Overview

A landmark, revelatory history of admissions from 1900 to today--and how it shaped a nation The competition for a spot in the Ivy League--widely considered the ticket to success--is fierce and getting fiercer. But the admissions policies of elite universities have long been both tightly controlled and shrouded in secrecy. In The Chosen, the Berkeley sociologist Jerome Karabel lifts the veil on a century of admission and exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. How did the policies of our elite schools evolve? Whom have they let in and why? And what do those policies say about America? A grand narrative brimming with insights, The Chosen provides a lens through which to examine some of the main events and movements of America in the twentieth century--from immigration restriction and the Great Depression to the dropping of the atomic bomb and the launching of Sputnik, from the Cold War to the triumph of the market ethos. Many of Karabel's findings are astonishing: the admission of blacks into the Ivy League wasn't an idealistic response to the civil rights movement but a fearful reaction to inner-city riots; Yale and Princeton decided to accept women only after realizing that they were losing men to colleges (such as Harvard and Stanford) that had begun accepting ""the second sex""; Harvard had a systematic quota on ""intellectuals"" until quite recently; and discrimination against Asian Americans in the 1980s mirrored the treatment of Jews earlier in the century. Drawing on decades of meticulous research, Karabel shines a light on the ever-changing definition of ""merit"" in college admissions, showing how it shaped--and was shaped by--the country at large. Full of colorful characters, from FDR and Woodrow Wilson to Kingman Brewster and Archibald Cox, The Chosen charts the century-long battle over opportunity--and offers a new and deeply original perspective on American history.

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Reviews

ÝKarabel tells his story intelligently and stylishly . . . Karabel is illuminating and quietly excoriating on the subject of class diversity at the elite schools . . . Most refreshing and most important, throughout his book Karabel insists that readers heed what he calls 'the dark side of meritocracy.'

This is a remarkable book....It is a staggering hidden history. --Anthony Lewis Jerome Karabel's marvelous study traces the titanic struggles that defined -- and re-defined -- the Ivy ideal....Utterly absorbing. --Kevin Boyle, author of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age Vivid...electrifying...The Chosen is a refreshingly candid account of the admissions madness at elite colleges. --Lani Guinier, Harvard Law School The Chosen is a fascinating study in American cultural history. --Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. An eye-opening examination...Karabel writes clearly and well, and he has dug deep. --Evan Thomas, Newsweek An informed and fascinating account of how America's elite universities have selected their student bodies over the past 100 years. --Nathan Glazer, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Education, Harvard University A magisterial, thorough, and even-handed account of a vexed and important issue. --Justin Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain and Walt Whitman [A] tour de force of investigative sociology . . . Anyone who wishes to understand the shifting grounds of the American establishment should read The Chosen, get shocked by the raw bigotries of the past, and accept Karabel s challenge to rethink the meritocratic ideal. -- Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University and author of The Sixties This is a powerful book, which is richly documented, academically authoritative, and gracefully written a remarkable combination of historical scholarship and sociological analysis. -- David F. Labaree, Stanford University A remarkable history of the admissions process of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. --Malcolm Gladwell The New Yorker An epically scaled and scrupulously rendered history. --James Traub, slate.com Karabel's thorough and definitive look at elite college admissions is fascinating . . . Karabel is a clear and engaging writer. --David Brooks The New York Times Book Review The special value of The Chosen lies...in its stories, its...apt statistics, and its analysis of backroom university politics. --Jeffrey Kittay The Washington Post Fascinating...The Chosen is a monumental work of scholarship --Charles Matthews San Jose Mercury News In vivid and electrifying prose, Karabel exposes the intimate and occasionally scandalous social and political relationships that marked college admissions at the Big Three throughout the twentieth century. The Chosen is a refreshingly candid account of the admissions madness at elite colleges, where merit often functioned simply as a handmaiden to power. -- Lani Guinier, Bennett Boskey Professor at Harvard Law School and coauthor of The Miner s Canary Millions of Americans think of the Ivy League as a training ground for the best and brightest. But for most of the twentieth century Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were more interested in sustaining the aristocracy than in shaping the nation s intellectual elite. Jerome Karabel s marvelous study traces the titanic struggles that defined--and redefined--the Ivy ideal. An utterly absorbing account of politics and privilege on America s most revered campuses. -- Kevin Boyle, National Book Award-winning author of Arc of Justice This is a remarkable book. Until you read it, you can have no real idea how crudely these elite universities discriminated in admissions -- against women, Jews, blacks, and others. It is a staggering hidden history. --Anthony Lewis, former New York Times columnist and author of Gideon s Trumpet A magisterial and even-handed account of a vexed and important issue. -- Justin Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain and Walt Whitman As someone who was chosen for Princeton a long time ago (but surely couldn t get in now), I was fascinated by Jerome Karabel s full and rich account of how my alma mater, and Harvard and Yale, picked us so often for all the wrong reasons. I learned much more about my species from reading The Chosen than everr I did when I was there myself, in flower. -- Frank Deford, NPR commentator and author of The Old Ball Game The Chosen is a tour de force of investigative sociology. Burrowing into the Harvard, Yale, and Princeton archives, Karabel has found out where a lot of minds as well as bodies were buried, then exhumed them and dragged them into the light. Anyone who wishes to understand the shifting grounds of the American establishment should read The Chosen, get shocked by the raw bigotries of the past, and accept Karabel s challenge to rethink the meritocratic ideal. -- Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology, Columbia University, and author of The Sixties This dispassionate book deals with the reluctant, often painful, always controversial, processes by which the Big Three -- Harvard, Yale, Princeton -- have democratized themselves. The Chosen is a fascinating study in American cultural history. -- Arthur Schlesingerr, Jr., historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author ooooof A Thousand Days

