Massive cheating scheme for elite college admissions, via ACT testing and fake athletic recruiting

there probably is not a lot of kids being denied admission due to the scam. Still very illegal and not cool.

> I really am not following the press on this one, but doubt this affected that many applicants. The number of people involved is only a drop in the bucket compared to the numbers that apply and get rejected by these schools. I agree..illegal and uncool, and I hate cheaters as well. I hope to see those involved pay the price, but frankly there are bigger issues in the world.

I had to cringe the other day when I saw that denied students have already filed lawsuits claiming they were wrongfully denied admission. Now we are going to compound an already bad issue with a worse one. I could fill a whole another thread about abuse of the legal system, and the legal issues involved in this matter, ie. how culpable were the schools ?; Would the plaintiff's actually have gotten in but for the handful of people that were wrongfully admitted ?; Is class action appropriate , as each persons claim is different? . As a lawyer, I hate to see the rush to the courthouse....only two people are going to win these cases (the attorneys on each side), and everyone else is going to pay more tuition to cover the expense.

At least at a SA, kids who got in via mom and dads help will eventually show their tru colors (hopefully?)

As I've noted before, one of my pet peeves is too much parental involvement. I know that it happens, but Plebe Summer and 4 years at USNA can be a pretty miserable experience for the kid if its Mom & Dad's dream, not theirs. I make that very clear during my interviews, and will probe the issue carefully if I detect any hint of parental pressure to attend. (Hint, parents should not make initial contact or call the BGO themselves ). I've got some funny stories about parents calling my house - my wife loves to take calls during the day, and she is a lot less tactful when telling parents (particularly moms) how I feel about too much parental involvement.
 
I had to cringe the other day when I saw that denied students have already filed lawsuits claiming they were wrongfully denied admission. Now we are going to compound an already bad issue with a worse one. I could fill a whole another thread about abuse of the legal system, and the legal issues involved in this matter, ie. how culpable were the schools ?; Would the plaintiff's actually have gotten in but for the handful of people that were wrongfully admitted ?; Is class action appropriate , as each persons claim is different? . As a lawyer, I hate to see the rush to the courthouse....only two people are going to win these cases (the attorneys on each side), and everyone else is going to pay more tuition to cover the expense.
Agreed. There is no way of knowing if the denied students would have gotten in, but the institutions are now in a pickle. The act was committed by, and the profit was realized by individuals, but the lack of institutional control will be the issue. I see a lot of out of court settlements on the horizon.
 
I would like to thank my wife for restraining my inner papa bear during DS's SA application. I asked DS if I could see his essay before he pressed "Enter" last summer (being for USNA, it was his first of many college essays). I used to be a science journal editor and professor so I immediately took out my red pen - it's a reflex. DW stopped me dead in my tracks. "This is his and his alone - I'll check for obvious grammar errors but otherwise he sinks or swims on his own." And that's how it's been for the entire college application process. He's owned every bit of it. The motivation is from within. We never had to encourage him to study for the ACTs - I remember watching him sitting in the bleachers during wrestling matches (waiting his turn), Saturday after Saturday working on practice tests. I've been much less a coach than a cheerleader. Applying for colleges (especially SAs) is an exercise and a test in character development (both for the applicant and the parents). Like so many things in life, it's turns out that the journey is as great (or greater) than the goal. For those parents who cheated to advance their children's academic standing, the person they cheated the most was their child.
 
I would like to thank my wife for restraining my inner papa bear during DS's SA application. I asked DS if I could see his essay before he pressed "Enter" last summer (being for USNA, it was his first of many college essays). I used to be a science journal editor and professor so I immediately took out my red pen - it's a reflex. DW stopped me dead in my tracks. "This is his and his alone - I'll check for obvious grammar errors but otherwise he sinks or swims on his own." And that's how it's been for the entire college application process. He's owned every bit of it. The motivation is from within. We never had to encourage him to study for the ACTs - I remember watching him sitting in the bleachers during wrestling matches (waiting his turn), Saturday after Saturday working on practice tests. I've been much less a coach than a cheerleader. Applying for colleges (especially SAs) is an exercise and a test in character development (both for the applicant and the parents). Like so many things in life, it's turns out that the journey is as great (or greater) than the goal. For those parents who cheated to advance their children's academic standing, the person they cheated the most was their child.

