Feds uncover large-scale college entrance exam cheating plot

[Burt]

Seriously, have none of these people heard of Thornton Melon?

 

[intlzncster]

6 million? How dumb was the kid? Can't you just build a building on campus with your name on it for that amount?

Probably pretty dumb. Genetics come into play. And your latter point speaks to the relative intelligence of the parent.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Seriously, have none of these people heard of Thornton Melon?

Edit: HT @Burt for beating me to it.

 

[NJHusky]

No kids yet, but living in Norwalk, surrounded by these wealthy towns, my perception of college has changed.

If my kid ends up being handy, I will shoe them in the "don't go to college, get a trade, work hard, be a good person and make more bank than your parents who have masters degrees" direction.

2 comments on this

The value of a college degree is going down IMO. My friend, his father and grandfather both graduated from the same engineering school

Grandfather's first job covered his entire college bill with 6 months salary
His father covered his entire bill with 1 year's salary
My friend covered his entire college bill with 2 years salary. (1985)
Now...college cost 280k...how many years to earn that as a new grad? If you factor in student loan costs that compound that number, 280 could easily become 350

College tuition is a scam....another friend's kid is at a school where he pays full freight...but 1/2 of the kids are going almost for free....how does that make sense? It's another tax/wealth distribution model.

 

[intlzncster]

'Varsity Blues'. A+ code name for the operation by the Feds.

 

[UCDaveD]

I can tell you from experience that getting into USC these days is just as hard as getting into Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, etc. My daughter applied last year. They accepted 6,000 kids from over 50,000 applications. The average placement on the standardized tests of their accepted students was 98th percentile.....yes, you read that right. My daughter was 93rd percentile...she didn't have a chance. Also have to be a straight A student and apparently have to know somebody or bribe somebody. My daughter was crushed she didn't get in. I hope that anyone that tried doing an end-around and got caught gets some kind of serious punishment. Anyone who knows will tell you that getting those rejection letters just flat out SUCKS.

That's interesting. Didn't know that. Has there been a big shift in recent years or has it always been competitive? I've always thought of it as the Florida St of the west coast, but it appears my perceptions were way off.

 

[CL82]

I hear John Stamos has already agreed to speak to the judge on Loughlan's behalf:

 

[zmart]

I solved my college funding problem when my daughters were 11 and 12 years old.

I told them they didn't have to do their homework anymore.

 

[intlzncster]

Most of the time, unless you're going to a truly elite institution (Ivy, MIT/Caltech, Stanford, top liberal arts colleges), it's more worthwhile to go to a state school and get into their honors program than to go to a second-tier private school.

Committing fraud to try to get into Yale? OK, I can see that. Wake Forest? lol

You're not wrong, but I do think it depends on Alumni makeup from certain schools. For instance, you might consider Vandy a 2nd tier private, but they've got a rich, well placed alumni base that really helps in securing positions upon graduating.

 

[intlzncster]

I can tell you from experience that getting into USC these days is just as hard as getting into Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, etc. My daughter applied last year. They accepted 6,000 kids from over 50,000 applications. The average placement on the standardized tests of their accepted students was 98th percentile.....yes, you read that right. My daughter was 93rd percentile...she didn't have a chance. Also have to be a straight A student and apparently have to know somebody or bribe somebody. My daughter was crushed she didn't get in. I hope that anyone that tried doing an end-around and got caught gets some kind of serious punishment. Anyone who knows will tell you that getting those rejection letters just flat out SUCKS.

What often works in these cases, is if the student is very motivated to go to a certain school, and doesn't get it, she can enroll in her best available choice, absolutely crush her grades/activities etc there and transfer. They tend to give wait to your actual college experience over high schoolers.

 

[storrsroars]

I've told this story before, but not recently. When I took my PSATs I was still drunk from the night before. I just barely got into the room before it started and wasn't quite ready to focus. While I got a 1290 (old scoring system), it took awhile to get into a flow. Right off the bat, I accidentally ticked the box for "Puerto Rican" instead of "white".

If I could've convinced my mother to say my late dad was born in PR and adopted by well-meaning Anglos, I would've been looking at a fellowship from MIT. Also had a full ride offer from the Naval Academy. I still have those letters. Both me and my mom were very impressed until we realized my mistake. I corrected it on the SATs and the offers dried up, lol.

I imagine even honest mistakes (or drunk ones as the case may be) are scrutinized more thoroughly these days, but hey, if you can fake being from a US territory, that might be your "in".

 

[UConnNick]

That's interesting. Didn't know that. Has there been a big shift in recent years or has it always been competitive? I've always thought of it as the Florida St of the west coast, but it appears my perceptions were way off.

USC has always been considered an academically rigorous school.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

That's interesting. Didn't know that. Has there been a big shift in recent years or has it always been competitive? I've always thought of it as the Florida St of the west coast, but it appears my perceptions were way off.

A number of big city schools have dramatically raised their admissions profile from prior generations as urban living becomes more attractive: USC, NYU, Northeastern. GW, BU, Miami, probably others too. All but Northeastern (and earlier NYU) were once seen as non-elite rich kids schools, where you could get a good State U education for private school prices,but a good social life was built-in. Demographics changes have allowed undergraduate programs to meet the standards of their traditionally strong professional schools.

