“How are the kids that are unable to get a high SAT/ACT score for admission without cheating able to pass the academic course work at those competitive colleges? If those students were truly academically unqualified one would expect them to have failed and kicked out after the first semester. Are the so called elite colleges serious about academic standards or just exclusive country clubs with edutainment?”
As this very scheme makes clear there are tons of athletic recruits who don’t have the scores to get in but do don’t fail out ( I’m not talking about kids in the one and done type sports). That’s the spot kids like Lori Laughlin’s daughter got.
@privatebanker, nah, Meg Whitman has a few million or so lying around to aid the cause (I was going to link to a blog but I dimly recall that isn’t allowed here).
Evidently, a half a million is all it takes to (legally) buy your way in to Stanford. Some other schools may be cheaper. Roughly 5% of each class is legally bought.
@nypapa Not all of the students were completely unqualified, many where in the fringe zone. They are more correctly described as undeserving. And with a little elbow grease outside of engineering science and math most students can fight their way through college. Are they up for a 4.0. No but 2.0 graduates too.
I think Admissions in general, and especially at the offending schools, will need to be much more involved in overseeing aththletic recruiting. Seeing that Olivia Jade’s YouTube (Lori’s daughter) made me nauseous. Anyone with one brain cell would know she is not a rower, or a student for that matter.
If USC does not kick her out, they should be ashamed. She was 100% complicit in her fraudulent admission, and then made a mockery of even going to school. I know people are saying USC is no longer the University of Spoiled Children, but that’s exactly the portrayal this scandal and she gives it.
They, in particular, really need to do serious damage control.
Indeed, @nypapa. Its much harder to get in to Yale/Stanford (unhooked, without paying oddles of cash) than to graduate from Yale/Stanford. Especially if you are allowed to switch to an easier major.
Note that back in JFK’s day, Hahvahd’s average entering SAT was above average but not actually that high (I want to say 60th percentile) yet they didn’t flunk out too many kids then either.
@PurpleTitan Hah. I wasn’t thinking of the ability to get in to a school from the angle of the financial success and net worth of a fairly overrated CEO.
I thought the poster was conflating these two groups (children of presidents of the USA and children of your average CEOs) as understandable admits — aka no brainers that dont really bother anyone.
Maybe presidents and Chief Justices of the Supreme Court. A Bill Gates Or Warren Buffet admit or two is ok by me. They’ve given away about 80b to charity.
@“Cardinal Fang” :
Google “prepscholar donation admission”
Now I have to ask: Why do you believe that that doesn’t sound right? Do you have evidence to the contrary or do you simply not want to believe that the admissions process is so (pathetically*) corrupt?
Pathetic because, yeah, the price seems pretty darn cheap.
Note that a poster on here already has stated that admission to a certain top MBA program is sold for a mere pittance.
The base level of academic qualification to have a reasonable chance of graduating college is much lower than the competitively set level of qualification that gives a chance to be admitted to a highly selective college without any cheating or development assistance. That may be even more the case at the colleges that have luxury class amenities including extensive tutoring services to help struggling students pass their courses. Of course, the kids of wealth involved here are not trying to juggle work hours to help them afford school like the students on financial aid.
@maya54 Bingo! This is what so many aren’t getting. The sports scam kid didn’t steal a spot from some valedictorian, they “stole” it from another potential athlete recruit.
“If USC does not kick her out, they should be ashamed. She was 100% complicit in her fraudulent admission, and then made a mockery of even going to school. I know people are saying USC is no longer the University of Spoiled Children, but that’s exactly the portrayal this scandal and she gives it.”
My friend who works with influencers told me that In a rather ironic twist Olivia Jade (
Laughlin’s daughter) posted a video a few months ago where she mentioned that she had been surprised how much she liked her classes and that she thought they were really intersting (let’s put it this way, she’s not majoring in engineering, I think a lot of her classes are about social media). She had apparently planned to potentially only stay in school for a semester but had changed her mind. Guess that plan may have to change. My friend estimated that based on her work in social media Olivia Jade could now pay her parents back ( likely making high six figures…yikes)
I used to wonder how the children of these celebrities and other wealthy families could get into these schools when it seemed their life was nothing but jetsetting and partying. I always thought a large donation and expensive test prep was the reason but now we know otherwise. There are so many celebrities I can think off hand whose kids attended elite schools (going back at least 20 years) that I wonder if this type of fraud has existed for a long time.
I suspect, but have no first hand knowledge of, that these children were raised to know they are above the “common persons” and would not have a mental ability to empathize with the common person in this, or other ethical instances.