When this story broke, I could not get enough of it, and I'm still fascinated by the way it reveals wealth, privilege, and the illusions of the American dream.

If colleges are just a consumer good, why is it wrong for some people to pay for access? People also fork out obscene sums for brand-name handbags. Wealthy parents just want the best for their little mediocrities, and they have the cash to get it. A purse that's gone to a brand college conveys lifelong bragging rights! Er, not purses, kids.

Another icky thing about these hyper-privileged people subverting the college admissions system is that a lot of their strategies take advantage of laws written to ensure equity and fairness. Considerations intended to support those with disabilities, people with low incomes, first-generation, and federal rules about affirmative action, Title IX, and charitable tax exemptions were routinely abused for the sake of people who already had every advantage. Kids were sometimes in on the con, and sometimes hoodwinked - you can imagine their shame at discovering what their parents had done "for them"? One kid even bragged about hard work and talent that got her into a dream school, rather than her family connections and money. You make your own luck, right?

It's kind of funny that the lawyers brazenly argued that college admissions are a rigged game anyway, and that it's routine for huge donations to get someone into a freshman class. And this wasn't done for the kids - because several were considering less exclusive schools before their families hired Rick Singer to consult.

This is my kind of true crime, no gore, no life-or-death stakes: just very silly, entitled people who finally get caught and publicly shamed for being awful.

This is a detailed account of the college admissions scandals that surfaced in 2019. It was very interesting and very well researched and written. It did feel a bit repetitive at times though.

U

It has been said that no news is good news. But when bad news comes calling, Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz have proven they are expert operators in truth and transparency.


These authors present the kind of reporting rarely seen in an age when news is no longer reported but manipulated into 140-character Tweets and social media platforms that promote flashy headlines and trendy sound bites but lack the factual substance of information that makes books like this one paragons of objectivity and authentic journalism.

Much like two of the best and extensively researched true crime accounts, Helter Skelter and The Devil In The White City, Unacceptable is filled with a plethora of details that, in this instance, dots every i and crosses every T when it comes to the descriptions of people involved and how they connect to every event that leads up to the heart of the case, the concise time periods, and the thorough elaboration of the how and why the crime was committed. Both reporters allay readers’ curiosity of the who, what, when, where, and how before they even have to ask.

For those who like their news mindless, short, and Tweet, the mainstream media is for you.

For the rest of us who want unfiltered information from unbiased sources we can trust, paying attention to any lesser quality of journalism than the kind exhibited by Ms. Korn and Ms. Levitz is unacceptable.

One of a pair of high-profile books on the US admissions scandal. After seeing some of it unfold in the press, Korn & Levitz's "Unacceptable" digs deeper, and offers readers an interesting, engaging and well-written account of what was going on, and how law enforcement took them all down.

In addition to a well-written and often gripping true crime story, the book is also a look at American inequality - how money and connections can grease the wheels of success and advancement for the few, often at the expense of those who lack certain financial or social privileges.

Recommended.

In the aftermath of the college admission scandal this book was an interesting and informative read! I enjoyed this book because of the fact that it dives deeper than many other similar sources, giving a reader more insight and back story to what really set up this whole admission scandal and proved to many how it wasn't some insular incident but in fact has been going on for ages! It is a reminder that sometimes those with the best intentions fail to see how their decisions are a slippery slope when tied to the rest of society. Thank you Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz for your research and bringing these facts into the hands of the masses. Thank you as well to the publisher, Portfolio, for publishing this work and thank you for NetGalley and all the above for allowing me to read this work before it was released to the general public!

UNACCEPTABLE

When news of the American college admissions scandal broke, I was disappointed but not surprised. Here were a bunch of fairly wealthy people—at least two were prominent celebrities—accused of using their privilege to get their children into tony universities. In my simplistic worldview, if anyone would attempt something of this nature it would be people like this: those with the means to do so.

Still, precisely for that reason, the episode struck me as a passing curiosity. No one can resist stories about corruption, more so when the ones involved are the rich and famous. Yet at the end of the day, these were just privileged people who got caught breaking the rules. No big deal; the world can move on.

