Nationwide College Cheating Scandal - Actresses, Business Owners Charged, Mar 2019 - #2

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Yes but I do feel there are just too many cases here to let it go lightly.

Dear Bravo,

I agree with your post. It's astounding, to me, how many cases are involved, including the number of parents charged in this criminal scam.

This scandal along with the charges (and the details!) has been front page news for a considerable time, and is common knowledge.

Aside from the obvious criminality of the parents' actions, the fact that their children took places from deserving, hard-working students is underlined in all of the stories and opinions. This fact alone, in my opinion, should be taken into serious consideration during sentencing.

The public is following these cases and there is an expectation that the prosecutors will follow through with the seriousness they have outlined in their statements.

The fact that the criminal actions of these wealthy parents have stolen the opportunities of young, deserving and hard-working students has deservedly garnered the anger of the public.

In my opinion, I do believe that the prosecutors will follow through and there will be serious sentencing for the defendants.
 
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Who likely knew?
  • The daughters of actress Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, Isabella and Olivia Jade Giannulli. Court records indicate both daughters were accepted at USC as crew prospects after submitting applications in which they posed for photos with rowing equipment, though neither had rowed. One of the girls reportedly received a notice from federal prosecutors of being under investigation.
  • The older daughter of Atherton financier Manuel Henriquez and his wife, Elizabeth, is said in a court affidavit to have “gloated” about the scheme with her mother and a man who had fed her correct answers during her SAT exam. She landed at Georgetown in 2016 as a tennis recruit, where she apparently remains a student. Her younger sister was said to have been given answers to the ACT and SAT subject tests.
  • The older daughter of Hillsborough developer Bruce Isackson and his wife, Davina, allegedly was copied on a 2016 email from her mother thanking Singer for his “creativity” in fraudulently getting her into UCLA as a soccer player. Her sister was copied on an email admitting her to USC as a prospective crew recruit though she wasn’t a competitive rower.
  • A daughter of Miami investor Robert Zangrillo participated in a June 2018 call between her father and Singer about getting her into USC as a phony crew prospect.
  • A son of Los Angeles sales executive Stephen Semprevivo sent an August 2015 email to the accused Georgetown tennis coach touting his false tennis credentials, and was admitted the following year.
  • The son of Laguna Beach developer Robert Flaxman was copied on a November 2015 email from Singer touting his accomplishments as a purported manager of a youth athletic team that was part of his application to the University of San Diego, where he was accepted in 2016. His sister in October 2016 was fed answers to the ACT.
Students of the college scandal: Who knew, who didn’t and why so many ended up at USC – Orange County Register
 
I just recently got a job to go to test centers, try to "cheat" on a test, deliberately fail the test, and offer a bribe or something to the test administrator to see if anything can be done.

I think that there are a bunch of problems with testing centers for test integrity. This could be just the tip of a huge, nasty iceberg on tests, professional career credentials are often based on passing tests at testing centers.
 
Felicity Huffman May Avoid Prison Time, Wear Ankle Monitor: Report

Well, well, well....from mandatory prison sentence, to an ankle monitor. I will be surprised to hear if anyone actually does prison time. They probably already had bond before jail, so they just needed the pictures, which were never released.

There is a provision in her plea agreement that allows her team to challenge the more 15K amount in regard to the sentencing. (Her sentencing guideline is 9 due to a 15K-40K gain/loss. However the agreement reads that she /her lawyers can argue that her gain/loss is between 6.5K-15K and downgrade her guideline to a 7, which amounts to 0-4 months incarceration.) See Scribd.

From this article, Felicity Huffman could avoid jail time in college admissions scandal: report : Felicity Huffman's remorse, lack of criminal history and the relatively lower amount she bribed a Harvard graduate could help her avoid jail time in the college admissions scandal, according to a report. She was also one of the first parents ensnared in the scandal to announce she would plead guilty.

She is in a very different boat than most of the other alleged criminals based on the small amount she paid.
 
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How do poor people cheat on SAT's? That's illogical, respectfully. You have to show your ID and there are monitors watching. These rich people got away with it by paying proctors big money who arranged to look the other way when some 36 year old man took the test for a 17 year old girl or by correcting tests.

Poor people specifically don't have the funds to pay for something like that.

And while money/bribes should never be a factor IMO in the admissions process, as the wealthy already have so many advantages, I think having a special skill (likes sports, music, etc.) and diversity should be secondary considerations. Which diversity is.

