College Admissions Cheating Scandal: Why I'm NOT Surprised (from a Princeton Student)
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A college admissions cheating scandal involving TV stars Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman and 30+ other extremely wealthy parents has taken the world by storm. Most people are rightfully shocked and appalled at the scheme, as undeserving students like Lori's daughters (including KZheadr Olivia Jade) went to schools like USC after pretending they were on the rowing team.
Today, I share my perspective on the college admissions scandal as a student at Princeton University and a private college consultant. While the way in which this this scandal was orchestrated by ringleader William "Rick" Singer is shocking, I am NOT surprised by the way in which large bribes were made to guarantee admission to Ivy Leagues and other elite schools.
#collegecheatingscandal #collegeadmissionsscandal
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SOURCES
- www.bostonglobe.com/metro/201... another/KBBjYqsgKeb8HQUs3yUkKP/story.html
- www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/us....
- www.washingtonpost.com/world/...
- www.washingtonpost.com/colleg...
- www.nhregister.com/sports/art...
- www.thecut.com/2019/03/olivia...
- www.teenvogue.com/story/lori-...
- www.vogue.com/article/jared-k...
-www.apnews.com/49a36b6a5cbd46...
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You have presented this large scandal in a really realistic, informative way. You are so right, this is not new, just a huge bust, and it highlights the history of the affluent buying entrance for their kids, through various means, knocking so many deserved students out of admission. No matter how you cut it, cheaters and scammers never prosper, especially parents who are so skewed. Go Greg!
Thanks for the words of encouragement, James!
colleges don't care. they just want to look good on paper
The difference between donations and bribery is: the donated money goes in improving school resources such as teaching buildings or a developing program. I personally think if the donation is put to good use, such as making other qualified students’ experience better at the elite college, it’s kind of reasonable to give up a spot in the class. However, bribery money goes in private pocket, and in this crime, both the colleges AND the rejected student are victims.
Thanks for sharing! If I understand what you're saying correctly, you believe that if a family donates a large sum to a university directly and that money is used for the betterment of the school, it is reasonable to grant admission to the students in that family over student, even if the student from the non-donor family is more qualified in the traditional sense. I disagree, at least in the vast majority of cases. Alumni should absolutely be allowed to donate to the colleges they went to. But at what point does a "donation" become a "purchase of a good or service?" I would argue if that the alumni parents choose to stop donating when their son/daughter isn't accepted to the university, they were not in fact donating, but expecting something in return for their "gift." So, they're literally purchasing admissions seats, and if you frame it like that, it isn't reasonable at all. I also take issue with this viewpoint because colleges have a number of other ways to generate revenue-- tuition fees, application fees, events, alumni donations (with no strings attached), and numerous others. Most top universities have endowments in the BILLIONS, yes, including Princeton. Whether or not they receive a 2.5 million dollar donation will not determine the quality of the students' education. Hopefully you see where I'm coming from, let me know if there's any points you'd like me to clarify or disagree with. Again, thanks for watching and leaving your comment!
Greg Smith Hi! Thank you for the great response and compelling arguments! I completely agree that the education opportunity should never be related to the ability to pay. I have a question, if the “donation” money really doesn’t make a difference to the education, considering the vast amount of righteous endowments that the schools already have, why would the schools even take part in such “trade” for this long time? Just to become slightly richer, at the expense of losing a qualified student? Or do you think it becomes more reasonable to do so if the “donation money” does reach such an amount that the money would actually make a difference to the education/life quality? Doesn’t that turn this whole “toxic donation culture issue” into another question as to what “price” should a school label its admission spot? I know this sounds horrible, but if we really want to dig into what needs to be changed about the current system, this question does show up.
