College entrance cheating scandal

[EveDallas]

Lori Loughlin??? This one hurts. I grew up watching her play Aunt Becky on Full House. Now my mom watches her movies on Hallmark Channel.

Right? I just keep coming back to "Aunt Becky is a criminal".

 

[mom2rtk]

This makes me so angry I have a Senior right now who has been busting her a** to get into College taking an retaking SAT to get higher scores taking AP an honors class and to watch Lori Laughlin daughter sound so ridiculous on YouTube she is taking the place away from someone who worked hard to try an get in.

Same here. My daughter worked really hard to get her ACT score. Watching that bimbo talk about how she wasn't sure how much class she'd attend just made me want to scream.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Not surprising actually. What I do find interesting is that Loughlin did it to get her kids into USC, which is a good school but it’s not impossible to get into. Must be tough to be a celebrity and have kids who are average.

Thank you! My first reaction was "She had to pay all that money to get her into USC?" Really?

I am a Stanford grad (Biz School). We always referred to USC as University of Second Choice. One of my relatives graduated cum laude from USC. Her SAT scores never reached 500. (total) She's a very, very hard worker and only took about 3 courses at a time. Believe me that I respect her achievement. Her parents paid a lot of tuition money but they didn't have to bribe anyone to get her in. She just graduated about 5 years ago so this is fairly recent.

Even decades ago when I was in college I heard the pejorative acronym for USC was the University for Spoiled Children. As long as your parents had status and the money to pay tuition, you got in no matter your high school grades.

 

[disneypharm]

I am surprised why so many people are shocked! This is nothing new. The only difference now is that these people were stupid enough to do something illegal and got caught! Although many colleges claim to be need-blind, they always pick average students with parents who have more money over top students. They are hoping that these parents and their children (future alumni) would eventually donate a lot of money to the school.

 

[capegirl]

Right? I just keep coming back to "Aunt Becky is a criminal".

Same here, just awful. I can't wrap my head around people who risk their reputations/careers doing stupid things like this.

 

[mnrose]

Yup. These people got caught. But this isn't "news." The rich and powerful get to play by an entirely different set of rules. Not one of these people will spend a single night in jail. Guaranteed.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Makes me wonder if Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin got their roles based on acting ability or perhaps, um, other methods.

 

[design_mom]

I have been reading this with interest. My son is also a senior. He got a good ACT score. It was higher than several of the falsified scores mentioned in the complaint. My son has good grades and good extra curriculars, and he was accepted to several of our moderately-competitive state universities... but his scores were in no way good enough for Ivy League or other very selective schools. My son's best friend did have an excellent resume -- 35 on his ACT, will likely be valedictorian, varsity letters in 2 sports, lots of other "good" extra curriculars and service hours. He's been deferred from several Ivies. I'm not sure what else he could have done to make himself attractive to those highly-selective schools (aside from, I guess, bribing the tennis coach)... so I just don't see how falsifying an ACT score in the high 20s or low 30s would help that much.

Secondly, and something I don't think I saw anybody else mention, was that the ACT/SAT cheating scandal hinged on faking a learning disability! That's pretty low! To make it work, they had to submit documentation to get the largest amount of accommodation that the testing company would allow. That way, the student would be set up in a private room with the proctor, and there would be plenty of time for the proctor to 'correct' the student's test after the student had finished, rather than taking the test in a big room with other students like most kids do. Some of the families used a doctor that the scandal ringleader set them up with to get their documentation of a disability, then still had to appeal up to 3 times to get the testing companies to approve the accommodations.

In reading through it, it seems like in most instances, both parents were implicated in the scandal. There were a couple where no spouse was mentioned at all (maybe single parent or maybe the spouse just wasn't involved). But there were a couple -- and Felicity Huffman's case was one of them -- were the spouse *was* implicated in recorded conversations and/or e-mails. But in those several cases, the spouse wasn't named by name. They were just labeled "Spouse." Felicity Huffman's spouse is William H. Macy... so I'm wondering why he wasn't implicated. Because in the details of Felicity's case, "Spouse" definitely knew what was going on, and was on board.

