Fat Envelope Frenzy: One Year, Five Promising Students, and the Pursuit of the Ivy League Prize – A Former Admissions Officer's Guide to College Admissions, Race, Class, and Harvard

by Joie Jager-Hyman

A former Ivy League admissions officer, Joie Jager-Hyman follows five bright and eager high schoolers—students from diverse ethnic, social, and financial backgrounds—as they each put their best foot forward on the road they hope will lead them to the hallowed halls of Harvard University. At once a remarkable true story of dedication, achievement, and heartbreak and a guide for success in an ultra-competitive environment, this important work deserves a place in the home of every family that has ever dreamed of receiving that coveted “fat envelope” in the mail. Jager-Hyman also offers a startlingly frank appraisal of the college admission process and the important roles race and class continue to play in a student's efforts to attend the best school possible.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education

231 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book contained a few interesting insights from a former admissions officer that might be helpful to kids getting ready to apply to college and the people who help them (teachers, guidance counselors, parents) but those little tidbits are few and far between. I found it hard to empathize with any of the five students she followed throughout their senior year. Who is really going to feel sorry for some snot-nosed, whiny overachiever because they got into Yale and Stanford but not Harvard? Boo hoo....
The writing was just plain bad at times. Again, the melodrama of psychostudents not getting everything they want is maybe hard to portray. Here's my favorite: "The disappointment [of being waitlisted at Harvard] hits Lisa like a fallen branch on a windy afternoon." I have 10th graders who can write better descriptive sentences than that.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

College admissions books have been done better.

[Kenny Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Joie-Jager Hyman's educational book Fat Envelope Frenzy, she follows 5 qualified student's senior years and their attempts to get into Ivy League Schools, including Harvard College. There is Felix (a smart, Asian, piano virtuoso), Nabil (an African math whiz), Andrew (a Katrina-surviving scholar), Marlene (the poor, hispanic, underachiever), and Lisa (a smart world class gymnast). These students live all over the country, and hope to go to Harvard or a likewise Ivy League institution. Stress builds as the students forget deadlines, write college essays, and deal with financial aid issues. Jager-Hyman uses these students' situations to help explain the college admissions process. In the end, Felix gets accepted early action by his dream school Harvard, Andrew gets a full scholarship to Washington and Lee, Nabil ends up going on scholarship to Princeton when he found out that he had to pay over $40,000 a year to go to his dream school MIT, Lisa goes to Yale, and Marlene goes on financial aid to Brandeis.

I found the book quasi-interesting. It was intriguing to be offered a window into these students' lives. However, to me, a rising prep school junior who has already been subjected to a fair share of college seminars and admissions forums by college-crazy parents and educational authorities, most of the book seemed rather boring as I already knew most of the information being presented. I did learn more, however, about financial aid and how the process works. I would recommend this book to a parent who is relatively new to the college admissions game, but it may feel redundant to those who already have learned a good amount about admissions.

On my honor I pledge that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this assignment, nor have I presented someone else's work as my own.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a parent of a rising high school senior, a college teacher, and a regular reader of the Washington Post [owner of Stanley Kaplan, and perhaps coincidentally publisher of a never-ending series of articles about stressed high-achieving high school students, college admissions frenzy, the importance of test scores, etc.], I approached this book with a combination of interest in the subject matter and skepticism as to whether it would be anything new.

I was pleasantly surprised and found it highly engaging. I think the decision to focus on 5 kids through the entire year of admissions was a good one. I've read other books by college admissions officers [the author's background] that dwell on their own experience of reading lots of admissions essays, the jargon they make up to describe familiar types of applicants, and these are a little boring and off-putting.

Fat Envelope Frenzy, on the other hand, shows a real interest in the five applicants as people, and brings you into their emotional ups and downs as they navigate interviews, financial aid, waiting to hear from schools, etc. It's by no means a representative cross-section (one is a national champion at rhythmic gymnastics; another is an off-the-charts math student, etc., and they're all applying to extremely selective schools), and the setbacks involve things like going to Princeton instead of MIT because the financial aid offer wasn't as good at MIT.

So I would not rely on this as my sole practical guide to the process, but if you're looking for interesting stories about kids who've gone through it, with some decent advice/overview by the author mixed in, this book is worth it.

[Liralen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read more than my fair share of college-acceptance books like this one (especially considering that I've been out of college for a while now), and while they run the gamut from engrossing to tedious, I can't help but feel that this is a fundamentally flawed book.

The author says from the very beginning that she was only interested in following students who she believed had a real chance at getting into Harvard. That's all good and well, I suppose, but it makes for a less interesting -- and less useful -- book than if she had followed a more diverse group of students (her subjects are ethnically, geographically -- at least within the U.S. -- and socioeconomically diverse, but I would have liked to see a broader range of educational expectations).

