Synopses & Reviews
Every spring thousands of middle-class and lower-income high-school seniors learn that they have been rejected by America's most exclusive colleges. What they may never learn is how many candidates like themselves have been passed over in favor of wealthy white students with lesser credentials children of alumni, big donors, or celebrities.
In this explosive book, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Daniel Golden argues that America, the so-called land of opportunity, is rapidly becoming an aristocracy in which America's richest families receive special access to elite higher education enabling them to give their children even more of a head start. Based on two years of investigative reporting and hundreds of interviews with students, parents, school administrators, and admissions personnel some of whom risked their jobs to speak to the author The Price of Admission exposes the corrupt admissions practices that favor the wealthy, the powerful, and the famous.
In The Price of Admission, Golden names names, along with grades and test scores. He reveals how the sons of former vice president Al Gore, one-time Hollywood power broker Michael Ovitz, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist leapt ahead of more deserving applicants at Harvard, Brown, and Princeton. He explores favoritism at the Ivy Leagues, Duke, the University of Virginia, and Notre Dame, among other institutions. He reveals that colleges hold Asian American students to a higher standard than whites; comply with Title IX by giving scholarships to rich women in "patrician sports" like horseback riding, squash, and crew; and repay congressmen for favors by admitting their children. He also reveals that Harvard maintains a "Z-list" for well-connected but underqualified students, who are quietly admitted on the condition that they wait a year to enroll.
The Price of Admission explodes the myth of an American meritocracy the belief that no matter what your background, if you are smart and diligent enough, you will have access to the nation's most elite universities. It is must reading not only for parents and students with a personal stake in college admissions, but also for those disturbed by the growing divide between ordinary and privileged Americans.
Review
"A delicious account of gross inequities in high places...This book is, in many ways, a tabloid tale..." New York Times
Review
"While the fact that the rich and famous are treated differently is hardly news, this report's abundance of juicy stories of outrageous favoritism makes for an absorbing read." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Deserves to become a classic." The Economist
Synopsis
Building on his Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal series, Golden exposes the corrupt admissions practices at America's most elite colleges that favor the children of the rich and powerful.
Synopsis
In this explosive book, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Golden argues that America, the so-called land of opportunity, is rapidly becoming an aristocracy in which its richest families receive special access to elite higher education enabling them to give their children even more of a head start.
About the Author
Daniel Golden is Deputy Bureau Chief at the Boston bureau of the Wall Street Journal, where he has covered education since 1999. Previously, he was a reporter at the Boston Globe. The recipient of numerous journalistic honors and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the George Polk Award, he holds a B.A. from Harvard College. He lives with his wife and children in Belmont, Massachusetts.