I'll gently push back against this. Most teenagers do not know where to even begin with the college application process-- much less navigate funding options, scholarships, school selection (for reasons that actually matter, not based on athletic performance or "cool" campuses), follow-up with admissions, comply with the myriad supporting documents requests, follow-up with personal and academic references, submit mid-year grades, etc, etc.

I'm glad to hear your kid was able to pull this off on the first try. I do not think that is the case with most 16 and 17 year-olds. That is not a commentary on the current generation either. That has been the case for decades. It was the certainly the case with me.

A well-intentioned, but poorly implemented initial launch into the college entrance process by a typically ignorant and ill-prepared HS junior or senior can create disastrous long-term consequences. I personally know a few current HS seniors that somehow bombed their early decision applications in one way or another and are currently waiting on their third choice schools to get back to them. After talking to their parents, to a T, they all said they had a LOT more influence and involvement on ensuring that third round of applications went out correctly done.

Writing an essay and completing the application for your kid is one thing. Checking their end product and ensuring quality and completeness is something totally different. I'd strongly suggest all parents actually review their kids' applications and essays prior to submittal and make sure they are actually well written and complete.

You didn't just chuck your kid into a car at age 15/16 and say "here's the driver's manual, figure it out", did you? :) . I bet you didn't. I bet you drove around with them and made sure they weren't smacking into the back of other cars and merging into trucks before you let them borrow your car and go take the driver's test.

It's the same with this-- you have to ensure they are actually setting themselves up for success-- not failure. Part of that process is teaching, part of that process is quality assurance.
 
At least at a SA, kids who got in via mom and dads help will eventually show their tru colors (hopefully?)

As I've noted before, one of my pet peeves is too much parental involvement. I know that it happens, but Plebe Summer and 4 years at USNA can be a pretty miserable experience for the kid if its Mom & Dad's dream, not theirs. I make that very clear during my interviews, and will probe the issue carefully if I detect any hint of parental pressure to attend. (Hint, parents should not make initial contact or call the BGO themselves ). I've got some funny stories about parents calling my house - my wife loves to take calls during the day, and she is a lot less tactful when telling parents (particularly moms) how I feel about too much parental involvement.

As a BGO, I had a candidate whose parents went beyond the textbook definition of Helicopter. This boy was in my son's scout troop and he advanced VERY quickly. . . even faster than boys who I knew were working hard. I was talking to his USMC vet father and about an unrelated town event and he told me that he would not be there because "Sundays were for Merit Badges". I snooped a bit through my son and others and found that both of the boy's parents devoted just about every Sunday to his scout advancement. Taking him hither and yon, helping him research, etc. Now that is not outside of the rules but far from the norm in any scout group that I've seen. Cub Scout advancement is supposed to be done with a parent but not Boy Scout which is supposed to be the scout's own effort. Now this kid's father was VERY interested in my being a USNA alum and pumped me for tips even before he found out what a BGO was and that I was one. The year after my son got into USNA, his boy showed up on my BGO interview slate. The interview was one of the strangest I've ever had. Since I knew the family well, I expected the boy to be pretty relaxed but he said very little and the parents tried to control the interview. Finally I got them out of the room and he was a pretty lackluster candidate overall. Spoke well and looked good but his replies showed little of the initiative or drive that I like to see and other than scouts which I was already familiar with, he showed little leadership. Though, he did have a very beautifully prepared resume that is the finest I've ever seen for a High School student to this day and I have literally seen hundreds of them. My "meh" reaction to his interview (including notes of the parental involvement" were reflected in my interview report and that combined with non-earthshattering scores/grades resulted in him not getting admitted into USNA. The next year, he again tried for USNA and as is the practice in this area, he had a different BGO but again he failed to get accepted by USNA but USAFA did take him. To this day, I wonder if Mommy and Daddy helped him in flight school or wherever he went in the AF.
 
I would like to thank my wife for restraining my inner papa bear during DS's SA application. I asked DS if I could see his essay before he pressed "Enter" last summer (being for USNA, it was his first of many college essays). I used to be a science journal editor and professor so I immediately took out my red pen - it's a reflex. DW stopped me dead in my tracks. "This is his and his alone - I'll check for obvious grammar errors but otherwise he sinks or swims on his own." And that's how it's been for the entire college application process. He's owned every bit of it. The motivation is from within. We never had to encourage him to study for the ACTs - I remember watching him sitting in the bleachers during wrestling matches (waiting his turn), Saturday after Saturday working on practice tests. I've been much less a coach than a cheerleader. Applying for colleges (especially SAs) is an exercise and a test in character development (both for the applicant and the parents). Like so many things in life, it's turns out that the journey is as great (or greater) than the goal. For those parents who cheated to advance their children's academic standing, the person they cheated the most was their child.