No one gets in with low intellect and poor grades just because they're a minority. That's not how affirmative action or anything like that works. It was specifically implemented because DESPITE great grades and even great test scores, women and certain ethnic or religious minorities were flat shut out of institutions of higher learning, for centuries in our country.

And I believe other considerations, like achievement in spite of struggle, should be factors on par with test scores (which don't necessarily accurately reflect intellect or potential).

For example, consider a soldier who has seen a few tours of duty, doesn't have exemplary test scores but has shown intelligent leadership and high honor in the military and in terrifying situations during war. Shouldn't what he's gone through and how he has dealt with it be a major consideration in determining his admissions status?

I do.

I'd think a person like that would be better suited for the rigors of academia and for a profession alter on, than some rich kid whose parents paid a lot for great test prep and tutors.

Simple. Corruption. It is not only rich people who can do it, it happens elsewhere as well, just with less money involved.

Here is one apparent example: Teen denies cheating on SATs: 'I won't let anybody take my dreams away from me'

I don't know if the girl in question was cheating or not, but the local authorities certainly seemed to think that there was some sort of collusion going on at that test center.

Special skills and diversity should not be a consideration for admission, academic performance should be the sole factor. Being given the chance to attend an elite university should not be a compensation for experiencing hardship in your life. People who have experienced hardship are just as capable of doing well on these tests if they apply themselves btw, so that is not an excuse. What actually happens is that people from that sort of environment, a culture of failure, never learned how to do that in the first place, which is why for the most part they can't do it. Getting a free pass later in is not going to correct that if they have not already acquired the required skills.

It should be noted that the whole "special skills" factor was what allowed the current scam to work in the first place. If it was straight up academic credentials only, the "side door" would not have been there to be exploited.

For what it is worth, all the coddling will not help you one little bit when it comes to actually passing courses when you get to one of these universities, even if you are rich. You have to do it yourself, no one is going to help you. That is the whole point of a university and why it is completely different from a high school. Having money might help you get in, but it is not going to help you stay there.

One more thing, smart parents tend to have smart kids on average, while dumb parents tend to have dumb kids. Smart people tend to make more money than dumb people. Those two things correlate when it comes to overall academic performance from a socioeconomic perspective, which is why most of the people who attend these universities tend to come from higher income families. The argument that lack of opportunity makes it that way is not really true. If you are successful in life, chances are you will have kids who are reasonably successful as well.
 
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Dear Bravo,

I agree with your post. It's astounding, to me, how many cases are involved, including the number of parents charged in this criminal scam.

This scandal along with the charges (and the details!) has been front page news for a considerable time, and is common knowledge.

Aside from the obvious criminality of the parents' actions, the fact that their children took places from deserving, hard-working students is underlined in all of the stories and opinions. This fact alone, in my opinion, should be taken into serious consideration during sentencing.

The public is following these cases and there is an expectation that the prosecutors will follow through with the seriousness they have outlined in their statements.

The fact that the criminal actions of these wealthy parents have stolen the opportunities of young, deserving and hard-working students has deservedly garnered the anger of the public.

In my opinion, I do believe that the prosecutors will follow through and there will be serious sentencing for the defendants.

That is not really true. Most of the people offered places at these universities don't accept. The number of people who actually enroll is something like 35-40%. The reason is that people apply to many universities, whoever did not get an offer at that institution likely got offered a place at some other university.

A lot of these kids were taking places that would not otherwise be occupied, specifically spots associated with relatively unusual sports. That was the whole point behind the scam in many cases and why it worked.
 

While you stated that the local authorities were questioning this young woman's scores. I think it is important to note that Miami-Dade came to her defense and felt compelled to do so.

I find it laughable that a young woman with a 350 point gain raises their suspicions..... but students flying across the country, gaining new accommodations after never having them, with proctors moving between FL, TX and CA centers, and raising their scores by 400+ points--------all with the same company----- didn't raise any flags for years. It is a little disingenuous to me.

The College Board and ETS are a joke. This was not a fair process given what we now know. From the article linked above which came out before the scandal:

“When it comes to test security, we have consistent, established procedures to follow to ensure that all students have a fair chance to show their best work and that the scores we deliver to colleges are valid,” the spokesperson tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “Working with ETS, our test security and administration provider, we place test scores under review when statistical analyses and other factors determine it is necessary. When scores are under review, we work directly with students to collect relevant information and make determinations about the validity of the test scores following a comprehensive investigation of the evidence. We do not cancel scores based on a score gain alone; we will only cancel scores after we are confident that there is substantial evidence to do so.”
 