Regardless of whether anyone is prepared to turn their attention to the latest outrage of the moment, Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz have written a book that explores the scandal in depth, thereby reminding people why it’s a much bigger deal than most assume.

In Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceipt, & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal, Korn and Levitz trace the scandal to the fixer at the center of it all: William Rick Singer, a competitive fellow who would carve out a niche for himself as a college admissions “counselor”. He started out offering coaching and guidance to the soon-to-graduate and their families purportedly to improve the former’s chances of getting into college. This would be a thriving business, and Singer did as advertised legitimately for a number of clients. However, there’s also no question that there are many for whom Singer crossed legal and ethical boundaries.

Evidently, Singer believed there were three ways to get into a college: the front door, or legitimately through the usual testing and application route; the back door, or by donating large amounts to a college of choice; and the “side door”, a euphemism for bribery and quid pro quo. Obviously, Singer specialized in the last endeavor, cultivating both contacts and methodologies so he could guarantee placement in a college for a fee. He would facilitate payments to coaches who would attest that an applicant was an athletic prospect that the school should consider (going so far as to stage or doctor photos to make that case). He would embellish and include downright falsehoods in the college applications of his clients’ children, painting them to fit a profile that would improve their chances of making it though screening. He even went so far as to have someone take standardized tests for his clients’ kids, if not have these test proctored by a confederate who could improve the applicant’s score.

In all, it’s the scope of Singer’s operation and the fact that the schools he got clients into were no lightweights (Georgetown and the University of Southern California come to mind) that belie any notion this was an ordinary case of simply greasing the wheels.

Singer was able to keep at it for years and make millions in the process by exploiting cracks in the culture and process of college admissions in the United States. He latched on to college coaches and athletic directors desperate for funding, whether personally or for their programs. He figured out not just how to game the SAT and ACT testing system but to upend it entirely. He knew that with so many applications received by colleges the odds of weeding out fraudulent applications would be slim, and used those odds to favor his clients. Most importantly, he played to the anxieties of otherwise doting parents, whether they were motivated by the genuine concern for their children’s future or the prestige that admission into an elite university would bring to the family.

As Korn and Levitz point out, a large part of the problem is not necessarily that the entire system is rigged but that there exists a lot of grey area in college admissions. Schools have to raise funds, too, and therefore the lifetime value of each applicant matters. Therefore, schools have an incentive to accept students whose families have the potential to contribute substantially in the present or future. Legacy admission—accepting the children of alumni—or even strong recommendations from friends of the institution further complicate the matter. Certainly, these “back doors” circumvent the ideal that college admissions should be based on merit, which in practical terms is an exceedingly complex if not amorphous concept.

While it’s tempting to brush off the scandal as yet another example of the privileged’s excesses, Korn and Levitz rightly point out in Unacceptable the social cost the scandal has wrought. Definitely, the reputation of the institutions involved have taken a hit, as has the sanctity of the admissions process. Already, reforms are underway to address the latter. More, the applicants Singer was revealed to have been helping out, many of whom were previously in the dark that mom and dad made “side door” arrangements for them, will have to live with the fact for the rest of their lives. Finally, every applicant who benefited from Singer’s operation likely bumped off a more deserving one—and we will never be able to measure the impact of that trade-off.

Unnaceptable is “Exhibit A” that the American college admissions scandal is more than just fodder for celebrity gossip. It should give readers pause to consider that though some individuals have gotten caught, it’s likely similar shenanigans have gone on or are still afoot elsewhere.

Overall I thought this was an interesting book about the Admissions scandal. I loved learning more about the families about why they did what they did, the competition between the families to get their child into the best school, and why Rick Singer did what he did. Some of the background information included didn't interest me but overall it was an interesting read about an event that had an impact higher ed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

'Unacceptable' is a non-fiction book detailing the college admissions scandal that came to light in 2019. Rick Singer was obviously the star, but through this book, we are introduced to celebrity parents, business moguls, American and international millionaires, money-hungry coaches, and many others who took advantage of a system that already seems rigged in their favor.