 

[disneypharm]

I have been reading this with interest. My son is also a senior. He got a good ACT score. It was higher than several of the falsified scores mentioned in the complaint. My son has good grades and good extra curriculars, and he was accepted to several of our moderately-competitive state universities... but his scores were in no way good enough for Ivy League or other very selective schools. My son's best friend did have an excellent resume -- 35 on his ACT, will likely be valedictorian, varsity letters in 2 sports, lots of other "good" extra curriculars and service hours. He's been deferred from several Ivies. I'm not sure what else he could have done to make himself attractive to those highly-selective schools (aside from, I guess, bribing the tennis coach)... so I just don't see how falsifying an ACT score in the high 20s or low 30s would help that much.

DD with similar stats as your son's best friend, Valedictorian, one of less than 20 National Merit finalists and then Scholars in the state, 2 science researches in 2 universities, an IB diploma, and similar extracurricular activities was deferred and then wait-listed from several Ivies. She ended up going to a local University and doing great and about to graduate! For example, Harvard accepts 2000 students each year for their freshman class, the year DD graduated from highschool, less than 20 kids from our state were accepted to their freshman class. If you remove the legacy, athletes, misc group of kids based on certain criteria (eg, underrepresented states-less applications, so more chance of acceptance), and very rich who donate, then average top students wouldn't have a chance. Now add rich and famous who lied and cheated too, oh well!!!

 

[EMom]

why an asterisk? Anybody who graduates from a university did the work to earn the degree.

Not always. DD went to school with a girl who cheated her way all the way through high school. Didn't make any bones about it. In fact, she bragged. She was in a power position on a certain team/activity and minions who wanted to get in her good graces were all too happy to give her the answers, etc. Relatives wrote her papers and did her homework. They got a highly questionable disability diagnosis which allows her extra time on assignments and tests. So she starts a test in class with everyone else, "can't" finish, leaves class and gets the answers from others, and goes back later to finish the test.....with a huge advantage.

When she chose a college, her talent in this activity made her eligible for scholarships and that isn't unusual. But she was not raised by her parents, who lost custody to relatives. Yet her FAFSA is based on the income of the low income parents, so she gets tons of grant money too, despite the well to do relative actually paying all her bills. She uses the same tactics at college as HS. Relatives do all the work they can, her "disability" gives her an incredible amount of extra time to get the answers from classmates who have finished the test, etc. Add to that, her roommate is a tutor paid by the college and roommate does much of her work. She brags that she barely does anything. This has worked like a charm for her and it will continue to do so.

If anyone thinks I'm being snarky about her diagnosis, it's because in the many years I've known her, no one has seen ANY evidence of this disability. No one. And you would notice it. Just about everyone doubts it. She doesn't even see the sort of doctor you'd see, but occasionally goes to the family GP, who just keeps signing her paperwork. And she barely sees him. But she's milked that diagnosis for all it's worth.

I have zero doubt she will graduate from college. She will get a job and continue to play the "poor me" card to get others to carry part of her load. There are just some people who know how to work every angle. I couldn't even carry it off if I wanted. DD's classes are such that we couldn't help her if we tried. But don't kid yourself. There are college graduates who did NOT earn their degrees.

 

[firefly_ris]

I am super disappointed in Aunt Becky. My 5 year old is a huge Full House fan so I guess it's a good thing she can't read news articles yet....

 

[Sabeking]

What I wonder is if some of the kids who were accepted at those colleges did not get in by merit then how do they keep up with the work? Now this is all assumption on my part but if you were accepted at Harvard or Yale would the rigor and expectation be a little bit higher than a state school that accepts lower level scores? At some point I would think the gig would be up if you could not keep up with the challenges.

