I know the purpose of these reviews is not to comment on the editing but this book was just so... messy and the lack of editing was distracting to a point that I could not even focus because of all the typos. The structure was all over the place and unorganized, and the narrative was repetitive. We simply did not need the same main players reintroduced and explained a hundred times - we already know who Bob McGlashan is and Donna Heidel does., we don't need to read their titles or hear about their backgrounds again.

That being said, I could tell this book was well-researched, just poorly executed. I didn't learn anything groundbreaking or new, per se, but the information was interesting albeit lacking presentation. Overall, this book could have been streamlined and cut down by at least 50 pages simply by organizing better and paring back some of the superfluous description. I'd recommend a documentary on this topic before ever recommending this book.

Guilty Admissions caught my attention because I, like many others, was caught up in the drama of the college admission scandals. Nicole La Porte does a good job of making the reader feel somewhat sympathetic to the entitled, wealthy families involved in the scandal. In the world of Hollywood, when everything is constantly critized, I can appreciate parents wanting to do whatever they can to be good parents and give their children the best potential life.

This non-fiction read was interesting and entertaining. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the college admission scandal.

Oh I remember hearing about this and watching it unfold. How a parent could just buy their kid's way in to a college when they may not have earned it and taking it away from someone who really did, is just absurd to me. I love my kid, but he needs to know he needs to work hard and earn it and that no one is going to help buy his way there, granted I am not famous like Lori Laughlin.

I remember being in shock at who was involved in this crime but not a whole lot of shock that it took place. Elites being elites and thinking they're above the law. So when this book appeared I really wanted to read it to know WHY.

It could have been MUCH shorter. Probably a third cut out and the point would have been taken, but I did like that LaPorte went into each person's why. It gave the backstop on how Singer manipulated each family individually. None (that are mentioned) went in intentionally thinking they were going to rip off school admissions. Singer was a businessman who knew how to get what he wanted from everyone and what strings to pull.

It was very sad to see these people played like a fiddle and how easily he was able to manipulate.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have suggested it to multiple family members.

This book gave a good overview of what happened during the college admissions scandal but, it seems to sensationalize the crimes in a way that makes it sound more fiction.

This book never got going for me. The writing was too slow and I ended up not caring about the story at all.

I am very picky about the books I read. I need them to go at a quick pace and don't care much for a ton of details and this book just bogged down.

I do appreciate how hard it is to write,

The topic is a fascinating story that I was eager to read and learn more about this Hollywood scandal but the book was a slow read for me. It just didn't hold my attention well, despite being such an interesting story

I am fascinated by the Varsity Blues scandal, especially how many A-list actors were implicated in it, so I thought I'd love reading this book. Instead of a juicy takedown of the scandal, GUILTY ADMISSIONS is a critique of the entire system of elite education. It's frustrating to read at times and deeply heartbreaking other times. I enjoyed this book but I'm not sure if a broad audience will appreciate it the way I did.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this Arc. Wow!! I learned alot about college admissions that I didn't know! You assume everyone is getting the same fair shot at others, then you learn there are parents that think they are better than others, and willing to pay for their kids to get in, instead of having it fair.

This was a very interesting account of the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. It was amazing the amount of money the was spent by the parents and the lengths they would go to in order to get their child into a top school. Rick Singer seemed to have no morals and deserves every punishment he gets.

This book did a great job, not only of explaining the details of how the scandal worked and who the players were, but it did a great job of getting into the mindset of the elite parents that foisted this scam on their teenagers as well as the mindset of the scammer himself. His villain origin story is being bullied for being fat! It's honestly fascinating.

In Guilty Admissions by Nicole LaPorte, we are given a very informative look into the Varsity Blues College scandal. It is shocking how corrupt the education system is. It is mind blowing what parents will do to get their children into the “right” school. This book is very well written and gives a lot of detail. It was a really great read and I definitely recommend.


Thank you to NetGalley, Twelve Books and Nicole LaPorte for a copy of this book for review.

An informative and interesting read! Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the arc, in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where people think the rules don’t apply will be vulnerable to the likes of Mark Sanger. He orchestrated the big college enrollment scandal. By getting coaches from top schools such as Harvard Yale USC in Stamford to lie insane interest in a particular student for their sports curriculum, It would make that student a shoe in for admission. When he couldn’t get a coach from a certain school then he would just blatantly lie on an application from saying they invented an app to starting a nonprofit. The lies were limitless and anything went at least it did until he got caught. Before we get into my thoughts on the book overall, let me just say the first chapter had me sweating while reading about how hard it is to get in to good schools despite your great great point average only calls me anxiety and I couldn’t wait to be done with it. I think I should’ve waited until after my daughter graduates to read this book lol! Having said that this book was so interesting from beginning to the authors notes at the end. It is always amazing to me the thought processes of people with Uber amounts of money in the rules that they think do not apply to them. This is evident from preschool to primary school every stage is competition for the next stage. This is a lot of stress that to me seems pointless. I think people try to use their money to cover up whatever they believe this lacking in their child or at least that is what they seem to want to do. I couldn’t imagine stressing over what preschool my child would go to and whether it will lead to Harvard admission in the long run. I love to see how the other half lives just to remind myself how lucky I am to live with a half I do. This was a very interesting book and I highly recommend it. Everyone who watches the news should know about the college admission scandal Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were both found guilty of obtaining Mr. Sanger‘s quote services“ if you love to see how the other half lives in fails at it you should read this book I was given this book by net Gally and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