I'll gently push back against this. Most teenagers do not know where to even begin with the college application process-- much less navigate funding options, scholarships, school selection (for reasons that actually matter, not based on athletic performance or "cool" campuses), follow-up with admissions, comply with the myriad supporting documents requests, follow-up with personal and academic references, submit mid-year grades, etc, etc.

I'm glad to hear your kid was able to pull this off on the first try. I do not think that is the case with most 16 and 17 year-olds. That is not a commentary on the current generation either. That has been the case for decades. It was the certainly the case with me.

A well-intentioned, but poorly implemented initial launch into the college entrance process by a typically ignorant and ill-prepared HS junior or senior can create disastrous long-term consequences. I personally know a few current HS seniors that somehow bombed their early decision applications in one way or another and are currently waiting on their third choice schools to get back to them. After talking to their parents, to a T, they all said they had a LOT more influence and involvement on ensuring that third round of applications went out correctly done.

Writing an essay and completing the application for your kid is one thing. Checking their end product and ensuring quality and completeness is something totally different. I'd strongly suggest all parents actually review their kids' applications and essays prior to submittal and make sure they are actually well written and complete.

You didn't just chuck your kid into a car at age 15/16 and say "here's the driver's manual, figure it out", did you? :) . I bet you didn't. I bet you drove around with them and made sure they weren't smacking into the back of other cars and merging into trucks before you let them borrow your car and go take the driver's test.

It's the same with this-- you have to ensure they are actually setting themselves up for success-- not failure. Part of that process is teaching, part of that process is quality assurance.
Maybe I'm just different but I got into USNA after doing the entire process myself other than my dad introducing me to the Congressman's wife (his Service Academy lead person). I did the
rest of it using the printed USNA catalog (remember them) as a guide. My guidance counselor was no help at all and neither of my parent had been to college. My two yr older sister was in college so I'd been a witness to the process but it was mine alone as had been the case for her.

My college professor wife had done the same thing when she was in high school and got into a highly regarded school by herself. We have four kids and their college choice and applications were on them. We certainly talked about it with them and tried to help with advice on choices but the applications were all their efforts. The eldest started college when my wife and I were just dating and I was single parenting while doing reserves and travelling often for work. He REALLY didn't have any help from me. He is an expat working in Asia double-major BA and an MBA in International Business both from a highly regarded state university. Son #2 went to USNA, Daughter 1 went to a private school and is now a rising star with a well funded startup in NYC. Daughter 2 has a BS from a private school and is in line to start medical school this fall.

We didn't do their applications or watch over their shoulders - they did it themselves. The youngest asked for proofreading help on the med school essays but that is pretty much all that we've ever done on their applications.

Your comparison to starting driving is interesting but I think that we helped them learn the key skills to this process like attention to detail, etc well before the time that they started applying to college.
 
I should be clear that my "cheer leading" during DS's application process went something like this: "What's the deadline for applications for such and such?" "Did you check on this with your guidance counselor today?" "Did you register for next month's ACT?" "Have you checked your portal lately?" "Has your counselor sent in transcripts yet?" "Did you ask Scoutmaster so-and-so if he would be willing to write you a letter of recommendation?" "Have you heard when your interview with Congressman X is?"

As a parent, I believe you have to trust (tailored to each child) but verify. I verified. DS was born an old soul. He earned our trust at an early age but that doesn't mean he got off scot-free. He was different from his two older brothers in this respect. And he also had two brothers in college who had been-there, done-that so he knew what had to happen . He also had a very good guidance counselor. But he did have some screw-ups. He missed the EA deadlines for his Plan B schools, he didn't want to visit Notre Dame, even though he applied, I read his essay to Northwestern (after he had sent it) and cringed a bit. But his successes (and failures) in this whole, surreal process that is applying to college are his, and I am proud of that.
 
