both sides of this process. Steinberg is a terrific writer and gives us the back stories of each "character". In doing so, his book makes for captivating reading. We want to know more about these individuals.I found myself rooting for some of these kids as they begin to struggle for a place in the world. More than anything else, the book reinforces that this is a very human process, in which individuals on both sides of the "gate" bring his or her own hopes and dreams.
By shining a very personal light on the applications process, the book also underscores the more universal concerns of both colleges and and students including access to education and the issue of fairness in the process.
I don't know that I would have read the book if the issue wasn't something that was close to home right now, but it is a compelling read and there were many occasions when I had to control the lump in my throat.
The edition of the book I read contains an afterword that updates us on all the individuals who were profiled (both the admissions personnel and the students) and after we had come to know these people during this fixed time period of their lives, it was heartwarming to read about their place in the world today.… (mer)