Getting In

Q: What does a parent need to survive the college application process?A. A sense of humor.B. A therapist on 24-hour call.C. A large bank balance.D. All of the above.Getting In is the roller-coaster story of five very different Los Angeles families united by a single obsession: acceptance at a top college, preferably one that makes their friends and neighbors green with envy. At an elite private school and a nearby public school, families devote themselves to getting their seniors into the perfect school—even if the odds are stacked against them, even if they can't afford the $50,000 annual…