@@yong9720 I think some university explains the spot that were acquired through "donations" as reserved seats for rich people. For example if there were only 3 reserved seats and if four rich kids wants to fight for the spot then only 3 would get the spot that they would not increase the amount of reserved seats through donations. In a way its similar to athlete admission but with money. The people that were involved in the scandals are explained as stealing seats that weren't reserved for them that they were suppose to donate way more money to attain seats that were already reserved for the donation process and fight amongst with other donors for the limited seats. Instead they were stealing seats from those that were suppose to fight seats with their own abilities. You can view it like a wrestling match where a heavy weigh wrestler cheated the system and achieved the champion status in a group of light weigh wrestlers
I think a video with advice for sophomores moving into 11th and 12th grade (most formative years of HS) could be a good idea especially discussing IB vs AP.
IB? AP?
MarcellusTheGreen International Baccalaureate and Advance Placement which to choose between
@@akshaymanglani9941 That's a great idea. I like the idea of continuing my "Advice for... " series.
Ah, those things weren't available in Lockjaw Kentucky back in 1970.
"If you know so little about the SAT . . . " 😁
So true Greg - I was definitely not surprised when I heard about this
Thnx Sal!
What a load of malarkey! When I was young, many years ago, female students would sleep with their professors for grades. Female applicants would dress in scanty clothes for "interviews". Football players and other sports players were given huge benefits/perks/incentives. Jocks and certain students could have other "smart" students take their tests for them to get better grades and even SAT and ACT tests could be taken by ringers. Now admissions go to those wealthy enough to afford bribes? Either way, many good students were bumped in favor of sports/sex/money. I don't recall anyone going to jail back then.
You made me LOL!
Lauri Laughlin and others used this fraud scheme as a fake charitable donation and then used that for reductions on TAX RETURNS. This is called tax FRAUD, so this is why she absolutely belongs in jail.
Thank you for a clear summary of this particular set of indictments. Yet, indictable fraud, cheating and unfairness will go on and on, particularly at elite universities, because of systemic issues. In my experience, issues do not lay in the admissions offices per se, but in the development departments, administrative offices, and faculty advancement systems.
Im a sophomore high school student from Argentina, and I found out your channel a week ago and I’m glad that I know you now, you really help me and I’m a big fan of you❤️
thanks so much Justina!
Loved all the background info, all of your videos are so good!! Keep doing what you are doing man!
You did amazing, journalist or not it really showed that you were prepared well done. This was one of the best well informed video from a KZheadr 🙌🏼👌🏼
Thanks Camila!
Greg! My kids and I have watched your videos, and they've been so helpful, as we begin to navigate the---gulp!---high school years. We would love to get a Day in the Life vlog of your experiences at Princeton, especially as an arts-inclined student. (My tribe is artsy too!👊) Keep up the good work! Thank you!
Well said.And good luck with your education.
Thanks Jolie!
Great Video! Thank you for posting!
Thanks Akshay!
I’m a junior in high school and just found your channel. Already enjoying your videos and can’t wait to watch more!
Thanks Josh!
Great job!
Thank you Courtney :)
...well said!
Thanks Dawna!
Good analysis.
Thanks Chris!
Great summary. Thx
Thanks Justine!
I notice your wearing a Princeton t-shirt. This reminds me of Jose Menendez who got his son Lyle into Princeton even though Lyle didn't made the grades to get there. In fact, Lyle was also failing most of his classes while at Princeton.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing concerning the Menendez brothers so this is nothing new.
It happens with so many colleges/universities all over the world. They got caught.
The lawsuit against the universities have zero chance of succeeding. Given that it's next to impossible to prove they would've got in were it not for another student cheating their way in, and that's before you get into proving lost income as a result of damaged career prospects.
