Personal Statement: The road to Harvard is paved with good intentions

Getting into college has never been harder. Can't rely on a perfect SAT score or a 5 on your AP Mandarin exam. Field hockey and basketball? Please. The real sport is Volunteering. Change the world—and tell Harvard all about it. In Jason Odell Williams’ hilarious first novel, Personal Statement, it’s open season on admissions—and a Category-3 hurricane is headed for Connecticut. Self-proclaimed tiger-daughter Emily Kim drags her best friend, apathetic test-taking genius Rani Caldwell, to the coastal town of Cawdor, where Emily’s sure her humanitarian efforts will make her Harvard application stand out from the pack. Problem is: so does everyone else. When Emily and Rani arrive, hundreds of other teenagers—including Robert Clinton III, gay, black and meant for the Sorbonne—are already in Cawdor with the same idea. Observing the battle royale is Alexis J. Gould, aide to the Governor and a veteran of the college admissions rat race. To the kids in Cawdor, it’s not a natural disaster. It’s an opportunity. Let the games begin!