Periwinkle

The college parents forum just started a thread of interest to prep school parents: Educational Consultant sued.

The newspaper report:

Quest for admission to Harvard ends in $2 million tangle - News - Boston.com

The Pdfs linked to the Boston Globe article are interesting reading.

Please note the consultant was not a member of IECA.

ops

There are always at least 3 sides to every story, his, hers and what really transpired. It really is fascinating and at so many levels.

mountainhiker

I believe that any educational consultant who "guarantees" admissions to super-selective schools (whether prep schools or colleges) shouldn't be trusted.

There are lots of excellent, honest, and committed educational consultants out there who provide a host of services, but "guaranteed admissions" is not one of them.

Ask questions, get recommendations and referrals, check out credentials and affiliations.

Caveat Emptor, indeed.

ops

There are multiple unanswered questions. All speculative but I wonder and wouldn't be surprised that starting with EBS that they (the Chows) did not hear the answers they wanted. I'm sure, from the moment their relation started with EBS that they were informed there are no guarantees for any particular Prep School much less Ivy. One does not get so wealthy being naive and ignorant.

SevenDad

@ops: But perhaps they were under the impression that money went a lot further to buy influence at US BS/College...as it might in Asia.

ops

IMO any Pre-Prep or Prep school would most certainly relay the standards of admissions into US institutions otherwise they'd all be getting sued. I would think that it would be one of the first issues spoken during Pre-Prep admissions and repeated, if necessary, throughout the admission process from Pre-Prep to Prep. I don't think they were hearing what they like and some one came along who appears to have had the ability to shield them from direct contact with the schools. That's the part I find difficult to understand.

2prepMom

If you are curious, the Boston Globe article linked above has its own link to the educational consultants plan that this family paid 2.2 million dollars for, which the family has submitted as evidence in the lawsuit - it is available to the public

It talked about planning ahead for an application that showed growth in an area of interest, international awareness, advised reading The Economist, being involved in sports, and doing university research with a professor over the summer between soph and junior years.

The prep school is clearly stated (not HADES).

Nothing very different from what most of the college app books have to say, except the consultant told the family that their generous donations to the colleges would not be accepted outright and had to go thru him...the very good question is where did they go?

alextwoofour

Quite a story. The PDFs are a good read too.
We’re not from Asia. However, I have an old schoolmate from here in the U.S. who moved to Asia after college and now has successful businesses over there. Two years ago, he hired a U.S. based educational consultant who absolutely guaranteed admission to Harvard for their oldest child. My friend is a skeptical type, but was really impressed by this educational consultant. In the end, my friend’s kid preferred another school, but still one of the HYPMS, to which this educational consultant also guaranteed acceptance. The kid did get accepted and now attends that HYPMS school. No idea how much they paid the consultant. My friend is affluent enough, and focused on the best educational experience for their kid, that if the price was in the millions, but acceptance guaranteed, they’d pay it. Crazy.

Father of the Boarder

Lawsuit requests claims for:
Plaintiffs assert claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, conversion, unjust enrichment, an accounting and imposition of a constructive trust.

Not being a Mass attorney, I would have to say that claims for Fiduciary duty, promissory estoppel, and conversion may well be dismissed.
Accounting, constructive trust, fraud and breach of contract will be tried.

Since the numbers are so large, I would have to imagine that matter will be tried.

I do not know what there is to collect. I would assume the company is presently killing off reserves and that individual is not worth $2,000,000.00.

And, if final judgment is found, note that many of these counts are pled for purpose to prohibit a bankruptcy of the individual from discharging same -- not forgetting fact that fees, costs and certain punitive damages may also arise if fraud found.

Father of the Boarder

My hunch was correct about the dissipation of assets: I reviewed lawsuit and there are two motions to stop Defendants from selling off items. In one, an affidavit by an accountant states:
4. I have been retained as an expert witness in this case on behalf of the plaintiffs,
Gerald Chow and Lily Chow. As part of my engagement, I have conducted an analysis of
defendant Mark Zimny’s Fidelity Investments account during the period from January 2007
through July 2011.
5. During that time period, Mr. Zimny’s Fidelity Investments account statements
show that he deposited a total of $2,311,448.44 into his Fidelity account. During that same time period, Mr. Zimny withdrew a total of $1,854,917.74 from his account, realized a net investment loss of $305,375.40, paid margin interest of $41,479.21, incurred transaction fees and costs of $106,801.95, and had taxes withheld of $1,544.42.

HarvestMoon1

Have to chuckle at the lawsuit and the resulting publicity. Absolutely no one wins here - not the Chows, not Mr.Zimny et al., nor any of the schools involved. They all look ridiculous.

Think this whole scenario is a wonderful candidate for Anderson Cooper's "Ridiculist"!

Periwinkle

Father of the Boarder, Zimny may have used the money to buy real estate, either in his name, his wife's name, or a company's name. In that case, he does have assets.

Periwinkle

IECA Lessons from the $2 Million Admissions Attempt

ExieMITAlum

Anybody ever consider that if we just banded together to form our own consultant company rather than spend hours advising on CC we could send each others children to college and BS as full pays?

Just kidding, but after BS tuition and since the Powerball passed us by, I'm thinking it's time to get creative! I mean, we would have charged a lot less than $2 million with much better results - sigh.

jandjdad

Exie,
As a second time parent of a college applicant, there is more truth than you think. I recently sat down to breakfast with a friend whose son was also applying to college and we discussed the process. After a few minutes he just shook his head and said that everything I had said ( most of it learned from CC) was what he had heard only after he had paid $3500 to a consultant. This consultant was used by many in our area and when the parents compared notes they found out that the 'unique list of schools" she put together for their child was the same for almost all of her clients!!!
From the little nuances and strategies re applying early vs regular and what tests to take and when, it (CC) was extremely helpful. My only regret was that I didn't find the site a few years earlier....Water over the dam.....