<p>Geez people, Kaavya had a 4.0 GPA and a 1560 SAT in one of the top public schools in the state of New Jersey(Bergen Academy), which is like the top academic state in the nation. Plus she had the hook of being an award-winning writer on her school newspaper and had other great EC’s. Please stay on the topic of her plagianrism of her books after securing her book deal while in college and not on the validity of her Harvard admissions decision. She got in to the university fair and square(yes you are allowed to hire expensive college counselors and Ivy college “packers” if you have the money because that’s perfectly fair and legal) and the belief that she wouldn’t have gotten into Harvard without her parents expensive college “services” is really a moot point.</p>
<p>Listen up idealistic parents, envious collegiate students, and ignorant high schoolers…</p>
<p>All parents want what’s best for their children and this tendency definitely carries over to college admissions. Why the hell wouldn’t rich parents want to give their progeny every possible advantage in this situation, especially when selections for Ivies like Harvard today are so arbitray and unpredictable??? What Kaavya’s parents did is what I can almost guarantee EVERY parent on CC would have done had they been in a similar vantage point, regardless of what they are saying now. We’re not talking about Hillary Duff or George Bush here…Kaavya was a VERY competitive applicant to Harvard, both with regards to academcis and extracurriculars, and there would have been NO suprises if she had gotten admitted even without her parent’s help. All her parents did was attempt to MAXIMIZE Kaavya’s already solid chances to Harvard by removing the “unpredictability” factor, hence making sure that all the hard work she put forth throughout her high school years did pay dividends in their terms.</p>
<p>I am ashamed to be part of a discussion on CC where a majority of posters think that it’s shameful for parents to give their offspring every possible benefit in life if it involves a display of financial wealth. Wealthy individuals don’t get the advantage of AA so it’s perfectly within their jurisdiction to spend their money legally to help their kids in college admissions in whatever way they please. Because in reality, whether you’re rich, middle-class, or poor, you need EVERY sort of boost you can get if you’re applying to an Ivy League school in our competitive world today.</p>
<p>The fact is you guys, none of you are Kaavya’s parents and can’t really relate to their position so stop trying to strees your skepticism of the “morality” of their actions. You can teach your kids whatever life lessons and responsibilities you want but you can’t force your judgment upon others. </p>
<p>This poor girl has lost her $500 dollar book deal and movie deal, has been publicly humiliated by the media nationwide, has been essentially alienated by most of her recent and former acquanitances, and been basically permanently shut out of her dream literary career because of the plagiarism scandal…so the least all of you can do is let Kaavya hold on to her dignity and move on with her life. She’s suffered the consequences of her actions and there’s no need for Harvard to beat her to death any further.:mad:</p>