I thought 'Unacceptable' was fantastic. The pacing was just right, and I thought the length was appropriate too. I found the depictions to be fair and didn't fall victim to dramatization. Korn and Levitz also expose much more than was mentioned in the media. Everyone knows that 'Aunt Becky' of Full House fame had her influencer daughter pose for pictures atop a rowing machine, but 'Unacceptable' delves deeper. As I read, an analogy kept sticking in my mind. Obviously what Singer and co. were doing was wrong, but it felt more like the operation was polluting a filthy, contaminated sewer as opposed to littering in a pristine stream previously untouched by man. The colleges/universities at the center of the book have a lot to answer for, and a long way to go to create a fair playing field for their applicants.

The rest of the story will likely play out in the courts deep into 2021, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book in late 2020. I would recommend it broadly, even to those who typically do not enjoy non-fiction.

Note: I received a free ebook copy of 'Unacceptable' in exchange for an honest review.

Revealing look at the admissions scandal.Wealthy parents who went to any length to get their child into the school of their choice.Paying for someone to take exams so the child would score higher then their true scores.Pretending the kids were top grade athletes who deserved a treasured spot on a college team.so many people were involved in the scam coaches guidance counselors.The shocking group or entitled parent whose egos & money felt they could buy their child into the school of their Desire meaning the parents choice.Now people have been paying coaches fired parents in jail.Thisbis a sad sickening story of immoral corrupt people quite a read.#netgalley#admissions

To an outsider (Canadian) like me, the United States college admissions system is bizarre. First there’s the byzantine distinctions between community colleges, state schools, private colleges … as opposed to Canada, where university and college have distinct meanings. It’s not just the vise-grip of the standardized testing agencies on students’ futures … it’s the whole ranking system, the prestige, and the intense competition among post-secondary schools for money and athletes. As an educator, I look at this with no small amount of fascination. So when the 2019 college admissions scandal broke, I immediately knew I would be reading the inevitable book(s) that followed. Every few months, I checked to see if I could get a hint of a book in the works. Imagine my surprise when, last weekend, my search revealed that Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz’s Unacceptable had just been published. Not only that, but it was available to read on NetGalley without requiring approval! (So yes, disclosure: I got this book for free in exchange for a review.)

Unacceptable starts with a cast of characters, the sprawling length of which is our first hint at the astounding scope of this scandal. As Korn and Levitz emphasize throughout the book, this scandal is notable not just for the amount of money that changed hands but for its breadth. This wasn’t a handful of parents and one or two institutions. This affected schools across the entire country, and the list of defendants is lengthy indeed.

The star of the show, if this show indeed has a star, would of course be Rick Singer. This is where Korn and Levitz begin, with your typical exposition of Singer’s early days: his small private counselling ventures, his other businesses, his marriage and his divorce, and then his return to private counselling in the form that would lead to this scandal. Singer has many of the classic traits of the con artist; in particular, he gets a gambler-like thrill from “winning” his game. Yet that’s one of the most intriguing things about this story: it’s not your typical confidence game. Singer wasn’t scamming parents by promising to get their kids into college, then absconding with his money. No, this was much worse: he was actually getting their kids into college in exchange for large sums of money.

This was unadulterated capitalism in its finest form.

Singer was running a business, plain and simple. He had all manner of packages for parents to choose from. Some were legitimate, straightforward private counsellors who advised kids about their applications. Other routes were less legitimate: cheating on standardized tests, faking athletic profiles, and greasing the wheels through hefty donations to coaches. It’s not that these parents were buying their kid’s spot—although, in a way, they were—but they were paying to obtain their kid a spot through, as Singer pitched it, “the side door.”

Reading this book, it’s really hard not to conclude that the college admissions system is broken. As Korn and Levitz carefully tease out, Singer is not really a mastermind so much as an opportunist: he didn’t create these flaws in the system; he merely exploited them. Don’t get me wrong: Singer is totally culpable. But when you read Unacceptable, you understand why the Attorney General’s office chose to flip Singer and target the parents (and coaches) rather than just shut down his operation, prosecute him, and call it a day. Singer was a symptom of a larger problem.

