@SouthernHope, that’s pretty much how Jerome Allen (Penn’s former basketball head coach) got busted too - the feds were investigating the parent for Medicare fraud.
And Allen’s former assistant coach, Ira Bowman (who also was Allen’s teammate at Penn), is now on hiatus at Auburn:
@SouthernHope I can’t get to the WSJ article b/c of the paywall. Do they give any indication of who it might be that tipped the feds off to the college scheme(s)? Is there anyone on that list of people indicted who lives in Boston?
Instead of this cheating… Why couldn’t these people just hire the best tutor money can buy and have their kids earn their scores. They already have the advantage of having the means to pay for the best.
@northwesty I think the underlying assumption is what is flawed.
SAT score and where you go to college = smarter = better = more successful in life.
Research exists to show all are false.
But no one wants to believe it. The brands and the marketers have too much of head start.
All the NYU and gossip girl stuff about wishing they went to Columbia or Yale fosters this illusion. Caplan went to Columbia. BTW.
@GnocchiB they talk about the tip off here as well:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/podcasts/the-daily/college-admissions-scandal.html
At least one person from Massachusetts was indicted, the guy is from Lynnfield which is not too far from Boston I think.
@GnocchiB I believe it was a securities broker (?) in Boston who was being investigated for something else. He informed authorities that a Yale coach was willing to take his student for a bribe.
"The FBI had their eyes on Meredith after federal authorities were tipped to him while pursuing a separate securities fraud case, according to new reports from the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe that sheds light on how the scheme unraveled.
The scam was discovered, as many others are, by accident. A financial executive wanting leniency in the securities case told federal authorities that Meredith had sought a bribe to get his daughter into Yale, the Wall Street Journal story says, citing “people familiar with the investigation” as sources."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/14/college-admissions-scandal-yale-womens-soccer-coach-meeting-rudy-meredith/3160494002/
@squ1rrel and @Lindagaf – here is an article on that digression – https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/08/27/reports-circulate-saturdays-sat-included-questions-available-asia
Those defending USC may want to consider the LA Times article linked in #1427 and #1432 above.
The FBI uncovered the $25 million nationwide college admissions cheating scandal by accident while agents were working an unrelated securities fraud case, two law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The Boston-based agents received a tip from someone connected to the securities fraud investigation about the alleged $400,000 bribe paid to the then-head women’s soccer coach at Yale to fabricate athletic credentials, the sources said.
The coach then cooperated with the investigation, according to the sources, which spiraled into what prosecutors called the largest college admissions cheating scam ever prosecuted in the United States, as 50 people were indicted, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
FBI-Boston declined to comment about the origin of the case, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
@airway1 I don’t think this will hurt USC in the long term. And by long term, I say, next admissions season. If anything, it raises the school’s profile, says the cynic in me.
@northwesty “high IQ but very slow LD processor” I have a son just like that too. His refusal to take advantage of accommodations for his (well documented) processing issue has cost him dearly both in school and on the SAT.
@katliamom agreed but past history says it will… this brand is too strong compared to MSU, PSU, Missouri and others who got hit … but they might have to pay out more $$$ to get the recruits they want… ranking might get affected if there is more linkage to admission staff
I saw the lawsuit started by the Stanford students. Honestly, if there was to be a lawsuit I would join it would be against the College Board. They know, we all know, about their scandals. The cheating is incredibly well documented. They do not fix it and with the test on a curve it effects every kid that takes it. They need to pay the price. I wanted my money back after the “reused” questions a few months ago but now I want all the money I have spent for all of my kids.
@airway1 History says, in fact, that it won’t. And USC is in a VERY different place from MSU, PSU or Missouri. It’s a whole different playing field. Much more rarefied. And much more insulated due to its academic and financial stature.
@goodjob - have you tried calling college board.? I always got rude customer service.
Why are there more instances of bribery in some places than others? Because those places are more conducive to this type of activities, due to the general culture, the lack of regulations, supervisions, and transparency. It’s not just coincidence.
There are many things you can complain about re the ACT and SAT, but of all the parties here, they deserve less blame than the others. And it sounds like they readily cooperated with authorities when it was found that people were cheating on their tests.
@LisaNCstate some students need accommodations. And workplaces in the modern day are expected to give reasonable accommodations as per the ADA.
It’s important to remember the brilliant thinkers and artists who have advanced the world, and who have accommodations not just now but throughout history –
Okay, you say, those were physical disabilities. How about just learning disabilities –
Daniel Radcliffe (dispraxia)
Temple Grandin (autism)
Oliver Sacks
Charles Schwab
Albert Einstein
Finally not everyone will work at Goldman Sachs – FYI – and they are still allowed an equal and appropriate education, as per the ADA.
The hardest thing is to have a brilliant child who has an LD and his or her disability is invisible. No wheelchair ramp is out for this person. No sympathy. Little patience from the world. The road for this child is very difficult and littered with banana peels. The one thing they get is extra time on those stupid standardized tests.
This scandal is big, it’s bad, it’s far reaching, and it’s ugly. There are so many unanswered questions.
But one thing is for sure…
Next year’s (or maybe the year after) application season will be business as usual. Wait for it.