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102 reviews for:
Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania
Frank Bruni
3.94 AVERAGE
102 reviews for:
Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania
Frank Bruni
3.94 AVERAGE
The "caste system" of education starts at the pre-school level. But this book also points out why it's not even good for those who are on the top. It starts out a bit unnecessary with lots of statistics about people who went to public, lesser than elite colleges who became successful. But it's definitely worth reading through to the end.
The point he makes was one that needed to be made but is little more then life is the journey, not the destination.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
♥ Book 26 of 2021
➢Points taken from this book -
1. The admissions process is out of your control.
2. Most notable public figures are graduates of universities that are *not* top 10.
3. Rich people will get their children started with ivy League when they are as young as 3.
4. It's always better to be a big fish in a small pond.
★ Final Rating: 5 Stars
➢Points taken from this book -
1. The admissions process is out of your control.
2. Most notable public figures are graduates of universities that are *not* top 10.
3. Rich people will get their children started with ivy League when they are as young as 3.
4. It's always better to be a big fish in a small pond.
★ Final Rating: 5 Stars
This was such an interesting read, and I’m not even inserted in the American educational system. However, I myself have gotten in a colllege that wasn’t my first choice, or the top college, but has proven to be exactly right for me- and this book analyses exactly that:
-we all adapt differently to certain environments
-the things that matter can’t be expressed in numbers, charts, rankings
-what’s essencial is what we do with what we have, and what we get. I’d much rather be in a healthy environment that pushes me further as a motivated person, than a competitive environment that makes me feel like a robot.
Utterly recommend it!
-we all adapt differently to certain environments
-the things that matter can’t be expressed in numbers, charts, rankings
-what’s essencial is what we do with what we have, and what we get. I’d much rather be in a healthy environment that pushes me further as a motivated person, than a competitive environment that makes me feel like a robot.
Utterly recommend it!
can't really tell you why i read this but i was interested so i did. i have mixed feelings. if you're feelin beat down by the 'game' of college apps maybe give it a read. or if you end up at the school you never thought youd be at. maybe don't read as youre applying that just feels like a lot of anger + cynicism.
*i did not edit this nor did i refer back to the book i am just vibing*
where you go is not who you'll be starts off decently strong.
immediately you notice the reliance on anecdotes + interviews but its ok we can entertain the thought process.
and for the most part i see where he's going and there were a couple moment where i was like thats true! but there's also moments where i disagree straight up. the lack of acknowledgement for those points make the book significantly weaker and just sadder. colleges are definitely overhyped but this book just leans to hard one way (less selective is better) and i guess thats ok because common culture polarized the other way (more selective is great!) but to me it's just no longer an accurate nor believable protrayal of the issue.
some examples:
bruni compares the number of fullbright scholars from Harvard to other school, for example UMich.
-Harvard has 33, Michigan 28.
the point of this is to show hey! you can do this at other schools too and yes that proof is there.
-however, michigan is still selective, thats ok there were less selective schools on the list. i just think the mixing is a lil shady.
-but the bigger issue to me is the neglect to mention scale. he's comparing harvard + mich as if theyre equals. Michigan is literally like 5x-6x larger than harvard. to me, that completely changes the context, thus any statistic (there were a lot of them) that compared raw numbers just failed on all fronts.
my other major issue was the lack of consistency. bruni frequently cites stand out forbes all star people as success cases for less selective schools and thats great! he's proving proof of concept, he's saying you CAN do it from wherever. but when we're talking about Harvard, MIT, Cornell, etc it's all off handed generalizations- Yale students are intellectually incurious, Princeton kids want a checklist. every postive example for less seletive schools was preceded by the usual harvard/etc was there BUT, he never directly says anything positive of the ivies. that just really implies a cherry pickin attitude.
to me these generalizes serve one purpose- you know what ivy league schools+ their students are BAD. i think fundamentally that disagrees with the title- where you go is not who you are unless you went to an ivy then really youre just a loser who just does as they're told. and im sure they have a grain of truth in them but bruni fails to ever pass stereotypes + generalized anecdotes (from directors or admissions officers, people who reallyknow the student body). it's a massive difference from the like 30 interviews he did with others to prove his point about less selective schools. the whole of chapter 8 is literally just ivys actually suck lol. as a disclosure i was rejected from every ivy except the ones i didnt apply to so im really not trynna protect them. i genuinely think this section does nothing to help him prove/get through to anyone but rather just allows rage and annoyance. it takes away from legitimately critism- the lack of socioeconomic diversity, the true impact of legacy, etc. the real reason for chapter 8 is to describe a funnel effect (and resulting lack of passion in the pathways of ivy kids(backed up by a maximum of 3 anecdotes)) but it just reads like ivys suck i hate them i hate them here's a stat, here's why thats bad using one anecdote, here's why ivys just suck i hate them.
my last issue is the villians- parents. to me bruni stops too early in his path tracing of this mania. yes parents want to give their kids a leg up, but crucially it's out of fear. fear changes things. this isn't greed, parents are concerned. a college education isn't good enough anymore and frankly not everyone can be a self starter. bruni gets at this- it's the system but then goes back on it and implies that parents are the sole perpetrators. which is strange but sure. saying that i think the actionable items at the end are solid and i will be doing them.
anyways i only really mentioned the negatives but it did have some interesting insights. i specifically liked the diversity + honor college shoutout. this was also the first book i annotated and i have just a lot of underlines of me agreeing. i think the best time to read this would be maybe a year before you start the process or afterwards, this definitely isn't a book to read during. if you end up at a school you felt you wre better than i would definitely give this book a read.
