They might not have time to look at every app, but it will be most efficient to focus on particular types of apps. I wonder who are the students who might have the most chance of being corrupt admits? I am guessing that most scrutiny will be placed on athletes (especially those that don’t appear to be superstars) and those coming from upper middle class to wealthy backgrounds. Not to say that fraud or corruption can’t exist among all apps, but in the current environment, colleges will want to avoid even the appearance that a student was admitted through fraud or corruption.
@mdphd92 I think you are spot on here. This would be the easiest place to start.
@northwesty - Or just have tests go back to being one and done.
“Add up all those application fees, and the class action lawyer’s cut is much more than a modest payout.”
Yeah, I get that. Class action suits are often just mechanisms to make attorney’s rich. But what is in it for the plaintiffs? What are those two Stanford students hoping for? Why are they bringing the suit? Will the attorneys give them a cut of their slice of the pie?
Both my daughters were rejected by Yale years ago. Should they sue? (kidding - not actually contemplating any lawsuits).
lol @gallentjill! No, the ER triage team does not have to solve a differential equation, but they have to be able to quickly assess a situation, go through their mental file drawer and consider several potential diagnoses consider several hypotheses, initiate a plan of action and if appropriate medication/dose. If this isnt a test of in vivo processing speed and problem-solving, I am open to other suggestions.
The lawsuit has two parts. The first part is about the unfair application process. The second part is about the lessened value of the degrees. In the second part, the plaintiffs argue that employers will wonder whether students graduating from universities involved in the scandal were admitted fraudulently, therefore their degrees will be worth less.
As noted by others, as in any class action, the overall amount of damages is the amount of damages per member of the class times the number of people in the class. Since the class is very large, even a small amount per person would yield a large total amount of damages. Usually it is the lawyers handling the case who reap the largest benefits.
This is mysterious: https://news.stanford.edu/2019/03/14/admission-case-info/
So did this third student get a recommendation from a different coach?
I am sure this has been posted several times already, but I do love this tiger mom! https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/moms-lawsuit-claims-college-cheating-scam-stole-kids-spot.html
As the parent of a very academically minded 2019 volleyball recruit I find this very interesting in one specific regard. My daughter was recruited by a certain Ivy and lost out to another recruit late in the process. I remember her saying she couldn’t compete against the Harvard -Westlake, Menlo, Branson etc. recruits as a public high school student from Texas.
I told her she was crazy as she had a 34 ACT, 10/775 in her class, 12 AP classes, National Merit and many other high academic awards and accomplishments. She has been playing club ball since the 5th grade and has played at the Open level for three years with a USAV national championship in 2016. District MVP, honorable mention all state and two trips to the state tournament but someone else was picked for the spot.
I just assumed the coach picked who he thought was the better player but now I wonder. If players are virtually at the same academic and athletic level, who gets picked? The lower middle class from a public school that will receive a lot of financial aid or the one that went to Harvard -Westlake and has connections?
I guess there my actually be some validity to her statement if you look at the rosters of Ivy League schools. Most are littered with kids from wealthy prep schools.
@gallentjill I agree with you on speed to process in general. And super supportive of extra time for anyone who needs it, even if a few cheats game the system.
However. There is some benefit in some roles for quick decision making and processing info helps a lot too.
—NASA - especially when teams are in flight or in countdown.
—Instrument rated Pilots, in general.
—Military officers and in the field leadership.
—floor traders and various trading desks
—athletic judges and referees
—gamblers
—auction experts
—police
—nuclear and other plant systems pros in crisis environment.
I’m sure there is more. But it’s a skill like any other. Not bad or good. Someone who can shoot or throw better than me has advantage at times. Other times doesn’t make a difference. Just because they have that skill and I don’t doesn’t render their skill meaningless. Same thing here.
Athletes could be a large percentage of the class at a small school. At the super selective privates, upper middle class to wealthy background students typically make up at least half of the class (those who get no financial aid, and probably a portion of those who get financial aid, but smaller amounts).
I.e. they may have to review a large percentage of the class for fraud even if they limit the reviews to the profiles described above.
“They might not have time to look at every app, but it will be most efficient to focus on particular types of apps. I wonder who are the students who might have the most chance of being corrupt admits?”
Yeah, that would be more efficient, but if I were Dean of Admissions at an Ivy right now I would have my entire staff working around the clock if need be to re-examine EVERY accepted app. This is one of the biggest scandals to come along in the long, long, time. Every major newspaper plus TV and radio news shows are running multiple stories on it day after day.
Now is the time to make sure your newly-admitted class is as innocent and blameless as newborn babies.
I think they used the extra time/testing over two days accommodations to not only orchestrate individual proctors but to have the kid finish the test and then give the proctor time to correct it.
Am betting more and more schools will be going test optional or test flexible.
“@northwesty - Or just have tests go back to being one and done.”
I think “send all scores” is just easier to do. What happens if Johnny is sick or upset over his recently deceased dog, thereby resulting in a low score on the one appointed day? Can he appeal for a do-over? So do people now start faking doggie deaths to get do-overs?
If Johnny takes the ACT seven times, make him send all 7 scores (as Gtown requires). The Gtown adcom can take it from there.
How much of a bribe would be required to get a high school principal or guidance counselor to change grades on a student’s transcript?
At least in some of the cases, the high school counselors did suspect that something was awry. Some of the recordings have parents talking about trying to work around those pesky high school counselors who were questioning things like how a kid could be recruited for water polo when the school didn’t have a WP team. Others reference the high school making it difficult to work with anyone other than a school arranged proctor.
@TomSrOfBoston - Hopefully after this fiasco, it would have to be pretty darned high.
Maybe schools should be like accounting systems and have a system of checks an balances where 2 separate people need to lay eyeballs on the numbers before a grade can be changed. (Then the parent would have to bribe several people-- could lead to a bidding war 
)
A lawsuit to get a $50 application fee refunded?
This current admissions scandal has nothing at all to do with students choosing to apply to a college AND having to pay the application fee to do so.
This is about dishonesty, cheating and the like.
I happen to see the value in college athletics - old school Ivy/NESCAC traditions as well well as big time programs (my kids go to SEC schools).
However, I do not understand how one coach was identified at a number of prestigious colleges who had so much power that he/she could pass a fake athlete through the entire admissions process. Year after year.