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03-15-2019 06:04 PM
College entrance has always been rigged on some level. If you come from a family with wealth, you are desirable. If you have a legacy at the university, you are desirable. Families with legacies (alumni) mean money. (In my family, someone that wasn't family tried to get us to claim a family connection to help a mediocre student get an admission advantage as a legacy student.) Cheating on ACT/SAT has always gone on. I am not saying it is the norm, but it happens. On the show Suits that Meghan Markle was on, the character Mike Ross used to earn a living taking the LSATs for people. This aired back in 2011.
Sports are another issue altogether. Athletes aren't held to the same standards as the rest of the student body. I think college should be about education first, but too often academics take a back seat to sports. A lot of money is put into the sporting programs at these institutions, and they recruit the best then protect their athletes. I would rather see some of this money and effort go into supporting worthy students who need financial aid.
Something that has not been mentioned is that GPAs can go as high as a 5.0. Straight As at 4.0 is no longer good enough for many institutions. These kids need to be in AP classes to achieve the higher GPA. It's another roadblock.
I would love to see a blind application process at all institutions. All personal and identifying information would be removed. The admissions process would be limited to high school transcript, extracurriculars, awards, recommendation letters, and essay (again with any references to name, legacy, race, religion, financial status, etc. redacted). No phone calls or letters to be on the lookout for so-and-so's application. There are so many deserving students that never stand a chance because of preferential treatment. It is time to level the playing field.
I have a feeling that there are a lot of very nervous parents, administrators, test takers, coaches, etc. right now. We only know about the few who have been caught. I have seen a checkbook buy admission into a grade school with a wait list, and keep a child in a high school that was to supposed to be kicked out. Money always talks. Some parents will do anything, moral or not, for their kids. Maybe it is easier for them to justify their actions by telling themselves it is for their children. I can't say. I do know that it is the rare child that ends up seeing things differently than their parents did when they have grown up that entitled.
It is good this has come to light. I am not surprised by what has happened, just surprised that it was headline news. I thought it was understood that there were backdoor dealings since nothing was ever done about it before. Everyone involved that accepted money to cheat these kids into school knew what they were doing to other deserving kids. I don't know what the appropriate punishment should be, but they will deserve what they get. As for the parents, I have mixed feelings. They were 100% wrong. On every level, they were wrong. My problem is that this behavior is allowed to happen from the earliest days of a child's education, and continue on through grad school. If your kids are involved in any activities, private schools, go to camp...you can manipulate a situation to your child's advantage if you have a strong personality and/or money. If these parents can't have things their way, they move on to another dance school, karate dojo, or summer camp. The authorities don't have the authority any more. As a society, we have created a situation where the rules don't apply to everyone. Who should be responsible for that? Again, I don't know what the appropriate punishment should be, but I am keeping in mind that they have finally reached a point where they can't manipulate things to their advantage. The Feds make their own rules. Their professional lives are in shambles, and their children are suffering because of their actions. Will jail be necessary? I am not so sure. I also think what happens to them should be the punishment for any other parents they find out about going forward as opposed to making an example of them (which I think the Feds want to do). Most importantly, when there is a rule, it needs to apply to everyone equally. Until that happens, the people and institutions catering to the entitled are just as guilty and the problem will continue.
03-15-2019 06:52 PM
Olivia said in the video, the best part about going to college was the "partying." Bet she never spent a day in class --- at least she should have learned how to "row."
03-15-2019 06:54 PM
Many RICH people do anything and everything to get ahead in business or for their family. To them, it's the way it works. They NEVER stop and think about us peons. I know they care about the poor, the women and children -- when they actually LOVE themselves.
03-15-2019 07:49 PM
Meritocracy is a word used to pretend that there is a level playing field in this country. How many of you know people who got ahead because they had a parent in high places? How many people consider affirmative action wrong when they themselves have benefitted by being the "correct" class and color? In civil service, did you see special classifications of jobs created to benefit the " chosen" few. Now jobs with the government can lead to perks like free plane rides and wealth from lobbyists regardless of rules and regulations designed to prevent such things. How do parents explain to their children that they should work hard to get ahead when people have two jobs to make ends meet and never get ahead?
03-15-2019 07:55 PM
@chessylady wrote:Meritocracy is a word used to pretend that there is a level playing field in this country. How many of you know people who got ahead because they had a parent in high places? How many people consider affirmative action wrong when they themselves have benefitted by being the "correct" class and color? In civil service, did you see special classifications of jobs created to benefit the " chosen" few. Now jobs with the government can lead to perks like free plane rides and wealth from lobbyists regardless of rules and regulations designed to prevent such things. How do parents explain to their children that they should work hard to get ahead when people have two jobs to make ends meet and never get ahead?
@chessylady, but wait... didn't they all achieve wealth and influence because of their own hard work? Didn't they pull up their own bootstraps all on their lonesome selves?
/sarcasm
03-15-2019 08:11 PM
I agree with you- especially your last 2 sentences.
Are you ready for the game tonight? I can’t wait! Go ‘eers!!
03-15-2019 08:24 PM
Olivia said recently that her father "faked his way through college"-pretended he was going to college and used the tuition money his parents gave him to start his business. And that her parents wanted her to go to college because neither one of them did. She also laughed about hardly ever attending her classes in high school.
It just seems like such an empty facade filled existence. Their big showy house that I've seen on the news, the "social media influencer" life of their daughter. Many people living such an existence, not just celebrities. Sign of the times.
03-15-2019 08:36 PM
@handygal2 wrote:Regarding the rich parents and their entitled children involved in this scandal, one word comes to mind: narcissism.
There are many who would claim that it isnt narcissism, only self-esteem (tongue in cheek on my behalf).
03-15-2019 10:13 PM
@MarkeieMark, no, they're not just kids who didn't know what their parents were doing. They knew exactly what was going on.
03-15-2019 11:35 PM - edited 03-16-2019 12:02 AM
I simply can not feel any sympathy for those idiotic girls.
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