*i did not edit this nor did i refer back to the book i am just vibing*
where you go is not who you'll be starts off decently strong.
immediately you notice the reliance on anecdotes + interviews but its ok we can entertain the thought process.
and for the most part i see where he's going and there were a couple moment where i was like thats true! but there's also moments where i disagree straight up. the lack of acknowledgement for those points make the book significantly weaker and just sadder. colleges are definitely overhyped but this book just leans to hard one way (less selective is better) and i guess thats ok because common culture polarized the other way (more selective is great!) but to me it's just no longer an accurate nor believable protrayal of the issue.
some examples:
bruni compares the number of fullbright scholars from Harvard to other school, for example UMich.
-Harvard has 33, Michigan 28.
the point of this is to show hey! you can do this at other schools too and yes that proof is there.
-however, michigan is still selective, thats ok there were less selective schools on the list. i just think the mixing is a lil shady.
-but the bigger issue to me is the neglect to mention scale. he's comparing harvard + mich as if theyre equals. Michigan is literally like 5x-6x larger than harvard. to me, that completely changes the context, thus any statistic (there were a lot of them) that compared raw numbers just failed on all fronts.
my other major issue was the lack of consistency. bruni frequently cites stand out forbes all star people as success cases for less selective schools and thats great! he's proving proof of concept, he's saying you CAN do it from wherever. but when we're talking about Harvard, MIT, Cornell, etc it's all off handed generalizations- Yale students are intellectually incurious, Princeton kids want a checklist. every postive example for less seletive schools was preceded by the usual harvard/etc was there BUT, he never directly says anything positive of the ivies. that just really implies a cherry pickin attitude.
to me these generalizes serve one purpose- you know what ivy league schools+ their students are BAD. i think fundamentally that disagrees with the title- where you go is not who you are unless you went to an ivy then really youre just a loser who just does as they're told. and im sure they have a grain of truth in them but bruni fails to ever pass stereotypes + generalized anecdotes (from directors or admissions officers, people who reallyknow the student body). it's a massive difference from the like 30 interviews he did with others to prove his point about less selective schools. the whole of chapter 8 is literally just ivys actually suck lol. as a disclosure i was rejected from every ivy except the ones i didnt apply to so im really not trynna protect them. i genuinely think this section does nothing to help him prove/get through to anyone but rather just allows rage and annoyance. it takes away from legitimately critism- the lack of socioeconomic diversity, the true impact of legacy, etc. the real reason for chapter 8 is to describe a funnel effect (and resulting lack of passion in the pathways of ivy kids(backed up by a maximum of 3 anecdotes)) but it just reads like ivys suck i hate them i hate them here's a stat, here's why thats bad using one anecdote, here's why ivys just suck i hate them.
my last issue is the villians- parents. to me bruni stops too early in his path tracing of this mania. yes parents want to give their kids a leg up, but crucially it's out of fear. fear changes things. this isn't greed, parents are concerned. a college education isn't good enough anymore and frankly not everyone can be a self starter. bruni gets at this- it's the system but then goes back on it and implies that parents are the sole perpetrators. which is strange but sure. saying that i think the actionable items at the end are solid and i will be doing them.
anyways i only really mentioned the negatives but it did have some interesting insights. i specifically liked the diversity + honor college shoutout. this was also the first book i annotated and i have just a lot of underlines of me agreeing. i think the best time to read this would be maybe a year before you start the process or afterwards, this definitely isn't a book to read during. if you end up at a school you felt you wre better than i would definitely give this book a read.
I agreed with the premise of this book before I read it. Nonetheless, Bruni's investigation of the "college admissions mania" is full of fascinating anecdotes, information, and wisdom that will be very useful to me over the next few years as my son negotiates this fraught transition. Well done.
This book was very eye-opening, but it also casts shame on those students who are enrolled in the "elite schools", claiming that they are blindly driven, as opposed to the students enrolled at state schools. It bashed Harvard College, but then revels in the fact that a state school undergrad was enrolled at Harvard Law. It was an informative read, but it also sounded like it was written by a bitter person who was rejected from the Ivy League.
I want to buy a copy of this book for every Junior and Senior I know. Best advice: look for the school that fits, because in ten years no one will care where you went. And don’t go into massive debt.
This offered really great perspective not just on the college admissions process, but also on what students can and should be getting out of (any) college if they choose to go. I wish I had read this in high school, because I think it would’ve helped alleviate some of my constant anxiety about getting into the “right” school. Bruni did an amazing amount of research and interviewed an array of subjects in all different fields, all to highlight one main point: you are more than where you go to school. And chances are, no matter where you end up, you’ll have a great experience.
being a junior in high school looking for where to go to college this book really showed me some messages on how where you do doesn’t define you academically or socially, but i won’t deny there were times that the facts were just too much for me to read.