This is an excellent step-by-step guide to getting scholarships from colleges. Things are different than when I attended, so it's great to see how to negotiate this nowadays!

Book received from NetGalley.


Applying to colleges has changed since I first went back to college back in the 1990's. There are so many things you need to have and do to make a college want you as a student. This is a good book to read to help you survive the craziness that comes with applying and writing essays. There were multiple things in here I wish I had known when I went back to college a few years ago. Things that would have helped me immensely, especially in terms of various forms of financial aid. This is a great book to read along with all of the college catalogs you have to plow through.

I loved this book and how it provides information about applying to colleges in a language that my 17 yr old understood. I was expecting info on actual scholarships but that was not provided. I am thankful for the information the book did provide.

Luke Arnce is attending Emory University on a full-ride scholarship, so he obviously knows something about getting into and earning a scholarship for one of the top universities in the U.S. He has written a book to share the wealth of his knowledge with aspiring scholars: The Scholarship Game: A No-Fluff Guide to Making College Affordable.


My son is a high school senior, so we've been down this track together. I was interested to read what Arnce might have to contribute. Perhaps my other son, who is now a sophomore in can benefit. . . . First of all, the majority of The Scholarship Game is focused on the application and college selection process. It's useful, but not terribly original. If a student has not read something like this, Arnce's book would be a good place to start.


The balance of the book addresses the school-based scholarship selection process that centers on a weekend visit. Arnce gives some tips for the weekend, especially the interviews that occur during the weekend. Again, useful if not terribly insightful information. The problem is, in our experience the kids who are invited to these scholarship weekends are already top candidates vying for scholarships, some at a variety of schools. If you are not in the highest sliver of your high school class, and didn't score near-perfect scores on the ACT or SAT, don't be surprised if you are not invited to these weekends.


That's the bottom line of Arnce's book. One might easily be left with the impression that if you're not in that highest echelon of college-bound students, you are out of luck. Yes, it's a game. But the reality is, lots more kids can play than the kids for whom Arnce writes. There are plenty of better books out there, I'm sure, that cover the pursuit of scholarships for a wider slice of students.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

I read this book in preparation for when my teen starts looking at colleges next year. I found it to be really helpful and informative. A lot has changed since I applied to college a couple of decades ago! I would recommend this book both to high schoolers looking at colleges and their parents in trying to figure out how to pay for it.