 

[EMom]

Secondly, and something I don't think I saw anybody else mention, was that the ACT/SAT cheating scandal hinged on faking a learning disability! That's pretty low! To make it work, they had to submit documentation to get the largest amount of accommodation that the testing company would allow. That way, the student would be set up in a private room with the proctor, and there would be plenty of time for the proctor to 'correct' the student's test after the student had finished, rather than taking the test in a big room with other students like most kids do. Some of the families used a doctor that the scandal ringleader set them up with to get their documentation of a disability, then still had to appeal up to 3 times to get the testing companies to approve the accommodations.

I hadn't read your post when I posted below, but it's interesting that you mention faking disabilities to help with the ACT/SAT.

The first time the girl I mentioned took such a test, she got "unlimited" time to finish. I think her relative exaggerated that, but she did get quite a few more hours to finish it. A lot of kids do not actually finish every question on the ACT/SAT. They do as many as they can, and when the proctor calls "5 MINUTES," they start random bubbling, so they at least have a chance. I know DD had some sections she could always finish, but others she had to randomly bubble at least a few answers on. If my DD had be allowed even 10 minutes more on those sections, her scores would likely have been considerably higher. That's just life.

Imagine my shock, when even with HOURS of extra time, the girl bombed the test and wailed that she couldn't finish. My DD said, "She couldn't FINISH?!?!?! How in the world could she not finish, when she had hours longer to complete it? At some point, do like the rest of the people, and just bubble it in. NOT FINISH?!?!?!" Yes, she was indignant.

The thing I feel bad about is that all through HS, I kept telling DD that someday this girl would pay the price, because you can't do it forever without it catching up to you. But seeing it work like a charm for her in college means I have to eat my words.

 

[NotUrsula]

What I wonder is if some of the kids who were accepted at those colleges did not get in by merit then how do they keep up with the work? Now this is all assumption on my part but if you were accepted at Harvard or Yale would the rigor and expectation be a little bit higher than a state school that accepts lower level scores? At some point I would think the gig would be up if you could not keep up with the challenges.

As I said up-thread, there is no guarantee that classwork will be more difficult just because it is Harvard. That's completely dependent upon the department and the instructor, so it can go either way. What there certainly are plenty of in Cambridge, however, are needy but bright students at Harvard, MIT and BU who are happy to write a paper or take a test for a fee. (And that isn't even mentioning the trailing spouses of foreign postdocs, many of whom are highly educated themselves but may not have US work visas.) There is a huge market for hiring out work at prestige schools everywhere in the world.

EDITED to note that Harvard was mentioned in the post I replied to, but is not named in the actual scandal we are discussing. Yale is named, and the same market exists at Yale, which is close to UConn and to the schools in NYC.

PS: EMom, 5 will get you 10 that your cheater girl has an ultimate goal of an MRS. Yep, they still exist, and they always want to swim in the waters around elite schools in hopes of eliminating the need to ever actually support themselves.

PPS: As to why the spouses have not necessarily been charged, even if they were undoubtedly aware, it is probably because the charge is mail fraud.

 

[LSUmiss]

What I wonder is if some of the kids who were accepted at those colleges did not get in by merit then how do they keep up with the work? Now this is all assumption on my part but if you were accepted at Harvard or Yale would the rigor and expectation be a little bit higher than a state school that accepts lower level scores? At some point I would think the gig would be up if you could not keep up with the challenges.

I think that’s the argument some have made here. How rigorous are these “elite” schools or is it mostly a facade?

 

[Sabeking]

As I said up-thread, there is no guarantee that classwork will be more difficult just because it is Harvard. That's completely dependent upon the department and the instructor, so it can go either way. What there certainly are plenty of in Cambridge, however, are needy but bright students at Harvard, MIT and BU who are happy to write a paper or take a test for a fee. (And that isn't even mentioning the trailing spouses of foreign postdocs, many of whom are highly educated themselves but may not have US work visas.) There is a huge market for hiring out work at prestige schools everywhere in the world.

