We all must know something about the college admissions process. After all, we were accepted here at Ashland University.

Author Andrew Ferguson shows us how little we actually know in his book, “Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College.” The book’s brilliance is its honesty. Ferguson combines personal anecdotes with research and facts to show just how much more there is to the college admissions process than we all realize.

The book is very easy to read, very vivid, but also quite sad. Delving into such avenues as standardized testing (the SAT, in particular), and the U.S. News’ college rankings, Ferguson exposes the perversion that is ingrained into the college admissions process.

As it turns out, the things that prospective college students do to get into college are strikingly similar to the things that colleges do to make themselves attractive to prospective students.

All throughout high school, students are virtually guided through hoops, being told by counselors what they need to do and what they need not to do. You need to be involved in a variety of activities, but have at least one where you show a developed interest. You also need to maintain a good grade point average and take enough Advanced Placement classes…oh, and you need to have money.

Ferguson shows just how much money is involved in the admissions process. Aside from the five-figure tuitions of most schools, it’s shocking how private counselors can charge upwards of $40,000 to help high school students with their applications. It’s disheartening how they demand that their services are necessary to get into the perfect school.

Depressing as all this may seem, Ferguson cushions these facts with a comedic undertone, showing the irony of the situation. As it turns out, the colleges have as difficult a time impressing students as the students have impressing the school. For the former, Ferguson explores the college rankings, finding out just what lengths colleges will go to reach the top. He discovers that one in four colleges fudge the numbers that they submit to U.S. News for their rankings, and he shares why they do it: “If they lied to a rating agency, they might go to jail; if they lied to U.S. News, they might make the Top Twenty.”

Aside from the comedy, one of the great strengths of this book is that it is not just a commentary or an analysis; it offers opportunities for affirmative action on the part of institutions and national surveys.

He is by no means an expert on the admissions process – as is obvious because it’s why he’s writing the book – but he is smart enough to figure things out on his own.

He is not boastful or arrogant, just forthcoming, which enhances the readability of the book. The process may frustrate him, but his book is not a rant.

“Crazy U” strives to be different than other college help books, and it is. As it turns out, though, it offers more useful advice than the more conventional book does.