The book might have held up better if the author hadn't been so eager to say nice things about (I am resisting applying the description "suck up to") her subjects. I have no doubt that they were/are intelligent, hard-working students with great potential, but oi did the unceasing praise and overblown descriptions get old. I'd probably recommend Alexandra Robbins or David Marcus over this author.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Jager-hyman's true account of five promising students vying for spots at this nation's best colleges and universities, and that's coming from someone who normally falls asleep reading nonfiction. This book read like fiction, as my emotions mirrored those of Felix, Andrew, Lisa, Nabil, and Marlene as they went through all of the feelings every college applicant experiences: nerves, anxiety, frustration, elation, self-doubt, self-confidence, and so on. Woven into these students' stories, I loved Jager-hyman's information on and histories of various aspects of American higher education today, such as the early decision advantage, the "AP culture," and the use of the SATs. Though I read this book as a requirement for a class, I am sincerely glad I got the chance to experience it.

[Michael Heneghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up because my 9th graders told me they wanted to focus our classes on their futures, namely universities. Jenny Orr, our school librarian, directed me to this book, which is written by a former admissions person at Dartmouth.

She follows five different seniors from the U.S. as they try to make it into selective colleges like Harvard, UPenn, Yale, and Stanford. My students got to read a chapter, but I just kept going. It was fascinating to see how these top students handled the process of trying to get in. The students were similar in their academics, but quite different outside of that: one was a world class gymnast, another a WASPy southerner, and three more were second generation immigrants from Ethiopia, China, and the Dominican Republic.

A really interesting read!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick, interesting read. The author follows 5 high school seniors as they apply to Ivy League schools, interspersing their stories with tidbits about the college admission process and history. Talk about overachievers: these "kids" compete in obscure math contests, take insane numbers of AP courses, volunteer at Chinese orphanages, are Olympic level athletes and student government leaders and valedictorians. And they still have to work their butts off to get in to their top choice schools. Thank god I already went to college.

[Hong Deng · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very insightful. It illustrates five realistic stories of five students, who were from diverse backgrounds and different family incomes, applying for prestigious colleges in the United States. I felt I became one of the applicants who was going to the same process and panicking every second waiting for the result. I definitely learned a lot of information about college and I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in preparing or learning about the college admission process. The book provides insights that can't be learned from many other books.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who applied Early Decision to her first choice college and got in, I missed all the anxiety and the numerous college tours that go along with decisions about where to go. Grad school was a little different, but I enjoyed reading about these 5 students who were all very smart, very driven, and very anxious to get into Harvard and other Ivies and top schools. If anyone's ever pushed themselves as far as they could go, and then gone even further, you'll like this book.

[Lainadiamond · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it was interesting and most appropriate for high school students. It is written by an admissions counselor from an Ivy League school so her insight would be useful to parents or students. A lot of the rumors regarding the admissions process that I have heard were cleared up and discussed in the book. Would I recommend it to other adults who don't have children in high school? Probably not!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really well-written book. The characters were interesting and I felt like I learned a lot without realizing it until the end. I still find myself talking about the book to others. I definitely recommend it for anyone who has ever been though the process, or the parent of a potential college applicant.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished "Doing School," and probably should have spaced these two books out due to their similarities. Both follow 5 students as they make their way through the college application process, though their perspectives are different. An easy, worthwhile read for those with high school juniors and counselors.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A profile of 5 very different high school seniors (the one thing they have in common? They all want to go to Harvard) as they go through the college admissions process. The author, a former Dartmouth admissions counselor, has some interesting comments on the admissions process and its history - but the book is primarily about the students.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, interesting subjects, reasonably well-written. A few too many typos for my taste, and the author tended to wander off on tangents at odd times. Also, I would have enjoyed reading about a plain ol' white girl in addition to the over-achieving minority students.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I put this on my library list several years ago, but never found it at the SFPL, then found it at goodwill recently, so read it although it's less useful now that my daughter's in her senior year. I found the Gatekeepers more useful as a book discussing what admissions officers are looking for.

[Csuplick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I read this, even though I'm now horrified. I can only wish my daughter happiness and patience when she is a senior in high school. I was saddened at the extreme stress these characters experienced. I hope, when my daughter is this age, I do not add to the stress of her finding her way.

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that sometimes the author thinks she's speaking for all admissions counselors when really she's just speaking for those in the Ivy League.

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interesting read on the underbelly of college admissions...the book follows 5 seniors striving for the ivy league...a good mix of human interest and expose.

[Kimberlee Auerbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational and fun!

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my seventeen year old.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a former college admissions officer, this book gives insight into what it takes to be admitted to a prestigious college.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great insight into how ultracompetitive college acceptance is now. Nice to follow the 5 stories of the potential kids and to read about all their achievements.

[Martin Bihl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining and insightful, if at times repetitive and uneven, peak inside the college application process. Useful if you or someone you know is embarking on this harrowing journey.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing in here that I didn't already know. The author doesn't really have a point of view.

[Hailey Clonts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, but as a college applicant myself, it did not seem as if my chances were very good! Rather humbling at times.

[Myos · Rating 2 out of 5]

very disappointing. The kids were great but it was easy to see who'd get in and who wouldn't, and there was not much narrative tension.