Getting to follow this whole story from beginning to the arrests, hearings, and sentencing is one of the best things about this book. Korn and Levitz provide context to the prison sentences for high-profile defendants like Felicity Huffman. They interpret and explain the judge’s rulings, helping us to understand why some defendants received prison time while others only received probation. Along the way, Korn and Levitz emphasize that prosecutors were wrangling with an optics problem: they didn’t want to be seen as “going easy” on wealthy defendants; yet the defense lawyers charged that this meant they did the exact opposite. We also get to find out what happened to many of the kids caught up in the scandal too!

As a result, Unacceptable provides more than just the juicy details of the scandal. It begins with the story of a single man’s attempt to make a slightly dishonest living and ends with the story of a frayed and flawed justice system grappling with its inability to quantify loss in this situation. Not only does this book expose flaws in the college admissions system, but it also shines a light on limitations the US justice system.

Above all else, Korn and Levitz do their best to render their subjects fairly and in a very human way. Singer is not an evil mastermind. Huffman and the other parents are not evil rich people. Neither is anyone an innocent victim here. They knew what they were doing was wrong, and perhaps even illegal, yet they persisted because they believed it was necessary for their child to gain entry into a prestigious institution.

At times, I found the prose a little too stylized for my liking. They overuse the phrase “well-heeled” to describe the wealthy defendants at the heart of the case. Similarly, they spend a fair amount of time describing what these defendants wore to each hearing (though, I should mention, they do this for men as well as women, which is a nice departure from the sexist obsession with describing what women of interest are wearing but ignoring men’s appearances). I understand that this helps to humanize them and also emphasizes their state going into each hearing … but it always rubbed me the wrong way as I read. So it goes.

Unacceptable highlights cracks in the system. More than that, though, it provides a concrete example of how the growing wealth disparities in the United States create a cocoon of privilege that distorts how the wealthy view opportunity and status. While some of the parents pleaded guilty and even fewer truly understood the severity of their crime, the fact remains that Singer had no shortage of clients. For a certain echelon of American parents, this was simply the way it is done—at least, that’s what Singer liked to emphasize. Korn and Levitz delve deep into the details of so many facets of this story. For me, however, that was the enduring takeaway, and it’s what we need to change if we want to avoid more people like Singer opening the side door.

I've followed the Operation Varsity Blues story since the beginning and work in the admissions world. Unacceptable was a fresh, deeper dive behind the headlines and details of the scandal that the authors (and many others) have reported on over the past year. The authors were able to tell the individual human stories and help connect the dots of the scandal but also to hint at the motivation of some of the key players.

This was a quick read and I was hooked after reading the preface, I couldn't put it down.

This is a great read for anyone, but especially for those who followed the various storylines as Operation Varsity Blues unfolded. Unacceptable provides a new layer of reporting and details that were previously unavailable. Kudos to the authors, Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz!

What a page turner. If you want to know more about the Varsity Blues scandal from 2019(college admissions), this book is for you. This was well researched and was provided in an accessible way to readers. So many people were involved in the scandal, many of whom no one has heard of. The book addresses many of the issues at play in the college admissions world and the lengths people will go to so their child goes to the "right" school. Unacceptable will have you rethinking everything you thought you knew about this scandal.

Thank you to Portfolio(Penguin Group) for providing an ARC on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

You've probably heard of Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin, arguably the biggest names in the college admission scandal. Huffman paid to rig her daughter's SAT score and Laughlin got both of her daughters into USC on the rowing team. What about Rick Singer? Heard of him?

I hadn't, until I read this book. Rick Singer was the mastermind behind the "side door" entry to America's top colleges. Without Singer, would some of these people still have used the back door entry to get their children into college by donating large sums of money to the university? Undoubtedly, yes. But he opened up new possibilities for dozens of people. People who 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 had the upper hand.