Gotcha, didn’t read all the posts. Interestingly, this sort of thing happened recently to my daughter in regards to work. She is majoring in VMD but has to take a lot of interior design classes. She is bright, creative and a hard worker. The last two semesters have been brutal due to several studio classes she has had. The students have to know how to use CAD and have knowledge of tons of building codes. She has had zero social life and works all the time. In one of her classes is a fairly wealthy girl. We know of her family because they are from our hometown. This young lady approached my daughter and asked if she would do one of her projects. My dd told me another classmate had helped her with something and she bought her a designer bag. As my dd would say, “ I was like, what?!” I thought she was joking! My daughter said no of course, but told me the girl said her mom suggested it!! I know the dad is a dental surgeon, I hope he didn’t fake his way through college. Here’s the thing though, I’m thinking one day this has to catch up to her. You can only fake it in a job for so long I would think.

 

[Sabeking]

I think that’s the argument some have made here. How rigorous are these “elite” schools or is it mostly a facade?

Sorry, didn’t read whole thread.

 

[orangecuse]

My guess for why william h macy is off the hook- Felicity and William have seperate accounts and the mail or wire fraud originated out of her account.

Lori and Mossimo may have a joint account which hooks them both.

(Just a guess I obviously don’t know what celebs share bank accounts with their spouses haha).

 

[EMom]

Gotcha, didn’t read all the posts. Interestingly, this sort of thing happened recently to my daughter in regards to work. She is majoring in VMD but has to take a lot of interior design classes. She is bright, creative and a hard worker. The last two semesters have been brutal due to several studio classes she has had. The students have to know how to use CAD and have knowledge of tons of building codes. She has had zero social life and works all the time. In one of her classes is a fairly wealthy girl. We know of her family because they are from our hometown. This young lady approached my daughter and asked if she would do one of her projects. My dd told me another classmate had helped her with something and she bought her a designer bag. As my dd would say, “ I was like, what?!” I thought she was joking! My daughter said no of course, but told me the girl said her mom suggested it!! I know the dad is a dental surgeon, I hope he didn’t fake his way through college. Here’s the thing though, I’m thinking one day this has to catch up to her. You can only fake it in a job for so long I would think.

My DH attended a very large high school, full of overachievers with parents who nearly all had college degrees, and where virtually everyone went on to a prestigious university. BIL was thisclose to being valedictorian, but was edged out by a guy who had a reputation for cheating. BIL wouldn't have been bothered to have been legitimately beaten, but it bugged him to come in second to a known cheater when BIL didn't cheat. Eventually, cheater became a doctor and wound up where we live.

Years later, I'd had surgery and had to go see a specialist afterward. The referring doctor told me the name of the practice and I recognized cheater's name. So I asked WHICH doctor I'd be seeing there and it was a different doctor. Whew. He sensed my relief and asked why. I just told him that I knew way too much about one of the doctors in the practice and wasn't going to see that one.

I figure if he cheated all the way through high school, there's a good chance he cheated in college and med school. No way I'm going to him.

 

[NotUrsula]

One of the more interesting actors in this drama is a guy who has spent the last decade or so working as a low-level administrator in a sports-centric private boarding school in Bradenton, FL: IMG Academy. He's young, a gifted tennis player, and evidently MUCH brighter than his current employment would suggest. His job was setting up college entrance exam test prep for the academy's students. As part of his duties, he was also in charge of running exam sessions at the school, and he parlayed that access into a rather unique opportunity: getting paid tens of thousands of dollars (each!) under the table to correct the exams of certain students after collecting them to be sent to the College Board. He was able to reliably produce an average score of 35 on the tests that he corrected, and got paid handsomely for that. He also sometimes took the test himself at other locations, evidently in situations where the administrator of the center was paid to turn a blind eye to this obviously 30-something man purporting to be a 17 year old.

The College Board pays test proctors $100/room or $400 to be in charge of an entire test location for the day. Just think of the temptation it could pose to turn a blind eye whilst checking ID's at the door, and transform that $100 payday into one that was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars if you let a dozen or so "ringers" get access to your testing center. Now that I consider, it amazes me that this isn't more widespread.