 

[LIuconn]

this how the donald got into whahhhton?

 

[Edward Sargent]

So doesn't seem like this is CBB related, just rich people offering bribes to get their kids into school: Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin among actresses, CEOs charged in alleged college admissions scam

Geez Huffman and Macy must have some really dopey kids if they had to bribe to get into USC!!

 

[UConnNick]

"Princeton could use a man like Joel."

 

[upstater]

2 comments on this

The value of a college degree is going down IMO. My friend, his father and grandfather both graduated from the same engineering school

Grandfather's first job covered his entire college bill with 6 months salary
His father covered his entire bill with 1 year's salary
My friend covered his entire college bill with 2 years salary. (1985)
Now...college cost 280k...how many years to earn that as a new grad? If you factor in student loan costs that compound that number, 280 could easily become 350

College tuition is a scam....another friend's kid is at a school where he pays full freight...but 1/2 of the kids are going almost for free....how does that make sense? It's another tax/wealth distribution model.

Private schools are 15% of the market. Most go to public school, where tuition is actually heavily subsidized.

What are the kids paying full freight buying? Sitting in class next to students who are much smarter than them at prestigious universities/colleges. Is it worth it? I don't know, ask them. I do know that those schools charge 100% more in tuition than they spend per student. But that's none of my business. They are private, they can do what they want.

 

[upstater]

I've told this story before, but not recently. When I took my PSATs I was still drunk from the night before. I just barely got into the room before it started and wasn't quite ready to focus. While I got a 1290 (old scoring system), it took awhile to get into a flow. Right off the bat, I accidentally ticked the box for "Puerto Rican" instead of "white".

If I could've convinced my mother to say my late dad was born in PR and adopted by well-meaning Anglos, I would've been looking at a fellowship from MIT. Also had a full ride offer from the Naval Academy. I still have those letters. Both me and my mom were very impressed until we realized my mistake. I corrected it on the SATs and the offers dried up, lol.

I imagine even honest mistakes (or drunk ones as the case may be) are scrutinized more thoroughly these days, but hey, if you can fake being from a US territory, that might be your "in".

You sent your PSAT scores to schools with your college application?

 

[upstater]

I am not surprised that Jerry Lundegaard participated in a SAT scam. Seems as though the part wasn't much of a stretch for the actor.

 

[businesslawyer]

this how the donald got into whahhhton?

No. That's probably how the Donald got into friggin Fordham. He got into Penn as a transfer, which is not at all the same thing as getting into it as a freshman.

 

[whosurdaddy2720]

I've told this story before, but not recently. When I took my PSATs I was still drunk from the night before. I just barely got into the room before it started and wasn't quite ready to focus. While I got a 1290 (old scoring system), it took awhile to get into a flow. Right off the bat, I accidentally ticked the box for "Puerto Rican" instead of "white".

If I could've convinced my mother to say my late dad was born in PR and adopted by well-meaning Anglos, I would've been looking at a fellowship from MIT. Also had a full ride offer from the Naval Academy. I still have those letters. Both me and my mom were very impressed until we realized my mistake. I corrected it on the SATs and the offers dried up, lol.

I imagine even honest mistakes (or drunk ones as the case may be) are scrutinized more thoroughly these days, but hey, if you can fake being from a US territory, that might be your "in".

Umm the Naval Academy (and all service academies) are totally tuition free...

 

[upstater]

Umm the Naval Academy (and all service academies) are totally tuition free...

Something's Fishy. And I don't mean the moderator.

 

[QDOG5]

If someone has a child that has a dream school and doesn't get admitted I have a suggestion. Have the kid enroll another school that is a notch below(USC>UCLA). Then the kid has to have an above average freshman year and then re-apply to the dream school. The admittance rate for transfer students is much higher than one would think. Most of the time the kid ends up liking where they're at and doesn't want to transfer. My son transferred after freshman year and got accepted to three schools that didn't accept him out of HS. Of course he was pissed at those schools and went elsewhere I'm just saying it's an alternative.

 

[jesterman]

Honestly as someone who is <10 years removed from this game, the thing I've realized is that once you reach a certain threshold of school "quality", all that really matters is how well you do when you're there. Sure, a 3.0 at MIT is perceived much more favorably than the same at UConn, but by and large you control your own fate. Now, that first job out of school might not be "elite", like Goldman or Mckinsey by nature of them only hiring from a select few schools, but 1) if you aren't a status-seeking tool you can totally find quality jobs if you did well in college (in the right major and 2) if you did well in undergrad you can then get into these prestigious places for grad school and just saved a bunch of money and stress.

 

[intlzncster]

If someone has a child that has a dream school and doesn't get admitted I have a suggestion. Have the kid enroll another school that is a notch below(USC>UCLA). Then the kid has to have an above average freshman year and then re-apply to the dream school. The admittance rate for transfer students is much higher than one would think. Most of the time the kid ends up liking where they're at and doesn't want to transfer. My son transferred after freshman year and got accepted to three schools that didn't accept him out of HS. Of course he was pissed at those schools and went elsewhere I'm just saying it's an alternative.

Feds uncover large-scale college entrance exam cheating plot