The video was nice, but I would advice to change the background music and reduce the volume
Thanks for the suggestion. Forgot to check the levels on this one... my b
@Greg Smith . . . Very good video; you're obviously very intelligent and exposited very well the circumstances of the scandal. I disagree that this would be interesting only to those undergoing the admissive process to college. Some of us who graduated in the past find this story compelling because we care about the universities involved and/or because some are in the same geographic locale where we reside, in this case California. The scandal is unique because it involves non-revenue sports which has a completely different mindset in the west contrasted with those in the east, particularly to those as yourself who attend an Ivy, where the consortium of colleges within it do not offer athletic scholarships but instead offer financial aid to those to whom it is warranted based on need. In California, these sports equates to big business (by those numbers involved if not monetarily), and they are supported mainly by football and to a lesser degree basketball. Additionally, these sports teams attract donations to the university to fund scholarships and coaches' salaries to defray the costs to the universities. Adam Wright, is the head water polo coach at UCLA for the men's and now the women's team. He's up until this academic year only coached the men's team for which he's been on the job for about a decade. He makes ~ $250K/year, and this salary is probably about average for UCLA's coaches in these lesser-known sports. Jovan Vavic USC's erstwhile water-polo head coach had been on the job for about two decades and had won 16 national championships -- 10 for the men, six for the women, making him the winningest coach in all of college sports. The UCLA graduate's salary (stated abashedly) had to be in the $500k range, and as my verb-tense and description connotes, he's been fired for improprieties involving this scandal. He apparently falsified the athletic prowess of two players on the men's team when they apparently never played in high school, conspiring with an associate athletic director who was also terminated, and additionally having his son's education at a top-tier private high school funded by Mr. Singer. However, the rosters of these sports teams always has what are known as _walkons_ who are those who have legitimately played these sports in high school, but have not been highly recruited to play the sport in college and are not having their college funded by limited scholarships for each team which are divvied up and awarded to the stars of the teams. There is typically no roster limits to these teams, and Mr. Jovan had as many as 50 players whom he encouraged to enroll at USC. UCLA's Beach Volleyball team has 19 players, and it can probably field two championship-caliber teams. UCLA's water polo teams and its men's indoor volleyball teams have numerous extra players, whose main tasks for their respective teams is to provide practice fodder for those who have been actively recruited. So one can see that it'd be easy to slip in some imposters wrt athletic ability on the teams. My only feeling is that I don't think it represents any sort of materiality of, say, their taking spots away from more deserving students. Obviously, I believe that the parents, coaches, and administrators who conspired must be punished, but I wouldn't en masse expel those students who benefitted by the scheme, save for on a case-by-case basis. There's a girl that was on UCLA's soccer team whose parents gave $250k of Facebook stock to Mr. Singer as payment. Mr. Singer distributed about $100k of the stock to UCLA's terminated men's soccer coach, Jorge Salcedo, who proceeded to phony up documents showing her soccer skills. Her first choice in college was USC, but they botched the admissions process when they put her app in with the regular student body, so she settled on UCLA. I'm guessing USC was her first choice because perhaps her parents knew that UCLA was not a place to skate by, as it's a rigorous, fast-paced university on the quarter system. But nonetheless, she seems to be a viable student, involved in much. There also doesn't appear to be any fraudulent doctoring of her scores as with others. Anyway, I hope this helps you to see how this could have happened at the California colleges.
You don’t have to go to a T20 college to succeed. Idk why these rich people think that putting their kids in T20s will help them succeed. If they didn’t try in high school then they might not be fit for the level of rigor of top colleges and they will fail their classes. In the end of the day you should go to the college that is right for you.
People like this really get on my nerves. I've never faced significant financial hardships (i.e., my family and I live reasonably comfortably), but my parents are honest, well-natured, hardworking people. They have always taught my sister and I the values of work ethic and the parents, children, and coaches/proctors involved in this scandal have completely blighted these values and those of the American dream. They deserve anything and everything the investigators at the Department of Justice can throw at them. Thank you for bringing the facts of these events to light in a straightforward way.
You deserve more views
I know right!
I was waiting for someone to post this! If anyone is interested about this topic I highly suggest checking out The Price of Admission by Daniel Golden. It’s an in-depth look at college admissions and includes Jared Kushers case! Just thought i would let anyone know. Great job on the video!
I've heard about that book (haven't read it though). Thanks for sharing!!
can u do a video about the strategy to start your application essay, the "why this school" essay, and the "why this major" essay
That's a good idea!
My passion is linguistics and I essentially present my "extra-curriculars" as languages and public speaking. Can you say what you think about that and how I can get involved deeper in these two?
