<p>
Wait, what?!?</p>
<p>Yeah well, I can’t imagine dissing Dean J, but I’m reading it. Who can resist? The author graduated the same year I did from undergrad. Dreamed of NE red brick college, as I did, ended up at a very good non northeast college as I did and has kids heading off to college as I do…wow…it’s a can’t resist book for me. I read Our Bodies, I read Dr Spock, I read What to Expect, I read the Millionaire Next Door…so why not this one eh? At the very least it’s bound to be a few chuckles and a quick read no?</p>
<p>I just finished the book and found it to be enjoyable, humorous, insightful and pretty cynical. Ferguson does not claim to have all the answers or even the correct ones. It’s simply his experience and research into the process. We could all write equally valid stories, though few of us take the time to interview the leading gurus behind USNWR rankings, SAT validity and controversies and the astronomic rise in the cost of higher education and even fewer of us are as talented or notable a writer as Ferguson. He does criticize CC (though it doesn’t figure prominently in the book) but CC is pretty easy to criticize. Like many of you I feel that I’ve learned a lot here, but it’s definitely an acquired taste. Rockvillemom’s shopping mall analogy seems pretty appropriate to me, but many people are turned off immediately by the chance me threads, the I’m so screwed with my 2350 and 3.95 (uw) threads and the Cornell and Northwestern aren’t really elite schools threads that are so ubiquitous that they never get around to finding the reasonable folks who give good, solid, reasonable advice.</p>
<p>My first thought was that I’d already lived it, so why would I want to re-experience that stressful time?</p>
<p>But some of the anecdotes from the review make it sound amusing and honest enough to read it, (though, frankly, it’s on the “borrow-do-not-buy” list for me.)</p>
<p>The fit of rage at the gas station was poignant; I’ve had similar moments when we realize our own limits, including our inability to protect our children from some of the cold calculus of a competitive society, and the sudden appreciation of our own mortality when leaving your kid at college, and we suddenly realize that an entire phase of our lives has ended - that we’re not “parents with children” anymore - I’ve been blindsided by those realizations, too, and they can be searing. </p>
<p>It’s funny, but after it was all said and done, I know that I said that “If only I knew then what I knew now” about all the things that feed into admissions, from extracurriculars to the importance of course selections in the 10th grade, and how your kid spends their summers (little did I realize that those summers where I encouraged DD to spend her summers as I did - sleep late, go to the swimming pool, have fun - were wasted opportunities, considering her ‘competition’ five years later, Muffy McMuffington, was spending her summers in Africa performing life-saving surgeries on orphans in an AIDS clinic using nothing more than a rusty Swiss Army Knife and a Salad Shooter - or at least, that’s what her resume said she was doing.)</p>
<p>But ultimately, I realized just how miniscule a pile that knowledge actually made - college applications aren’t rocket science, (although preparing for the applications is really the more daunting thing), but what made it really difficult was not only what we didn’t know, the thing that, looking back, was most damaging was the amount of stuff I thought I knew that was simply wrong, and similarly, the amount of misinformation and myths reported and repeated by parents (well-meaning or otherwise) and counselors.</p>
<p>I mean, it didn’t take long to figure out parents who were giving misinformation, but the fact that guidance counselors seemed so ill-informed was a surprise. </p>
<p>It seem the conventional wisdom was very often myths, and in fact, counter-productive.</p>
<p>I wish I’d have discovered CC earlier, as it almost certainly would’ve helped us through the process, despite the fact that there are lots of people who seem to delight in giving seemingly deliberately bad advice, (more likely, people who have rationalized a personal bad experience into a rule - like “Don’t bother applying to x, they only admit y and z”.) </p>
<p>But on the flip side, you can find a lot of good information you won’t find elsewhere, so it’s another and almost unique resource - emphasis on “another resource” - the amount of contradictory information some people would find here could be described as “schizophrenic” - you definitely have to sift and question and test what you’re told here.</p>
<p>Actually, I think the criticism of online forums is valid. If someone just recently found this site and thinks everything they read is wonderful/amazing or true…they need to do more research. You have to know who is credible, who likes to sound like they are credible, who has an opinion on ever topic and who has some personal ax to grind in order to weed out the useful information from the nonsense. Some people enjoy pontificating and online forums give them a place to do that. Whether or not their advice is valid is something you still have to determine for yourself. I sometimes think the value of what someone posts is inversely proportional to the length & number of posts they make.</p>
<p>re: CC – not only have I gotten tons of great info and advice about college admissions, search, financial aid, etc., I’ve also picked up some great recipes. And that’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it? :)</p>
<p>I found his section on Wash U going full bore after the US News ranking pretty much confirmed what many have said here–they took a decent school and legally gamed the rankings to “become” a highly ranked school.</p>
<p>I thought it was very entertaining and pretty much spot on from a parent’s perspective (having gone through the process this year). It was humerous in parts, particularly in his dealing with his son (I think many parents will see some similarities). I also enjoyed the explanations about the history of college admissions and testing in general, it covers this in some detail.</p>
<p>Overall, it is worth a read. It talks more about conflicting sources of information than criticizing any one medium (such as CC), a main theme being that nobody really does know what’s going on with such a mystical process…</p>
