@LisaNCState Thanks for linking the article. So the quote has already changed…“at SOME elite schools, up to 46 percent of students receive special accommodations to take the tests, including extra time”
That’s a big difference than just “at elite schools”
What did the college counselors at the high schools know, and when did they know it? Did they have visibility into the applications? Did they make the initial referrals? Do they all have plausible deniability? When I was looking for tutors for my kids, my first (and only) call was the school counselor, who handed me a piece of paper listing names and phone numbers and which subjects they tutored. Is this how other parents do it? Should the FBI be investigating the role high school counselors played in referring well-heeled parents to Singer? Was there a wink and a nod - “this guy has worked miracles for other students at our school, I highly recommend you give him a call…”
How did the cheaters learn about Singer’s services?
@ucbalumnus The real quote shows even more questionable terminology…“some”
How does one quantify the term “some”?
@PragmaticMom That’s a really, really good point.
“@sushiritto Grinell students are pretty darn smart. And if it’s the better and more successful method. Maybe it’s the smarter way to play the game.”
@sushiritto – totally unrelated to this thread caveat.
But I’m a big fan of the “alternate” hoops systems that attempt to let David hang with Goliath. The chaotic, “hockey on hardwood” Grinnell system is one of my favorites, although the Princeton is cool too. Grinnell looks crazy and disorganized, but it is backed up by very sound analytics and strategy. It is a perfect fit for a D3 program like Grinnell. Works in HS too. Interesting that the Grinnell coach came up with his system not as a way to win games, but as a way to give more kids more playing time and thereby encourage the kids to not drop out of the program. But it turned out to be a winning strategy too. But it wouldn’t likely work in high D1 and the pros (though it was tried in the G League).
For D1, my favorite alt system is Tony Bennett’s slow paced Pack Line system at UVA (currently ranked #1 in the country). It is now March – best time of the year.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
I’ll reference a post I wrote only a few hours ago:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22071735/#Comment_22071735
So a post that begins “I digress” got 86’d. A post (in this case several posts) discussing Magic v.Bird? Yup - bye bye. If the post is not even close to on topic, it’s getting deleted.
@sable999 That goes for any college division. You can be recruited and then accept and not play. Of course if you have an athletic scholarship at D1, you will lose that but you are still an enrolled student…
I’m bombarded with email and mailers from test prep companies that do private consulting and regular subject tutoring. My guess is that the high schools didn’t refer to Singer at all and it was word of mouth. I’ve never used a private consultant and even I can name the “famous” ones around here!
Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman sued for $500bn in college cheating scam
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47577506
500 Billion! OMG! (Am I reading this correctly? )
“Someone correct me if I am wrong (I am not a parent of a recruited athlete) but for the highly selective D3 schools, athletes are recruited and get slots or tips or whatever with admissions from the coach, but then are not obligated to play the sport anyway, correct?”
Sure. If you are legitimately trying to play the athlete card to max your chance of getting into a fancy school, NESCAC-type D3 schools are your best bet. You need to have pretty strong academic credentials. And you need to be a pretty good player. But not nearly as good a player as for D1 – maybe all conference vs. all county or all state.
Williams is one-third or more student-athletes. You won’t get an athletic schollie for Williams, but your sport might get you in. And once you get in, you can drop the sport. TBH, most kids really really want to play their sport coming out of HS. But it is OK if your sport doesn’t work out once in college. Which happens – injury, lack of playing time, loss of interest, change in coaches, etc. etc. etc.
@northwesty It depends at what level D1 you are talking about. Some of the NESCACs in certain sports play at a higher level than many D1 schools. I know many kids who played at a lower level but were willing to take a slot at any D1 school just because of the money. You’d be amazed at the D1 schools that are out there.
I’ve heard that nearly half the class at Amherst plays a sport. I think it is more of an emphasis on a certain type of student.
Demonstrated ability to work in a team or receive coaching. Diligence. And also top line academics. It s an institutional decision.
And if you don’t like or fit that profile. Don’t apply to Amherst or Williams. There are equally great options that value other qualities. Vassar Skidmore Swat Grinell etc. all peers and all slightly different.
It is thst diversity of choice that is a wonderful part of our system.
Most complaints seem to come when a student fits one profile but wants to attend the other. And anger and disappointment get the pitchforks out.
I keep changing mind on these things in real time. Good lord it is complicated.
@LisaNCState It’s like a bad version of Austin Powers. These lawsuits are not a good look.
@soccermother That was our experience, as well when our daughter committed to her university. There was tweets and rosters and calls, letters, emails.
My guess is that these kids never were actually added to the roster…
@3kidz2edu That is crazy about UCLA. I agree about water polo and soccer on west coast - I knew the girls my daughter competed against over the years, but at a certain point, I didn’t know the names of the up and coming ones, anymore.She committed in 2011, so I am a little out of the loop. It is a small community though, and people talk.
And now Erica will sue.
This is the situation (almost) every lawyer dreams about.
For any of you planning on joining a lawsuit, remember one thing…only the lawyers win.
@jym626 Exactly. I never wrote a single kids’s application - but I did review for errors as we sat side by side in meetings over the years.
Is there a chance of adcoms feverishly reevaluating their RD decisions?
@jym626 Ethical being the key word, here. I looked up Rick Singer and we had one common connection, which was strange. I worked in SoCal those years and have many many connections on Linkedin from college consulting from all over the US.
[quote[What did the college counselors at the high schools know, and when did they know it?
[/quote]
I read the indictment and didn’t see a scintilla of evidence that the counselors at the high school knew anything ever. They may have seen the questionable scores, but what is a high school counselor supposed to do about score jumps? And counselors probably wouldn’t have good insight into why a score might jump for good reasons for a student.