Feds uncover large-scale college entrance exam cheating plot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How the ACT/SAT cheating part was done is crazy. Mark Riddell, a 36 year old Harvard grad, would fly in to one of the cheating test sites in Texas or California. The students were told to tell the testing people they had to take the test there if they were not from the area that they had a bah mitzvah or something. Mark Riddell would either take the test for them, sit with them and tell them the answers while they took it, or change the answers for it. He did this for multiple tests including the subject tests.

Also applications were faked with made up sports and ethnicities. The girl who got into Georgetown had him take her tests and got a fake tennis history made up.

I hope they release all 700 names. Just follow the money. Most of the students knew. Also I don’t think future students should have to take these standardized tests. They are paying College Board for a test that only measures how well you can cheat.

This shows that colleges don't really verify these activities.

And this seems to be the craziest part of this story! Taking this logic to the extreme, why do colleges ask for transcripts, while they just should take the applicants' word for it.
Ridiculous.

I wouldn't go that far. It certainly shows they don't verify when the application already has an "admit" tag on it. Perhaps thinking, Why bother revetting the "already vetted" applicant?

Because at any decent school the ultimate authority to admit comes from the admissions office, not the coaches. So the admissions office was either complicit, willfully blind or just negligent.

[Anonymous]

This doesn't surprise me. I've seen many kids lie and be admitted to top schools over the years.

The most galling case is a boy who was admitted to Brown two years ago.

No, I can't all and report to Admissions without my school's admin finding out; they know and approve these things, and I imagine telling the truth would endanger my job.

I'm super cynical now, yes.

-A teacher

[Anonymous]

Because at any decent school the ultimate authority to admit comes from the admissions office, not the coaches. So the admissions office was either complicit, willfully blind or just negligent.

The admissions offices are staffed by a combination of young admin types who are just chasing all the paperwork and process and older admin types that just follow the process. The Dean and associate dean spend their time trying to recruit and worrying about the yield numbers. Its not a high powered operation and I can't imagine anyone other than a Dean questioning someone from the athletics department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the public has a right to see all 700+ names no matter who they are. It seems that the first 50 names were picked. If the 700 names are not revealed the public will feel there is another cheating scandal going on. People with more connections or money keeping their names out of the public eye.

I don't think you're going to see the 700 names. The ones that were charged were caught in a sting, some of the things they paid for may not have even been within the offerings fo Singer's group before the FBI became involved. Not defending anyone, but it's unlikely they have the goods on past clients.

They will be outed if their tax forms reflect “donations” to Singer’s fake charity.

I don't know, unless the donors are already public record, I don't see how they are definitely going to be outed without some sort of evidence. Seems like it was registered as a charity, it takes work to show someone made a donation in exchange for services, it takes work to show they knew the charity was fraudulent. It's one thing to throw out the number 700 at a press conference, something else to produce the names. We'll see.

Most


The Feds have Singer's emails, texts, and banking records. They likely have those of most of his associates. They are first going after the low hanging fruit (current clients they have on tape). They will be working their way down the list of his former clients.

Investigators interview Singer and friends to find out what help they gave to your family. Your cancelled check or wired money is easily identified as is the donation claimed on your tax return. Your child entered or graduated from a certain elite school, also easily verified. The investigators ask the school for your child's admission criteria and then contacts your child's High School to confirm the information. The only thing missing is taped evidence, but cases have been made without it.

More wishful thinking. Without the recordings, it’s nearly impossible to prove intent on the part of the parents.

Yep. The records Singer's been holding onto should look as much like a legitimate charity as possible.

[Anonymous]

Lori Loughlin is facing jail time and her ungrateful daughter is mourning the loss of her brand. A cautionary tale of parents who try too hard to make their kids into what they don't want to be.

'Bella and Olivia are suffering in their own ways from the fallout of their parents' decisions,' a source told Entertainment Tonight this week.

