Yes but I do feel there are just too many cases here to let it go lightly.
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.
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.
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.
Here is one apparent example: Teen denies cheating on SATs: 'I won't let anybody take my dreams away from me'
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.Why is there an option to take the test offsite? And who wouldn’t take that option? Why have a designated spot at all?