This goes beyond donating money to universities (though, of course, they did). Singer assisted students (often without their knowledge) in cheating on the SAT/ACT. He got students on to college sports teams- for sports they did not play. He advised students (and/or their parents) to use photoshopped pictures, essays they didn't write, and even to falsify their race or family's educational background on their applications. Anything to play the system and give them the upper hand- again, an upper hand they already had, by attending the best high schools and having access to the best tutors, money not being an issue.

This book tells the story of many of the people involved in the scandal- Rick Singer, parents of prospective college students, college counselors, college coaches and others. It explains what they did, how they did it, and the consequences they had to face in the end. The things Singer was able to get away with for so long are astounding and will leave you shaking your head. And your heart has to go out to the students who will never know if they were impacted by this. Who would these spots at top universities have gone to, if not to those who got in dishonestly?

Intriguing look into the college admissions scandal. While the media only shows the end, the beginning and how many smart people succumbed to the temptation of paying for college though the back door is very interesting. While those involved, except for the ring leader, knew they were doing something wrong, their need for their children to "succeed" out weighed they moral wrongness. Instead of believing in their children, asking them what they wanted, these parents taught a back door to enter a prestiges college. In the end when a child turned to his parent and asked," Why didn't 'you believe in me?" that summed up the entire debacle.
>>Brought to light are the legacy students, those who were accepted because their families have always gone to this particular school and given lots of money to the endowment funds. Colleges still can't reconcile this way of acceptance to the "illegal" way Singer saw and took advantage of. The ones who are hurt are the student who were denied admittance even though their credential were excellent and above board.

My familiarity with the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal was pretty much limited to what I had seen in People magazine (Aunt Becky and one of the Desperate Housewives on the cover) and during late-night television (think SNL as well as monologues by various hosts). And as a former college instructor and a fan of various college sports, I had a superficial awareness of recruiting. Finally, as someone who had seen friends agonizing about their childrens’ efforts to get into a “good” school and their hiring of admissions counselors (which I had never heard of when I went to college), I admit I found the whole thing fascinating. Thanks to the incredible amount of research by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz for their book Unacceptable, we have a definitive account of the whole thing – which I was surprised to learn was WAY bigger than the few famous names in the news.

Rick Singer has become well known as the “bad guy” in the story, portrayed as a sleazy guy who would do pretty much anything to get someone into their chosen college or university for the right price. And actress Lori Loughlin, her husband Mossimo Giannuli, and actress Felicity Huffman have been portrayed as parents who would pay whatever it took to get their kids into a chosen school. But this book documents many more examples of the dozens of people caught up in the federal investigation into the criminal conspiracy designed to influence admissions officers at eleven schools.

Singer definitely is the central figure in the crimes, controlling two firms (Key Worldwide Foundation and The Edge College & Career Network) that were central to the fraud. The whole story started to come out when one of the (non-famous) parents, who happened to be under investigation for an unrelated securities crime, offered to give information about the admissions fraud that he had become aware of when the soccer coach at Yale asked him for $450,000 in exchange for helping get his daughter in to Yale. That coach pled guilty and led the Feds to Singer. As the scandal unfolded, many parents (including Felicity Huffman) pled guilty to mail fraud. Those who didn’t plead guilty (including Lori Laughlin) received additional federal charges of money laundering.

As it turned out, in addition to facilitating outright bribes such as those involving the Yale coach mentioned above, Singer frequently did the following: bribed exam administrators to facilitate cheating on SAT and ACT exams (including both hiring someone to take the exam in the applicants’ places and having someone change the applicants’ answers on the exams to improve scores); worked with coaches and administrators to nominate unqualified athletes as elite recruits for various sports; and used his charitable organization to launder payments. The whole thing was huge and complex, and he will serve decades in prison for his role.

