Check out review at:

http://www.shannonsbookbag.blogspot.com/2014/02/early-decision-crawford.html ( )

As a parent who has gone through the college application process with my child, I loved seeing that there are even more anxiety ridden people than myself in this world! A really great, funny, intense novelization of applying to college. ( )

For about the first half of this book, I found myself impatient with the storyline of the protagonist, Anne, the "application whisperer." I was really more interested in the stories of the college-bound kids she's working with, all their privilege and problems. But, about halfway in, Anne's story became interesting as well, and I found this novel hard to put down. As a Canadian, most of the processes and machinations that are examined in this narrative are fairly alien to me, but I read the novel Admission a couple years ago and I loved that, and this one was fairly similar. The story is much different, but the setting is more or less the same. The kids Crawford describes here are perfect, but damaged. Smart, but manipulated. Some of the situations were so overblown as to be almost laughable, but it is, after all, a novel. My own daughter is in precisely the same position as some of these kids; at least, she is completing high school and looking ahead to what comes after, and while I sincerely hope I am not the type of helicopter parent Crawford illustrates here, I do recognize the urge to give my daughter access to every possible opportunity. So, as an academia junkie, I found this book a satisfying read. ( )

Author Lacy Crawford has been a private college application counselor for 15 years. Her experiences help write the protagonist Anne, as well as the kids Anne is helping through the college application process. Anne officially helps with essays and SAT prep, but her primary value to the parents is as someone they can freak out to and who can help communicate with their kids. Anne herself sees her role as helping their children achieve independence, using the essay writing to help them find their own voice. Given her highly unpleasant boyfriend, Anne could use some of that independence herself.


When I agreed to review this book, I was under the impression it was a non-fiction documentary kind of deal. Re-reading the stock description, I still don’t feel it’s clear that this is actually a fictional account. That in a nutshell is the one problem I had with this book – it’s not clear how fictional it is. There is a small caveat at the beginning to prevent schools complaining about how they’re portrayed, but I think a description of how much the students’ situations were drawn from real experiences was also necessary. That said…

The author’s writing style was fantastic. She included just enough mundane details in her descriptions to make the setting feel real without interfering with the fast-paced plot. She also had an almost Austenesque ability to convey that something is ridiculous or objectionable without directly saying so. At first I wasn’t sure about her choice to include the students’ essays, especially since the poorly written ones were painful to read. As essay drafts evolved with the characters though, I quickly became convinced of their usefulness for showing character development.

Although it’s impossible to know how much of this story was true, the characters were so well written that I would believe (almost) all of it. Each character acted self-consistently with what we know of their personality and motivations. All had their flaws, but not all were unlikeable. Our protagonist, for example, lacks self-confidence and sometimes seems manipulative. She is also always trying to do the right thing for the students she’s helping though and that was enough to make me like her anyway. Like out protagonist, the ending was likeable but not too likeable to be believable. It was neither so happy it felt like fiction nor so unhappy it felt unsatisfying. So this book wasn’t at all what I expected, but it delivered a relatable, moving story which I really enjoyed.

This review first published on Doing Dewey. ( )

Even almost 10 years after my child went off to college, I remain fascinated by the whole miserable process and always wished I could be a fly on the Admissions Office wall. Thanks to Lacy Crawford, I am. The concept of college advisors to the 1% is repugnant, but in this novel the kids are pretty marvelous despite their privilege. The counselor in question is a confused Princeton grad, grad school dropout stuck with confusing choices and a bad boyfriend. Not undying literature, but a very strong indictment of helicopter parents, with the bonus of a nicely placed small mystery. Very enjoyable especially for parents who have been there stressfully and done that badly. And those of us who made it through, sadder and wiser, kids and parents, to the other side where the loans are green and the jobs are scarce. ( )