Review: Surviving the College Admissions Madness by Kevin Robert Martin

An unflinching and savagely honest review of the college admissions process and modern-day higher education as a whole, Surviving the College Admissions Madness by Kevin Robert Martin is a must-read for those who are entering the convoluted system of university life.

Unlike so many other books on the admissions process, this revelatory read begins with the author’s simple premise – that elite colleges don’t care about their applicants or future students, seeing them merely as investments. Martin argues that the process of gaining admittance has become so cutthroat and competitive that it is genuinely traumatic for tens of thousands of young people each and every year.

Furthermore, he denounces the lack of accountability in elite schools for the stress and potentially long-term consequences of their process. The impossibility of knowing your likelihood of acceptance often drives students to apply to dozens of schools, which exponentially increases the amount of work that goes into applying, and likely decreases the quality of each individual application. Despite dozens of hours being put into each application, most will be perused for less than ten minutes before being judged and decided on.

Beginning with the implicit flaws of the essay requirements across the elite college system, Martin methodically deconstructs the trends and flaws of colleges today. Rather than merely accepting that this is how the system works, and bearing the injustice of the process, he argues for a more informed and proactive approach. Interspersed with personal anecdotes, the prose is full of valuable information and new perspectives, as well as profoundly insightful explorations of psychology, sociology, and societally accepted norms.

The author’s disdain for the process is obvious, but it is based on lived experience as an admissions counselor who has personally reviewed thousands of applications and essays. Instead of being a scathing tell-all, or a simple takedown of a twisted system, Martin gives relevant and practical advice on how to game the system, or beat it at its own game. In other words, this is not the misinformed rant of someone with a personal vendetta against higher education, this book is a behind-the-scenes look at a nebulous acceptance process that still feels clouded in mystery for most college applicants. The book even digs into higher education in other parts of the world, comparing and contrasting the experience that so many have in American universities.

On a technical level, the book is nearly spotless, with little more than a few missed commas. There are some sections that feel somewhat redundant, even after the author has clearly driven his point home, but this sense of repetition is infrequent. Some sections seem to end quite abruptly, but Martin also knows how to deliver gut-punch lines to close chapters with impact. The order of the sections is intuitive, and as far as admissions guidebooks go, this is certainly one of the most eye-opening.

Ultimately, despite the boldly biased and negative feelings the author has for the process as it currently stands, this book is ultimately hopeful, emphasizing that a new admissions system and mindset regarding college is possible. By shining a light on the inequities of America’s “administrative anarchy,” and highlighting the more successful strategies of other countries, this book should inspire more parents and students to push back against America’s broken, unfair, and unnecessarily convoluted system, or at least be more aware of its many pitfalls.