The Scholarship Game, by Luke Arnce

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!