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I would like to thank my wife for restraining my inner papa bear during DS's SA application. I asked DS if I could see his essay before he pressed "Enter" last summer (being for USNA, it was his first of many college essays). I used to be a science journal editor and professor so I immediately took out my red pen - it's a reflex. DW stopped me dead in my tracks. "This is his and his alone - I'll check for obvious grammar errors but otherwise he sinks or swims on his own." And that's how it's been for the entire college application process. He's owned every bit of it. The motivation is from within. We never had to encourage him to study for the ACTs - I remember watching him sitting in the bleachers during wrestling matches (waiting his turn), Saturday after Saturday working on practice tests. I've been much less a coach than a cheerleader. Applying for colleges (especially SAs) is an exercise and a test in character development (both for the applicant and the parents). Like so many things in life, it's turns out that the journey is as great (or greater) than the goal. For those parents who cheated to advance their children's academic standing, the person they cheated the most was their child.

I'll gently push back against this. Most teenagers do not know where to even begin with the college application process-- much less navigate funding options, scholarships, school selection (for reasons that actually matter, not based on athletic performance or "cool" campuses), follow-up with admissions, comply with the myriad supporting documents requests, follow-up with personal and academic references, submit mid-year grades, etc, etc.

I'm glad to hear your kid was able to pull this off on the first try. I do not think that is the case with most 16 and 17 year-olds. That is not a commentary on the current generation either. That has been the case for decades. It was the certainly the case with me.

A well-intentioned, but poorly implemented initial launch into the college entrance process by a typically ignorant and ill-prepared HS junior or senior can create disastrous long-term consequences. I personally know a few current HS seniors that somehow bombed their early decision applications in one way or another and are currently waiting on their third choice schools to get back to them. After talking to their parents, to a T, they all said they had a LOT more influence and involvement on ensuring that third round of applications went out correctly done.

Writing an essay and completing the application for your kid is one thing. Checking their end product and ensuring quality and completeness is something totally different. I'd strongly suggest all parents actually review their kids' applications and essays prior to submittal and make sure they are actually well written and complete.

You didn't just chuck your kid into a car at age 15/16 and say "here's the driver's manual, figure it out", did you? :) . I bet you didn't. I bet you drove around with them and made sure they weren't smacking into the back of other cars and merging into trucks before you let them borrow your car and go take the driver's test.

It's the same with this-- you have to ensure they are actually setting themselves up for success-- not failure. Part of that process is teaching, part of that process is quality assurance.
I agree with this. My parents came from South America and never attended college and had no clue about the college system. I dont recall even having any major college counceling at my school (honestly I dont remember there being any) I applied to one college only not realizing that I had lots of options. At the time, I could have easily gotten into USC (the one in the west) and never had an idea i could do so. I applied to California State University Northridge (go Matadors) and never even received an acceptance letter from them. I wound up calling at some point and was told that not only was I accepted but I had like 3 days to respond and and register for classes. Luckily i lived in Northridge so it wasnt a major issue. I made sure my kids they got all the options available. While my older sons school had professional college councelors, we still hired an outside college person for a couple of days. My younger sons school counselor were just okay and with him having learning issues, it was necessary to find someone who knew the college system well especially when it came to accomodations. We looked at the essays and made sure the school applications were filled out properly. I wasnt going to allow my kids futures to be dictated based on the fact that he forgot to check a box. While there are plenty of 17 and 18 year olds who are responsible mature adults, not every kid is like and plenty need hand holding. Sure once they got into college they were on their own, but I was going to help get them into the best college possible.
 
I appreciate the “they did it themselves” aspect described above. However I don’t believe tutoring is contrary to that philosophy as possibly implied above.

When each of my lads came to me separately expressing dismay over an English or writing issue, and knowing they had already been in dialogue with teachers, received in school teacher or peer tutoring, and still weren’t where they wanted to be...well, I had no problem at all shelling over the bucks for additional professional tutoring (variety of reasons why we parents were not the chosen ones). Grammar tune-ups and the individualized attention on essay writing taught each lad what he was missing, and they regained confidence to keep improving afterwards (each had 4 1/week ~1 hour session). The kid still had to do the work: a tutor coaches, doesn’t do the work for you.

Think of it this way: in baseball pitchers work with special coaches to smooth out those imperfections. And why not?! If you want to improve you’re going to have to work at it. And you can get there faster with guidance. Tutors are teachers. Academics is no different than sports or anything else, so don’t equate tutors with cheating. No more than coaches are. I have yet to see the human who fell out of bed one day to win a Gold medal.

And the military model I’ve been hearing about includes feedback...

Kids today are taught to be peer tutors: being the learner or the teacher ... aren’t we all on one side or another of that equation?

What IS appalling about this scandal is that rather than spending the $ and effort to help educate or get the kid help these lazy people lied, stole, and cheated. That isn’t mummy & daddy showing you how much they love you. That’s giving up on the kid.