<p>Finished it last night. It was a easy read. I think many parents will “see themselves” and their offspring in this book and I think he did a good job of presenting much of the information that gets “talked about” in these forums in a very even handed manner plus alittle humor. Loved the fact that he came “back” to CC to figure out what the likely letter was all about.</p>
<p>Once you’ve finished this whole college odyssey, Crazy U definitely provides some laughs. The essay chapter, and the section on the consultant were especially funny. And yes, the irony was palpable when ol’ dad came slinking back to CC for info on the likely letter.</p>
<p>One of my sisters without kids had this book sent to me from Amazon as a gift, not knowing that I lurked here for the longest while as we strategized S1’s college search. It arrived yesterday afternoon… can’t wait to read it.</p>
<p>I also liked the section when the son was contacting the interviewer. Could have been the scene with my S2 complete with me in the background suggesting “words” to replace the “kid-speak.”</p>
<p>I read it on my Kindle in a day! Perfect timing as I am starting obsession with son #2! I found it an easier read than the book that came out the same time as Son #1 college search, I don’t recall the title… it was a novel by a Rockville, Md. mom about a set of super achieving kids competing to get into colleges and it made me horribly insecure.</p>
<p>This book I related to as the mom of two boys, and I appreciated a college process book written by the parent of a son who wound up applying to state schools rather than ivy’s. It definitely reminded me of the ups and downs of the first time around!</p>
<p>I think it could be very helpful for those who are starting out and need to get their bearings.</p>
<p>Along these lines, take a look at the hilarious college anxiety blog by the Neurotic Parent, [THE</a> NEUROTIC PARENT?](<a href=“http://www.theneuroticparent.com%5DTHE”>http://www.theneuroticparent.com), who used to post on CC when her older son was applying to top schools. I think the Neurotic Parent also blogs on the Huffington Post. Now her younger son is about to go on a college tour. The blog was published in a book of essays edited by the Kenyon College dean of admissions, “I’m Going to College, Not You.”</p>
<p>I’m reading Crazy U right now. So far, it is absolutely 100% spot-on and then some. Funny, bitingly accurate, and (in its own indirect way) an indictment of some of the stuff that goes on in certain CC threads (which I have learned to avoid like the proverbial plague…much better for my blood pressure).</p>
<p>“but many people are turned off immediately by the chance me threads, the I’m so screwed with my 2350 and 3.95 (uw) threads and the Cornell and Northwestern aren’t really elite schools threads that are so ubiquitous that they never get around to finding the reasonable folks who give good, solid, reasonable advice.”</p>
<p>That was precisely my experience. My first few days on CC were hellacious. One snooty put-down after another, almost invariably offered by someone just as clueless as I am. E.g.: One teenage kid told me my kids weren’t really Harvard Legacies, because you have to be the child of a graduate of either Harvard College or Harvard GSAS to qualify…and, when I pointed out that my husband (the father of my kids) was a graduate of Harvard GSAS, with a hard-earned PhD in a very tough field, the teenager still insisted that, somehow or other, my kids weren’t REAL legacies. Then I was told it didn’t matter anyway, because legacy status makes no difference in college admissions. (And Teenage Know-It-All knew this…how?) All of this despite the fact that my kids are not even applying to Harvard. Or even to YPS or M. Or even the much-maligned Cornell. </p>
<p>Then I happened upon an ECs thread, and it went down from there. I’d come to CC for information, and all I’d encountered so far had been know-it-all bloviating. </p>
<p>Then I discovered Mom2collegekids. Or, rather, she discovered me. She told me about universities that would literally buy my NMF son. She gave me the scoop on application deadlines and processes. At last–truly helpful information! News I could use. And I did. </p>
<p>Result: DS now has a full-ride scholarship to BigStateU’s Honors College, and, in this economy, that’s doing pretty darned well, methinks. I NEVER would have learned of this opportunity had I not encountered Mom2collegekids. And I never would have encountered Mom2collegekids if I hadn’t first found CC. So, all things considered, CC has proved invaluable for me and my family. </p>
<p>As long as I stay away from the Dark Side, I find CC extremely helpful. It takes a while to figure out what one’s personal CC Dark Side is, but once one does, one simply steers clear of it. The rest of CC is fantastic. It’s kind of like Filene’s Basement on Dollar Day: You have to know where to dig…</p>
<p>As a newbie, nothing about CC in the book made me not want to come here. My favorite line from the book (not said by the author but rather an overachieving parent)–“Our children’s future is too important to be left to our children.” HAHA.<br>
Since we are just starting the process with DS1, there were some nuggets that I found helpful, especially the idea to offer or give a mini-resume to teachers your child is asking for recs. The section on the SAT dragged a little, though. All in all, I found it to be an enjoyable read.</p>
<p>Just finished the book. I really enjoyed it and even though I’m finishing up the college process with the second daughter, learned a few things. It’s a nice balance of personal memoir and factual background about factors that influence the craziness of the admissions (SAT, U.S. News, etc.) It is a good book for someone about to embark on the process and I plan to hand off my copy to just such a friend.</p>
<p>The reviews are good, so I ordered a copy. Not here yet. One scene sticks with me - the son doesn’t know how to use a washing machine and no one else does. How could that be? top school/rich kids? I’ll find out.</p>
<p>The author’s son Gillum is a student at the University of Virginia according to an article I saw(in People I think).</p>