I know this book has great reviews, but I was never able to complete it, even after trying the audiobook. Maybe it’s because I followed the real scandal too closely and became burned out on it, but I felt like this book dragged on. I genuinely attempted to complete it for an entire year.

This was such a blast! A little bit ridiculous in places, but that kept it really compulsive and readable.

Like all Julie Buxbaum books, this novel makes the reader think about things that they wouldn't otherwise. Do we blame children for the actions of their parents?

I picked this book up because it is based on the recent college admissions scandal "starring" Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, and because I am always interested in issue of social class and privilege. I didn't expect it to be good, but I was still interested on the fictionalized take on the issue. I have also been involved in the college preparatory industry, working for several private tutoring agencies focused on wealthy families, so I have been following the scandal closely, fascinated by watching families game the system above and beyond the legal methods of gaming the system.

While Admission wasn't good, it was interesting. And it certainly sparks conversation surrounding privilege and passive culpability. The story follows Chloe Wynn Berringer, daughter of a sitcom star with a career that parallels Lori Loughlin's. We follow Chloe through two timelines in alternating chapters. The first is before the scandal breaks. Chloe is going though the admissions process, hanging out with her friends, and starting a new romance with her crush, Levi. Much time is given to Shola, Chloe's best friend who is an elite student coming from a more middle class background, and Levi, Chloe's crush-turned-boyfriend who is also smart, hard-working, multi-talented, and Harvard-bound. Chloe, in contrast, is reasonably smart, earning a 1200 on her first round of her SATs, but often feels lost among the competitive, Ivy League-aspiring students at her fancy private school. She often feels lost at school and doesn't fully apply herself. She doesn't necessarily see school or the admissions game as a priority in her life. In this timeline we see glimpses into the ropes her parents are pulling behind the scenes, but Chloe is largely oblivious.

The other timeline follows Chloe after the scandal breaks. She stops going to school, feels alienated from her family, loses her friends, hires a lawyer, and feels lost in not knowing what is going to happen as a result of her parents' actions. She, and the media, grapple with her own culpability in the matter -- how much did Chloe know about the cheating? What did she see? What did she miss? What should she have known?

Let me get this straight up front: Chloe Berringer is not a likeable character. She's not unlikeable, but she is certain written as passive, naive, and lost. She doesn't really care about college or think much about her future. I blame this on her parents and the privilege the afforded by her family. Chloe is young and hasn't even had the chance yet to unpack that privilege. I got a bit annoyed at reviews I read for the book expecting that of her -- reviewers annoyed that Chloe couldn't see what was happening around her. But the life she lives is ALL SHE'S EVER KNOWN. Her world is one where everything is polished and easy. Of course she doesn't think much of it when she's diagnosed with ADHD that she doesn't have so she can take a private-session SAT. Y'all, that stuff happens all the time on varying scales even with upper-middle class students...I've seen it. Testing accommodations is a game sometimes and it's hard to draw the line at "necessary" and "egregious attempts at getting a leg up."

The events in this story are an inciting event for Chloe to think more deeply about her privilege, and she starts that process. Does she become completely woke? Nah, I doubt she's ever going to be that person. But I felt that growth was realistic. I felt like I was getting a good glimpse at a very flawed person experiencing a national scandal first-hand. I didn't need Chloe Wynn Berringer to go from zero to 60 in ten seconds.

FINAL GRADE: C All of that being said, this book still lacked some omphf for me. Maybe it was because it paralleled the actual scandal so closely, but I found very few surprises in the pages of the story. It was an interesting insight and helped me understand a different angle on the issue. However, it wasn't overly memorable in the story-telling. It will easily be a premise I remember but not a story I can recall. Will I recommend it to students? Sure. Did I buy it for my library? Absolutely. But will this book stand the test of time? I doubt it (and that's okay).

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC digital copy. I have not been compensated for my opinion and this is an honest review.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish reading this ARC digital copy before needing to switch to other books that were being archived. The book is no longer on my Goodreads "want to read" list, but I will update my review to reflect an updated opinion if I decide to finish at a later date.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

I absolutely love this author, Julie Buxbaum. She really has a great way of creating depth to her characters and making the reader care about what happens to them. I wasn't terribly interested in this particular story itself, but find that to be a fault of my own, not the book. I will continue to buy Julie's books, because I think she's a great writer and storyteller!