This “scandal” might seem to be about money, but that’s not really all it is.
[edited to remove a double negative]
 
I didnt read tutors as cheating. I think it was in discussion about some families having financial means to do so, where others dont, and the gaps created. Which are real. And also exist in sports for the same reason.

Money.
 
Virtue signaling is thick on this thread. The truth is some kids can navigate the entire academy nomination and application process on their own, while others cannot. Parents of those kids are best positioned to know. Some will help more than others....

I helped in some areas and had no idea what was going on in others. I never read an essay, but I did make sure push ups and pull ups were done to standard. I helped him find his birth certificate. I drove him to his congressional interview, while he drove himself to see his BGO.

Soon, all of them regardless of how much their parents helped will lead within the best military on the planet. Guess what? It won't matter how much their parents helped. In fact, it won't matter on R-Day.
 
Once my DS made the decision to pursue the SA/ROTC route I did as much as I could to help him.
College is expensive.
 
I agree. Kids and circumstances vary. Even the most organized young man or woman needs parental help in some form at some time. The challenge that we all face (and sometimes not do as well as circumstances dictate) is to know when to help and when not to (especially when the stakes are high). I have failed at this countless times as a parent of four.
 
I didnt read tutors as cheating. I think it was in discussion about some families having financial means to do so, where others dont, and the gaps created. Which are real. And also exist in sports for the same reason.

Money.
Exactly, telling your kids to study more isnt exactly helpful. If he studied for 5 hours and didnt get it, studying another 5 hours doesnt mean they will figure it out. Tutors can be very helpful. I understand that some parents can afford it and some parents cant and that seems unfair. What is also unfair are the kids who dont have to study or study very little and get all "A"s while my son had to study for hours to get a "B" My point is that it has never been fair and will never be fair. Sometimes it not what you know but rather who you know. That isnt fair either. It isnt fair that when I went to my son's baseball game in High School, most of the fathers drove Teslas, Ferraris and other expensive cars while i drove a Dodge Charger.
 
It's hard to imagine how this happens. My school district has a magnet school that is ranked at or near the top annually and people whisper that students/parents cheat on the admissions requirements. If they are cheating, then the school is letting them skate through the four years. The numbers say otherwise. The graduation rate and college acceptance rate is 100 percent. Big name colleges. The average SAT is near perfect. A few years ago the admissions department was forced to open up seats in the name of diversity. The under-qualified kids were eaten alive. Apparently the faculty were not told to drop standards. I just checked their current demographics which shows 68 percent Asian, 21 percent white, and less than two percent black and Hispanic. The other indicator of success is the free and reduced meals and fees is less than two percent. Those of lesser means do not perform as well in school.

I finished my M.Ed. a few months ago and wrote a few papers which included demographics, low income students, English Learners, and the effect on learning in a general education classroom. A goal of administrators every year is to narrow the achievement gap. That's a noble goal of course, but when the methods of narrowing the gap include bringing the top performers closer to the lower performers instead of bringing the lower ones up, something else must be figured out. It's difficult these days to talk about that without somebody invoking Brown v. Board, but I believe the system must change to where the hard chargers take one path and those less qualified take a path with less rigorous academics. Students would still have equal opportunity to excel in their journey through high school. Pressure would be taken off educators to slow down instruction in order to bring along the slower students. An alternative path to four years of high school might be at grade 10 when students go the vocational route and learn a trade. After two years, the student graduates with a high school diploma and continues learning the trade in a journeyman program and receive pay and benefits. The student who took the academic path is better prepared for college since he/she sat in classes with rigorous instruction.

I teach in career and technical education, formerly vocational education, and that type of student has kept me employed for 12 years. Most of my students though will not go to college, yet they are required to sit through four years of math, English, and social sciences. Anyway, speaking of students, I am at work. Rant off.
I agree with your comments. Although they dont say it, Mediocrity by all seems to be the goal. That way everyone is equal. I remember either reading a book or possibily seeing it on TV, but it was the future where it was against the law to excel so for example they had a ballet where the ballerina's legs where tied down with bricks so that she couldnt leap higher than anyone else. Of course that is a exaggeration, but you have to wonder where our society is going when those who are the top achievers are looked at negatively
Mediocrity is the name of the game with the Common Core Curriculum , and now many colleges have adapted a new application process..test optional, reporting your own grades, no recs..etc..
 
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