A thorough and definative look at elite college admissions . . . fascinating. --David Brooks The New York Times Book Review <br> The Chosen is beautifully written and brilliantly researched, and will forever change the way Americans understand elite education. --Malcom Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point <br> Masterly . . . Decades in the making, The Chosen brilliantly dissects the (discriminatory) origins of the broad discretion exercised by the Big Three in determining their entering classes. --Chronicle of Higher Education <br> Epically scaled and scrupulously rendered. --Slate <br> Unexpectedly fascinating . . . a monumental work of scholarship. San Jose Mercury News <br> Unexpectedly fascinating . . . a monumental work of scholarship. San Jose Mercury News <br> Encyclopedic and engaging. --Economist <br> An intriguing study of how Harvard, Yale, and Princeton decided whom they would admit throughout the twentieth century. New York Review of Books <br> Meticulously researcehd, astutely argued, and . . . surprisingly engaging. --American Prospect <br> Shocking. Christian Science Monitor <br> [Karabel] tells his story intelligently and stylishly . . . Karabel is illuminating and quietly excoriating on the subject of class diversity at the elite schools . . . Most refreshing and most important, throughout his book Karabel insists that readers heed what he calls 'the dark side of meritocracy.' Atlantic Monthly <br> Fascinating plot twists . . . a cast of characters that any fiction writer should envy . . . compelling. Dallas Morning News <br> An illuminating analysis . . . a breathtaking book, built on an acute sense of history, rigorous research, and original insights into how higher education affects and reflects the larger society. The Chosen is a book to be savored. --Journal of Blacks in Higher Education <br> Definitive . . . a new lens through which to view a century of American history. --Jewish Review

This is a remarkable book....It is a staggering hidden history. --Anthony Lewis Jerome Karabel's marvelous study traces the titanic struggles that defined -- and re-defined -- the Ivy ideal....Utterly absorbing. --Kevin Boyle, author of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age Vivid...electrifying...The Chosen is a refreshingly candid account of the admissions madness at elite colleges. --Lani Guinier, Harvard Law School The Chosen is a fascinating study in American cultural history. --Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. An eye-opening examination...Karabel writes clearly and well, and he has dug deep. --Evan Thomas, Newsweek An informed and fascinating account of how America's elite universities have selected their student bodies over the past 100 years. --Nathan Glazer, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Education, Harvard University A magisterial, thorough, and even-handed account of a vexed and important issue. --Justin Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain and Walt Whitman [A] tour de force of investigative sociology . . . Anyone who wishes to understand the shifting grounds of the American establishment should read The Chosen, get shocked by the raw bigotries of the past, and accept Karabel's challenge to rethink the meritocratic ideal. -- Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University and author of The Sixties This is a powerful book, which is richly documented, academically authoritative, and gracefully written...a remarkable combination of historical scholarship and sociological analysis. -- David F. Labaree, Stanford University A remarkable history of the admissions process of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. --Malcolm Gladwell The New Yorker An epically scaled and scrupulously rendered history. --James Traub, slate.com Karabel's thorough and definitive look at elite college admissions is fascinating . . . Karabel is a clear and engaging writer. --David Brooks The New York Times Book Review The special value of The Chosen lies...in its stories, its...apt statistics, and its analysis of backroom university politics. --Jeffrey Kittay The Washington Post Fascinating...The Chosen is a monumental work of scholarship --Charles Matthews San Jose Mercury News In vivid and electrifying prose, Karabel exposes the intimate and occasionally scandalous social and political relationships that marked college admissions at the Big Three throughout the twentieth century. The Chosen is a refreshingly candid account of the admissions madness at elite colleges, where merit often functioned simply as a handmaiden to power. -- Lani Guinier, Bennett Boskey Professor at Harvard Law School and coauthor of The Miner's Canary Millions of Americans think of the Ivy League as a training ground for the best and brightest. But for most of the twentieth century Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were more interested in sustaining the aristocracy than in shaping the nation's intellectual elite. Jerome Karabel's marvelous study traces the titanic struggles that defined--and redefined--the Ivy ideal. An utterly absorbing account of politics and privilege on America's most revered campuses. -- Kevin Boyle, National Book Award-winning author of Arc of Justice This is a remarkable book. Until you read it, you can have no real idea how crudely these elite universities discriminated in admissions -- against women, Jews, blacks, and others. It is a staggering hidden history. --Anthony Lewis, former New York Times columnist and author of Gideon's Trumpet A magisterial and even-handed account of a vexed and important issue. -- Justin Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain and Walt Whitman