The gist of this is the big college admissions scandal. Y’all, I truly felt let down by this. I hyped it up so much just for myself and this was not it. I really wanted to love this but I felt like it missed out on some deeper conversations. I had such a tough time getting through this. I wanted to punch the main character so badddd!

If you were glued to People Magazine and TMZ when the college admission scandal broke out in Hollywood, then this book was written for you. Admissions is from the child’s point of view.

It goes through the anger she has for her parents and their pushing and involvement. The stress from the constant comparison to her younger “perfect” sister and peers. It talks through the emotions of losing relationships.

3.5 Stars – Rounding to 4 for Goodreads. I also think that for youth readers this would be a lot more relevant and impactful

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

In light of the 2019 College Admissions Scandal, it's not really too surprising that a YA author would eventually attempt to do their own cliche (and maybe even a little bit trashy) spin on it. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this novel.

While the parallels are almost on-the-nose similar (a B-list actress tries to cheat her way into getting her daughter into a prestigious college), there were so many layers and so much depth to this remix. I especially like how it was touched upon that students like Chloe were faking disabilities (like autism & ADHD) to get extra time on the SATs/ACTs, because honestly, that was the part about the real College Admissions Scandal that hurt me the most. As an autistic, I relied on accommodations like extra time (my motor dyspraxia delayed my handwriting) so hearing how rich kids felt fine in taking accommodations that they in NO way deserved shattered me to the core. However, Julie Buxbaum makes it explicitly clear how wrong what Chloe did was, which made me feel a little better in a weird way?

Anyways, this book, while no literary masterpiece, was exactly the kind of Gossip Girls-like remix I needed in my life! Five stars, and I can't wait to read more of Julie's work in the future :D

It was fine. I honestly wanted to stop many times but kept going, in hopes the characters would start to redeem themselves. For me, they did not

I was not the biggest fan of this, but I think it is because I am definitely growing out of the young adult genre. I am more of a romance reader now.

I was very curious about the timing of this book, as it made direct references to the two most well known actresses of the college admission scandal, Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. While this book was more about the daughter, it was an interesting take on the entire issue of greed and entitlement.

This book by Julie Buxbaum has officially made her an auto-buy author for me! I have read a few of the author's other works and loved them as well. It was super cute and I fell in love with all of the characters. I honestly wasn't expecting all of the twists and turns that this book went through. I loved the friendship that came about in this book and I can't wait to see what else she comes out with!

I enjoyed this book. It was like taking the headlines and going behind the scenes and living them myself. Looking at things from the student's view was interesting and made me think about myself as a parent and society as a whole. The subject is probably not something my middle school students would be terribly interested in, but a few of the older one will be. I will definitely recommend it to some of my former students in high school who have loved Buxbaum's other books!

3.5 stars
Chloe is kind of your typical rich kid. She has a lot of stuff handed to her, but she also does have to work hard for her grades. We see this for a lot of the other kids at her school, but we also see the extra help they get with tutors and internships and things like that stand out on college applications.
Now while Chloe could have gotten into a school that she was happy with, her parents really really wanted her to go to SEC and would stop at nothing to make that happen.
We see through flashbacks what all went down to lead to the college admission scandal being found out and if Chloe did know anything or not. This is a big part of the story, because if she did know she could be charged alongside her mom so she is going back through all of the memories she can to see if she did know or not the choices that her parents were making for her.

Overall I liked this story. I found it very entertaining and I had fun with it. Chloe did learn and change throughout the book. We saw her go from being kind of just there as a person, to actually caring about things and trying to do better. Something that stuck out to me a lot in this book that I had also been thinking about when the whole college admissions scandal happened was how this was done for the parent's benefit, not the kids. We saw that throughout this book with Chloe and with the others she was talking to who were also dealing with this type of situation. I like how that was talked about because it does show that it was about the parents and that the kids were smart enough to get into a good college, just not the type of college that their parents wanted to brag about to all their rich friends. Which is sad but it's reality. Buxbaum goes through all of this throughout her story while also throwing in other real-life consequences and struggles that families deal with to make this story not be 100% about the college admissions scandal but also about one family's life as a whole from Chloe's perspective.