Thank you so much for the helpful information!! This really changed my view on the college applications. I have a question, though. I am currently a junior in high school and I want to have a meaningful summer project. I am really passionate about working with kids but I am not able to go out of the country due to immigration issues but I would still like to do a project that is just as meaningful as going on a mission trip to another country. I am also very interested in obstetrics and gynecology and my Indian culture. Currently, I hold an officer position at a few of my clubs but that is it and am taking a few challenging AP courses. My SAT scores have been consistent and don't seem to improve even after trying. I am a bit worried about my future chances Do you have any advice on how I can incorporate my passion?
Offer your services to translate for parents at a doctor's office. You could do the same thing at a veterinary clinic. PU1981.
REPARATIONS FOR #ADOS
Part of the problem is that theres so much hype about "elite universities" i get people have dream schools but no offense princeton, harvard, USC etc, schools like that literally have no differences from regular 4 year schools that are local and are cheaper, the only reason why those "elite" universities are hyped up and are highly ranked is because of the rich people who opened and ran them, thats it, you can find the same quality education at a regular cheaper university and yes even at a community college!!! As someone who works in the real world, employers dont give a damn if you went to harvard vs a regular 4 year school, what actually matters is experience and having the required credentials, thats it.
Hi I really enjoy your videos! Just wondering though: do you think that international students(from Asia) are disadvantaged when applying to elite universities in the US like Princeton?
A lot of elite schools do accept Asian students (both international and American residents) but you should definitely check those schools
Certainly. Admission for international students in general is more difficult than for students in the US, and many Asian countries see the most applicants to these American schools. Also, most US universities do not offer financial aid to international students.
Greg Smith I learned it the hard way. I got rejected by 6 top Ivy League schools under 10 minutes ☹️🙁
Thanks so much for you videos, but I want one for the internationnal student ( I am one of them), but not about the test they shoud take, the process they have to do to apply, thankss againn.
This is something I've been wanting to do for a while. Unfortunately I am not an international student myself so there's lots of research that goes into something like that. It's on my list, stay tuned!
thanks so much, I love you video btw they are so helpful :)))
In general, very well presented. I agree with you that lawsuits against universities for admissions fraud won't get anywhere. By giving weight to essays and extracurriculars in admission applications, it should be clear to applicants that these are inherently subjective areas and that there is no real benchmark one can point to clearly define who should be admitted or not. Admissions officers must make judgement calls about these aspects of applications. I think legacy admissions and preference for applicants whose parents make large financial contributions should be stamped out. As if Harvard needs to compromise its admissions process just for 5 million bucks. Isn't their endowment already big enough and growing every year? Legacy? Why your parents' attendance have anything to do with your application and merits?
I used to think that degree for sales is only happening in my country India 🇮🇳. But, these scenario's are taking place in USA 🇺🇲,means we all are living in a very terrible and corrupt world 🌎.
I wasn’t that surprised either. I know rich kids who don’t care about school yet have gotten into ivies and top school. Their parents paid for them to get in so they can brag to their friends how their son got into Harvard. It’s really sad because I know people who work way harder for their dream schools that end up not getting in.
Very true. The good news is, if you work hard and don't get into a Tier 1 school, you will crush it at whichever college you do end up in and that work ethic will bring you success throughout your life.
Thanks for your wisdom.You’re videos are really helpful especially for someone who has no idea how to start apps.I hope you succeed further at Princeton because you worked hard to get there.
@@LA-rp5uy Glad to help!
Great video! You are awesome 👏🏻
Thanks! You too :)
Make a week in your life at Princeton or a Q&A with some of your friends at Princeton
I can't afford a week at Princeton. I can't afford a week at State University. I can't afford a week at Jerkwater Junior College.
Both good ideas!
I understand with the scams the students are taking the places of other hard working kids, but in the more traditional cases where parents donate a ton of money that is creating more spaces at the college that would have otherwise not existed.