Simple. Corruption. It is not only rich people who can do it, it happens elsewhere as well, just with less money involved.

Here is one apparent example: Teen denies cheating on SATs: 'I won't let anybody take my dreams away from me'

I don't know if the girl in question was cheating or not, but the local authorities certainly seemed to think that there was some sort of collusion going on at that test center.

Special skills and diversity should not be a consideration for admission, academic performance should be the sole factor. Being given the chance to attend an elite university should not be a compensation for experiencing hardship in your life. People who have experienced hardship are just as capable of doing well on these tests if they apply themselves btw, so that is not an excuse. What actually happens is that people from that sort of environment, a culture of failure, never learned how to do that in the first place, which is why for the most part they can't do it. Getting a free pass later in is not going to correct that if they have not already acquired the required skills.

It should be noted that the whole "special skills" factor was what allowed the current scam to work in the first place. If it was straight up academic credentials only, the "side door" would not have been there to be exploited.

For what it is worth, all the coddling will not help you one little bit when it comes to actually passing courses when you get to one of these universities, even if you are rich. You have to do it yourself, no one is going to help you. That is the whole point of a university and why it is completely different from a high school. Having money might help you get in, but it is not going to help you stay there.

One more thing, smart parents tend to have smart kids on average, while dumb parents tend to have dumb kids. Smart people tend to make more money than dumb people. Those two things correlate when it comes to overall academic performance from a socioeconomic perspective, which is why most of the people who attend these universities tend to come from higher income families. The argument that lack of opportunity makes it that way is not really true. If you are successful in life, chances are you will have kids who are reasonably successful as well.

No. It's not one apparent example. It was a kid whose score was flagged because it was higher than her previous score. There was no evidence she cheated. And there are no examples at all of hordes of poor kids cheating on the SAT's like rich kids do.

Corruption has to do with power and money. The two go hand in hand.

No matter how much some may try to make others believe, the poor aren't the ones in power in this nation:

cor·rup·tion
/kəˈrəpSH(ə)n/
noun
  1. 1.
    dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with the testing company becoming suspicious initially. That was a huge score jump, and given recent events aroused suspicion. So I think its good to take a look. But if there is no evidence of cheating, they need to quickly declare it valid.
 
While you stated that the local authorities were questioning this young woman's scores. I think it is important to note that Miami-Dade came to her defense and felt compelled to do so.

I find it laughable that a young woman with a 350 point gain raises their suspicions..... but students flying across the country, gaining new accommodations after never having them, with proctors moving between FL, TX and CA centers, and raising their scores by 400+ points--------all with the same company----- didn't raise any flags for years. It is a little disingenuous to me.

The College Board and ETS are a joke. This was not a fair process given what we now know. From the article linked above which came out before the scandal:

“When it comes to test security, we have consistent, established procedures to follow to ensure that all students have a fair chance to show their best work and that the scores we deliver to colleges are valid,” the spokesperson tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “Working with ETS, our test security and administration provider, we place test scores under review when statistical analyses and other factors determine it is necessary. When scores are under review, we work directly with students to collect relevant information and make determinations about the validity of the test scores following a comprehensive investigation of the evidence. We do not cancel scores based on a score gain alone; we will only cancel scores after we are confident that there is substantial evidence to do so.”

Their names weren't Kamiyah or whatever. So of course they won't flag. A huge raise in score is only a problem if the name sounds ethnic, IMO.

There is simply no evidence of widespread cheating scandals among the poor but there's a lot among the rich. Who can pay for it.
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with the testing company becoming suspicious initially. That was a huge score jump, and given recent events aroused suspicion. So I think its good to take a look. But if there is no evidence of cheating, they need to quickly declare it valid.

There's a problem when people like Kamilah are flagged for huge jumps in score but people like"Olivia Jade" are not.

Also, this was used an example to prove that cheating scandals in order get into college occur among poor people as well. But it's not an example of that at all.

SAT and ACT testing are tightly controlled by proctors from those agencies. The rich folk involved in this scandal had connections to corrupt, private testing centers. Which there has to be money to pay for.

Big money.
 
I am unsure of the timing of Kamilah's test in relation to the college scandal.
But what her case shows is that the Boards and ETS etc have the ability and did indeed compare test results to look for abnormalities. But I don't think its ethnic so much as it is that Singer was able to bribe the people that would have flagged the hugely inflated scores of his client's kids. This is about wealth and money. Not ethnicity.
 