After having read this one I do want to read more by Buxbaum in the future because I did enjoy this one.

Juicy and riveting in you were following the college admissions scandal in the news a few years ago. It's definitely a look into privilege but it's got family drama so I still enjoyed reading it.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

This was a quick read but I never felt fully invested in the characters. I felt bad for Chloe and also angry with her for being so naïve. Her parents sounded like they never really trusted her and gave her a chance. She tried to not be the rich girl cliché but she really was. The jumping back and forth on the timeline seemed to give not enough past info and the current info felt rushed.

This wasn't my favorite of hers but was still an enjoyable read. A fictional take on the college admissions scandal, it has a bit of crossover from Tell Me Three Things (my favorite of Buxbaum's so far). While I love a dual timeline, I much preferred the "now" chapters to the "then", which made the story drag a bit. Overall this was a fun read but not where I would suggest someone start with her work. I can't put my finger on what it was the let me down and am curious to see what others thought, especially in comparison to her backlist.

Buxbaum, Julie. Admission. Delacorte, 2020.

Life is perfect for Chloe Berringer. She’s living her best life as a senior at Wood Valley High School, the best private school in Los Angeles, and she has gotten into a great college. She is going to the prom with Levi Haas, the boy she’s had a crush on since seventh grade. Her best friend, Shola, is super-smart and fun to be around, and she can always depend on her. She isn’t the smartest person at her school, but she gets by.

One day, at 6:30 in the morning, Chloe opens the front door to her home to find the FBI there…and they have guns! Her mother, sit-com television star Joy Fields, is arrested for bribery in a college admissions scandal. Chloe is shocked, but didn’t she have nagging doubts about all the preparations her parents were helping her with to get accepted to college? She wondered why her college essay was rewritten and was about a different topic than she wrote about, but she didn’t question it enough. She wondered how her SAT score could have gone up so much in such a short amount of time, so she thought it must be a mistake, but she didn’t speak up. She wondered how her mother could find a private consultant that seemed so sleazy and never pushed her to try harder. Why didn’t he want her to take her SAT test at the testing center? She wondered all these things and knew her parents, especially her mom, wanted the best for her, but she never questioned them.

Now Chloe’s life is ruined, and her future is in danger. Shola doesn’t want to hang out with her anymore; Levi has dropped her and has found another date for prom. The mother of the young boy she was tutoring in reading no longer wants her to see him. Her dream school has now rescinded their offer of acceptance to her, and if she goes back to her high school, she will face public shaming. Wealth and privilege will not help her now. She discovers her mom was participating in some underhanded dealings to give her a leg up on the competition, in order to secure her acceptance to college. People are mad at her and her mom for using money and privilege to give Chloe this advantage. While Chloe got into college, Shola, who works much harder and is smarter, is waitlisted, just like many other students.

With her mom facing a trial and prison time, Chloe must now work to mend her and her family’s life back together. She must learn not to take people and her privilege for granted and accept responsibility for her part in being complicit and redeem herself.

Admission is based loosely on the true-life scandal “Operation Varsity Blues”, and it hits all the same notes--doctoring an essay and photoshopping a sports photograph, concealing money behind a charity, and changing poor entrance exam scores. False documentation of a learning disability is provided, which gives Chloe extra time on the SAT test. Her mom is arrested and must go to trial, just like in the real college admissions crime.

Ms. Buxbaum provides observations on how entitlement gives the elite the ability to work the education system and give themselves an advantage over others, who are usually more deserving. However, she doesn’t preach; she lets the reader work though the problem with Chloe. When Chloe realizes that her whole college application has been altered, she begins to wonder if her parents didn’t have confidence in her ability to get into college on her own. This lowers her self-esteem, especially when she realizes that she may have been complicit in the crime. Ultimately, Chloe let the masquerade go on because she did not want to disappoint her parents.

Give Admission to seniors preparing for college and those who are interested in the college admission scandal. I highly recommend it for high school and public libraries and give it five out of five stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for allowing me to read and review this book.