I was able to read this for free thanks to Net Galley, although that does not affect my opinion of the actual book. I’ve always been intrigued by the whole college scandal that went down a couple years ago, especially because I didn’t fully ever look into it. I just read the headlines on Facebook news and I’m magazines. When I saw this book on Net Galley, I knew I wanted to read it and delve more into what happened. Maybe it’s just because I read this through a kindle, but the layout was weird to me. Throughout the story, the text was written fully in big bold letters which got on my nerves as it made it a little hard to focus. The spacing of it was also a bit messed up. It could just be because it was originally an advanced copy (although it is now published), but I just figured I should mention that about the specific edition I read. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book (which is something I always hate to do) as it was a little too factual for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware that the book is supposed to be this way, however it read a little to textbookey. I’m giving this a 3 star rating because I believe that while I couldn’t get into it, some people may enjoy it.

This book was just incredible! I picked it up as a fan of investigative journalism as well as my love for all things academia and I was not disappointed! Well researched and well designed coupled with lovely writing and interesting facts makes this book incredibly readable and very hard to put down! This is exactly what I always hope for when picking up a book of this sorts.

Highly recommend this book for anyone looking for an engrossing read. Though there has been a lot of coverage of the Varsity Blues scandal already, author Nicole LaPorte charts new territory to explore the psychological motivations of the key players and the social effects of the entire tutoring-industrial complex.

Thank you so much to netgalley and publishers for providing an advanced e-copy. I was elated to be chosen to not only honestly review this book but to get to experience it for myself and without netgalley this may have gotten lost in my TBR pile. DO NOT LET THAT HAPPEN! If you have any interest in this subject or in investigative journalism at all this book is the perfect choice for you!

This book was very informative and provided a lot of background for the Varsity Blues college scandal. It isn't something I would typically read, but it sounded interesting. While very informative, there were so many names and so much information that I found myself a little confused at times and I honestly just couldn't remember who most of the people were. If you are interested in learning more about the college scandals, this is a great book. I am honestly completely shocked how corrupt the system is in regards to education. They say that money doesn't buy everything, but I feel like that's not much of a true statement. Clearly money can buy you much more than people knew. It's a shame that there are so many smart and intelligent individuals out there working their butts off and not having a chance in hell to be able to attend such a prestigious well known college because their lacking in the financial department. It makes me sick. What's even worse is, I doubt that most of the students who's parents bought their way into their schools could care less about it or even realize how fortunate they are to be given such an opportunity or even have said opportunities offered to them. I'm not sure I would read something like this again, but I did take away a decent amount from this book. Thank you Netgalley, Nicole LaPorte, and Twelve for the opportunity to read and review this book. I'm rating this ⭐⭐⭐💫

I was given an advanced copy of Nicole LaPorte’s “Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal” to read and review through NetGalley.

Working in colleges admissions, I was particularly interested in how LaPorte might cover this story compared to the Korn & Levitz book, “Unacceptable,” that came out last year. Ultimately it was a decent retelling of the athletics recruitment scandal by an author who is able to hold a reader’s interest.

I found LaPorte’s “Guilty Admissions” to seem a bit more sympathetic or defensive of those implicated in the cheating scandal. It had a very California-centric vibe and, as an East Coast reader I felt lacking the context, at times, to see things exactly the way the author described. That said, it was a solid nonfiction book that describes some of the detail behind the Varsity Blues scandal.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about this scandal.

This non-fictional staple centering around the College Admission Scandal, which has been on the forefront of Gen X and Gen Z's minds these days, painted a well researched and well developed novel. While the pages delve into depths of why "Varsity Blues" happened in the first place, the author also managed to make a mysterious, riveting narrative out of an elite lie. They painted the head of the scandal with empathy. Which was surprising and took me into his mind in a psychological way I wasn't expecting. The author also took bold facts weaving them with suspense that kept me turning pages. Despite the fact that I had read the news and followed the case, I found a lot of new research. Although it was researched non-fiction, this beauty read as fiction due to the compelling and well written narrative. If you're going to pick up any juicy, deep "scandalous" non-fiction, pick up this one!

Definitely interesting reading. Very well researched account of the college bribes that became famous because it included two well known actresses. One took responsibility and the other not so much.

Sad that parents wanted to buy their kids a place in school. Guess they didn't realize that their kids were taking the place of someone else's kid who deserved it but alas didn't have wealth.