This is just one more example of how stilted the competitive college admissions process is.......In most high schools, the college counselor/school counselor to student ratio is greater than 300 to 1. In private schools or small high schools in higher income communities the number is closer to 50 to 1 with many richer families hiring private college coaches for essay "review", school selection, and reach out. The system is definitely not fair on any level. While the released facts of this case are surprising, we all need to remember that an athlete in a sport that has needs for certain positions (even in a D3 school) gets "points" in the same way that legacies or academic standouts do. Famous people or rich people get points based on who they know or who their friends know.
Around the SAT cheating, a number of years ago there was the extended time and "psychological assessments" by private psychologists in order to tilt the system toward rich children who were only fair to middling. The College Board closed that loophole after there were years of kids dx'ed in 9th or 10th grade before the PSAT administration. People pay up to 5k for SAT/ACT tutoring--sometimes kids will be tutored throughout their high school career. It is crazy really but we can also see that when the other advantages of wealth and access begin to shrink people will do what they can to get a little bit of the extra they think their kids need.
Private SAT/ACT test sites are awesome---you may have only one student in a room. They can have water or snacks nearby (especially if they have extended time). They don't have to show up extra early and sign in as kids in cafeterias with 600 others do. The site can also administer the test later than 8 am. You do have to pay extra and there are often very few slots.
I don't think any of the these kids can be held accountable unless we have direct proof or they are charged. Funny, the gain of 400 points didn't raise a red lag for these kids but.... this young woman who had a large jump has been punished by having her scores withheld (and by accounts of people I know--didn't cheat). Kamilah Campbell's story at
Florida girl had her SAT result flagged. She says she didn't cheat and hires famous lawyer. - CNN But, she dropped her fight-----https://
www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/us/florida-girl-sat-controversy/index.html