I was glued to the book for days, with a few strong reactions. First, I admit I went into reading this book with the attitude that I sort of agreed with the defense attorneys that “Their clients were just doing what persons of prosperity have forever done to give their kids an edge.” Second, powerful people really do stick together in times of crisis: “One of the people who wrote the judge…was Jared Kushner.” And third, who knew that USC was so hard to get into? Long known by those of us from SoCal as the “University of Spoiled Children,” many of us thought that pretty much anyone could get in, if they had a famous name or a big enough wallet. But times have really changed. For example, “In 2015, the USC athletics department hit its $300 million fundraising target.” And that is just ONE year, one school.

I felt like I was reading an ENDLESS string of crimes involving various rich people, and about 60% of the way through, I was wondering how much more there could possibly be. But then, at 63%, it was over! The rest of the book is footnotes/citations/documentation (including links to videos, documents, etc.). So anyone wondering how certain stories or events happened can definitely find the answer. It is very well done, and written so it reads like a novel. With thanks to Penguin Group/Portfolio and NetGalley, this one is definitely worth five stars.

Wow, what a page turner! I blew through this excellent and detailed account of the college admissions scandal. Korn and Levitz do an absolutely fabulous job of bringing the details to life with details all the way from the very beginning. They lay out all the ways that admissions(and barriers to admission like standardized test scores) can be manipulated or outright fabricated, sometimes with the knowledge of the student.

This book had the same urgency as a good thriller novel which I loved, it's absolutely fantastic. Going into the FBI investigation is incredibly exciting and way more fascinating than I expected.I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in this scandal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the advance copy.

Well-written, page-turning account of the Varsity Blues college scandal.

This was a fascinating read! Korn and Levitz trace the story of the Varsity Blues scandal back to the beginning - when Rick Singer was just beginning to game the college admissions system. We learn about Singer and his obsession with winning (an obsession he shares with his wealthy clients). While the "back door" to college admissions requires a hefty donation to a school but doesn't guarantee admission, Singer's illegal but effective "side door" method of bribery and cheating, including manipulating SAT/ACT scores and improperly classifying applicants as athletes, was very tempting for many wealthy parents.. It's fascinating to hear from the clients who plotted with Singer, including those whose kids were in on the act, as well as the coaches who took bribes.

In addition to telling the story of the scandal itself, Korn and Levitz take the reader behind the scenes of the FBI investigation and subsequent prosecution. They also take a closer look at admissions, further emphasizing what we all know: that this game is not fair due to huge disparities in educational opportunity, as well as continued preference for athletes and legacies. The kids who missed out on spots at choice colleges due to the Varsity Blues students are far from the only victims of the admissions game.

Thank you to Portfolio (Penguin Group) for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite a shocking account from a professional journalist about the celebrities in the college admissions scandal. Like other readers, I didn't know that much about Singer except what I read in the paper and online. It is appalling that celebrities and the rich tier of people feel this is acceptable behavior. The level of entitlement in this book is actually quite disgusting. Colleges and universities can be bribed with money to accept a less than scholarly teenager from a celebrity pushing out a more college-bound freshman that is middle-class or poor who have to work and pay so much for college education. Does not make celebrities kids look good.

This book gets 100% on the research and shock level for sure. I feel this a must read for anyone going into college and if they attend a school with someone well-known. A different read for me for nonfiction but definitely important.

Thanks to Netgalley, the authors and Penguin Group Portfolio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 7/21/20

Unacceptable covers the details of the 2019 college admission scandal featuring many prominent celebrities. Korn and Levitz do an excellent job of expanding on the news coverage of the major event that gripped the nation.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. What a fascinating and enlightening piece of journalism. I was drawn in from the very beginning, as the authors introduced the various players in the scandal and provided background and detail that would lay very convincing groundwork that led to all of these incredibly awful decisions. I knew very little about the Rick Singer, and I found his story exceptional and shattering. This book is constructed somewhat like a thriller, with a steady build up, and twisting roads across so many states, through so many lives, that lead to the eventual exposure and takedown of the key players. This was completely startling in many places, it's a good primer for anyone interested in the case, and it also works as a business expose-type work alongside BAD BLOOD, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET and other such tales. Thanks again for the read.