I am unsure of the timing of Kamilah's test in relation to the college scandal.
But what her case shows is that the Boards and ETS etc have the ability and did indeed compare test results to look for abnormalities. But I don't think its ethnic so much as it is that Singer was able to bribe the people that would have flagged the hugely inflated scores of his client's kids. This is about wealth and money. Not ethnicity.

I don't think any of us can exclude any gaps or intentionality present in the workings of The College Board and ETS ---on any level. Do they profile? I am not sure but with what we have before us.... we have a student who increases her score at a testing center by 300+ six months after her first test who gets flagged for irregularities in a certain zip code and with all of her profile information at their ready AND, we have multiple students who are recently dx'd, getting 2 day testing after multiple appeals, taking tests far, far, far away from home at 2 centers owned by the same person, with the same proctors over a long period of time who happen to be from tawny zipcodes and schools which the CB/ETS has access too but none of those got flagged. Combine that with the 2011 CB/ETS cheating scandal on Long Island's "Gold Coast" with money involved---the right zipcode and economic group-- and it took a long time to question until it was so blatant and an open secret among students in the school (On Long Island, SAT Cheating Was Hardly a Secret).

"In Great Neck, a place where the high-achieving schools are the center of public life, and where high-priced tutors and admissions consultants are routine advantages for the wealthy, educators and parents are mortified that the community’s reputation could be muddied by the SAT scandal. But while it is clear that only a tiny proportion of students at the schools cheated, the scheme came to light only because it was widespread and well known enough that officials at North got wind of it."


The College Board and ETS have a problem. These very rich companies, even after the 2011 scandal, seem to be able to identify less well heeled, poorer community aberrations but are unable to identify how to identify issues when the students are wealthier and have access to resources.
 
Great Neck scandal.....
"The guidance department and the principal compared SAT scores with student grade-point averages, prosecutors said. Where SAT scores seemed high, they looked at where the tests had been taken and found that some of the widest discrepancies were with those who had opted to take the test off-site, where they would not be recognized. School officials at some point contacted E.T.S., which conducted a handwriting analysis.

The analysis determined in April 2011 that one person had taken multiple tests." NYT article On Long Island, SAT Cheating Was Hardly a Secret


Interestingly enough it was school officials ---guidance counselors/college counselors/principal who noted what the ETC/CB people have yet to ID---test taking off-site. 2011 was a wake-up call about off-site testing and while new precautions were put in, these companies are too complacent as it pertains to the off-site test taking protocols and procedures.
 
What they really should require for the allowance for disability related issues is a copy of the student's IEP and or 504 plan. That would have the accomodations listed.

It surprises me that this has been overlooked.

And in students requesting accommodations for a disability, who do not have an IEP or 504 plan, they should request a full scale psychological evaluation, and disability accomodation plan signed off by a licensed Special education teacher or credentialed vocational rehabilitation counselor.
 
What they really should require for the allowance for disability related issues is a copy of the student's IEP and or 504 plan. That would have the accomodations listed.

It surprises me that this has been overlooked.

And in students requesting accommodations for a disability, who do not have an IEP or 504 plan, they should request a full scale psychological evaluation, and disability accomodation plan signed off by a licensed Special education teacher or credentialed vocational rehabilitation counselor.


Yes, exactly the way it should go regarding the IEP or 504. Believe it or not, I have had students who had a longstanding 504 that were denied accommodations.

If students do not attend a school where they would have access to an IEP or 504 are supposed to have testing with supporting documentation-- longer than 12 months before testing, history of issue including possible teacher survey, and (from CB site)

Documentation should describe the comprehensive testing and techniques used to arrive at the diagnosis. Specific requirements vary depending on the student’s diagnosis, but all documentation should include the following:

  • Copies of testing and reports from medical examinations used to diagnose the student and evaluate the need for accommodations
  • Copies of assessment procedures and evaluation instruments
  • The evaluation results
  • A description of the student’s symptoms, including their frequency, intensity, and duration
  • Detailed medical information about the student's needs
  • The effect of medication or treatment on the student's disability and ability to take College Board test

There should be some doctors who get charged in this fiasco. Also, more family charges if parents/students lied to get accommodations.
 
Why is there an option to take the test offsite? And who wouldn’t take that option? Why have a designated spot at all?
I would think that the number of instances where off-site testing would be legitimately required is extremely small. So there should be a lot of scrutiny when requests are made and those tests should be well monitored. It seems to me that in these scandal instances they were pretty much given the test as a take home assignment.
 
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