I love you omg 😂😂😂
I think you're very charming in a secondary character on Glee sort of way. I subscribed.
That's so sweet omg
😂😂😂
Please make a video regarding - international female student applying for computer engineering in USA university as a undergraduate student and financial aid for the same.
Bio Wiz9 Thank you very much I have SAT Score 1590. So will I get financial aid?
Your closing comment on running the risk of being a "national embarrassment for the rest of your life" as being far worse than trying to gain entry into a top level college implies that integrity, honesty and self respect are far more important. And I would agree because you have to walk around in your skin for the rest of your life being fully aware you robbed someone else of a future that otherwise may have been available and deserved for them. Please follow up at some point with a video on the realities of how cheating and scamming are a common practice that even those who are sincere and honest feel you MUST practice, in order to achieve the so called "american dream". I would argue that in virtually every segment of society that go way beyond college admission practices, to established levels of corporate America to the highest levels of government- if you have a goal to strike it big any of these fields of endeavor while upholding your strong sense of integrity, then be prepared to constantly struggle as you crawl up that "ladder" in full knowledge that someone is seeking to undermine your honest efforts, or throw in the towel and cheat, lie or swindle so someone will fall victim to your rottenness.
Are you finn from stranger things? 😂
Never heard that one b4...
@@CollegeAdvisor just joking around, no hard feelings
@@xarcool Hahaha I'm not offended just intrigued!
I would like to know your opinion on the perspective that super rich people, like Jared Kushner's father, who donate huge sums to a college or university to build a library, gymnasium, athletic field or an academic building with state of the art laboratories and classrooms, do not fall into the same category as the parents charged in this scandal because their donation benefited and enhanced the educational experience of all students enrolled in that institution for years to come. So the benefit to the institution's ability to deliver high quality academic programs and educational opportunities and experiences to thousands of students outweighed any harm from the injustice of admitting someone who did not meet the institutions standard.
Here's my solution we let these kids in but make the parent pay 10 mil a year all of which goes into scholarship funds
I like your presentation overall yet slight disagreement with your saying about the lawsuit against named universities. Your point is the universities are not part of guilty but others. Yet the case of Kushner you pointed said otherwise: if Harvard didn’t not accept Kushner as an exchange for donation, then I agree Harvard would not be blamed for part of the game. The bribe is always a mutual thing. What about Obama’s daughter going to Harvard? He even didn’t need to donate a penny for admission unless Harvard shows us publicly the first daughter had a super score of SAT/ACT at first place, or unless Harvard declares Obama has donated more than 2.5 M dollars to Harvard, either would justify the admission of the first daughter.
This ages well. But you should google Elizabeth Paige 2005 USC cheating scandal
College Admissions Scandal is Capitalism 101
if it ain't broke. don't fix it
Get Very Affordable Advice From TOP Harvard, Yale, Stanford, And Other Top School Advisors On Your Application ➤ collegeadvisor.com/gregsmith
This makes me lose hope in my dream schools :(
Time for some SAUCE :o
I was feeling spicy today ;)
Ужас
Collab with Nic Chae!!
Funnily enough, I haven't even met him... :o That's a good idea tho!
REPARATIONS FOR #ADOS
Caint buy BRAINS
This is natural in a Capitalist society. Exchange of money for goods and/or services(college is a service).
Maybe in a 100% capitalist libertarian society. We live in a more nuanced society than that. You can't pay to assassinate someone even though it's a service. You can't buy a child slave, even though that's technically a good. You can't buy things that are illegal, and what's illegal is determined by democratic vote and this usually means the most moral things are decided.
@@dalkay what world are you living in? Who is stopping a millionaire from using his disposable cash to hire a hitman. The more money that is presented to an individual the higher the chance of them being willing to participate. You can also increase your chances by going to impoverished areas. $50,000 would IMMEDIATELY change their life apposed to slowly saving $50,000 over 40 year through a 9 to 5. This is how gangs recruit; with fast money.
Stupid sorority community echelon type political mean girls kinda thing...not my area of expertise
18th comment 😂
swag