This is a remarkable book....It is a staggering hidden history. --Anthony Lewis Jerome Karabel's marvelous study traces the titanic struggles that defined -- and re-defined -- the Ivy ideal....Utterly absorbing. --Kevin Boyle, author of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age Vivid...electrifying...The Chosen is a refreshingly candid account of the admissions madness at elite colleges. --Lani Guinier, Harvard Law School The Chosen is a fascinating study in American cultural history. --Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. An eye-opening examination...Karabel writes clearly and well, and he has dug deep. --Evan Thomas, Newsweek An informed and fascinating account of how America's elite universities have selected their student bodies over the past 100 years. --Nathan Glazer, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Education, Harvard University A magisterial, thorough, and even-handed account of a vexed and important issue. --Justin Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain and Walt Whitman [A] tour de force of investigative sociology . . . Anyone who wishes to understand the shifting grounds of the American establishment should read The Chosen, get shocked by the raw bigotries of the past, and accept Karabel's challenge to rethink the meritocratic ideal. -- Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University and author of The Sixties This is a powerful book, which is richly documented, academically authoritative, and gracefully written...a remarkable combination of historical scholarship and sociological analysis. -- David F. Labaree, Stanford University A remarkable history of the admissions process of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. --Malcolm Gladwell The New Yorker An epically scaled and scrupulously rendered history. --James Traub, slate.com Karabel's thorough and definitive look at elite college admissions is fascinating . . . Karabel is a clear and engaging writer. --David Brooks The New York Times Book Review The special value of The Chosen lies...in its stories, its...apt statistics, and its analysis of backroom university politics. --Jeffrey Kittay The Washington Post Fascinating...The Chosen is a monumental work of scholarship --Charles Matthews San Jose Mercury News In vivid and electrifying prose, Karabel exposes the intimate and occasionally scandalous social and political relationships that marked college admissions at the Big Three throughout the twentieth century. The Chosen is a refreshingly candid account of the admissions madness at elite colleges, where merit often functioned simply as a handmaiden to power. -- Lani Guinier, Bennett Boskey Professor at Harvard Law School and coauthor of The Miner's Canary Millions of Americans think of the Ivy League as a training ground for the best and brightest. But for most of the twentieth century Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were more interested in sustaining the aristocracy than in shaping the nation's intellectual elite. Jerome Karabel's marvelous study traces the titanic struggles that defined--and redefined--the Ivy ideal. An utterly absorbing account of politics and privilege on America's most revered campuses. -- Kevin Boyle, National Book Award-winning author of Arc of Justice This is a remarkable book. Until you read it, you can have no real idea how crudely these elite universities discriminated in admissions -- against women, Jews, blacks, and others. It is a staggering hidden history. --Anthony Lewis, former New York Times columnist and author of Gideon's Trumpet A magisterial and even-handed account of a vexed and important issue. -- Justin Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain and Walt Whitman As someone who was chosen for Princeton a long time ago (but surely couldn't get in now), I was fascinated by Jerome Karabel's full and rich account of how my alma mater, and Harvard and Yale, picked us so often for all the wrong reasons. I learned much more about my species from reading The Chosen than everr I did when I was there myself, in flower. -- Frank Deford, NPR commentator and author of The Old Ball Game The Chosen is a tour de force of investigative sociology. Burrowing into the Harvard, Yale, and Princeton archives, Karabel has found out where a lot of minds as well as bodies were buried, then exhumed them and dragged them into the light. Anyone who wishes to understand the shifting grounds of the American establishment should read The Chosen, get shocked by the raw bigotries of the past, and accept Karabel's challenge to rethink the meritocratic ideal. -- Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology, Columbia University, and author of The Sixties This dispassionate book deals with the reluctant, often painful, always controversial, processes by which the Big Three -- Harvard, Yale, Princeton -- have democratized themselves. The Chosen is a fascinating study in American cultural history. -- Arthur Schlesingerr, Jr., historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author ooooof A Thousand Days

Author Information

JEROME KARABEL is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow of the Longview Institute, a new progressive think tank. An award-winning scholar, Karabel has appeared on Nightline, Today, and All Things Considered. He has written for the New York Review of Books, the New York Times Book Review, the Nation, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.

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