While Bella was 'far more invested in college and would have love to have completed USC', Olivia is devastated over the damage that has been done to her brand.

'[Olivia] is really angry with her parents because she told them she did not want to go to college and she was pushed,' the source added.

'She has been passionate about her career and wanted to work and was doing well, but that wasn't enough. Her parents said she would have to juggle college and her career.'

'Now she's devastated because everything she built imploded before her eyes. She feels they ruined everything.'

The source said that Olivia is so embarrassed by the scandal that she 'doesn't even want to go out'.
Court documents released last week also alleged that Olivia hadn't even written her own college applications.

Loughlin and Gianulli emailed William Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the college bribery scandal, about Olivia and Isabella's college prospects in 2016.

They allegedly paid $500,000 total in bribes to have their daughters admitted to USC as crew recruits with the help of Singer and USC senior associate athletic director Dr Donna Heinel.

Isabella received her admission letter the following March. The same exact process was then repeated with Olivia, documents claim.

Problems arose however when Olivia's guidance counselor became curious as to how she managed to receive admission based on her involvement in crew when she didn't even row.

At the same time, Loughlin complained that her daughter was having difficulty filling out her other college applications, prompting Singer to ask an employee to take care of the task.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HP has already cut its ties with Olivia Jade. In a statement, the company said, “HP worked with Lori Loughlin and Olivia Jade in 2017 for a one-time product campaign. HP has removed the content from its properties.” A post promoting HP’s Sprocket photo printer is currently still live on Olivia Jade’s Instagram account.

HP Removes Ad Starring Lori Loughlin and Olivia Jade Following College Admissions Scandal
http://fortune.com/2019/03/13/hp-removes-ad-lori-loughlin-olivia-jade-college-admissions-scandal/

Time for these other brands to speak up against the scammer:

Amazon
Dolce & Gabbana
Lulus
Marc Jacobs Beauty
Sephora
Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics
Smile Direct Club
Too Faced Cosmetics
Boohoo
Unilever’s TRESemmé.

Yeah, they’ll get right on it. I’m sure Lulus customers care a great deal about this.

HP is a printer company - you really think their customer base cares? It's about perception and being tied to this family is toxic. Which is why they dumped her in less than 24 hours from the indictment breaking.

Sephora and Marc Jacobs actually have more to lose as they work with a LOT of beauty influencers who are already talking about this.

Like I said.

Sephora Has Ended Its Relationship With Olivia Jade

"After careful review of recent developments, we have made the decision to end the Sephora Collection partnership with Olivia Jade, effective immediately," the spokesperson said.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/03/226932/olivia-jade-sephora-makeup-palette-backlash

Good job, Sephora! Maybe now this entitled, vapid, spoiled little rich girl and her greedy, hypocritical mother will learn a lesson.

Whoops, bye-bye Tresemme!

https://www.etonline.com/lori-loughlins-daughter-olivia-jade-dropped-by-tresemme-and-sephora-amid-college-admissions-scam


List of companies that have cut ties:
HP
Sephora
Unilever’s TRESemmé

Time for these other brands to speak up against the scammer:

Amazon
Dolce & Gabbana
Lulus
Marc Jacobs Beauty
Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics
Smile Direct Club
Too Faced Cosmetics
Boohoo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This doesn't surprise me. I've seen many kids lie and be admitted to top schools over the years.

The most galling case is a boy who was admitted to Brown two years ago.

No, I can't all and report to Admissions without my school's admin finding out; they know and approve these things, and I imagine telling the truth would endanger my job.

I'm super cynical now, yes.

-A teacher

You sure you're not a parent calling our your kid's competition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow- The Isackson family spent $600,000 to get their daughters into UCLA and USC as fake athletes. Even transferred Facebook shares. That is on top of tuition. Disgusting family.

+1

disgusting

Not to pile on, but ITA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lori Loughlin is facing jail time and her ungrateful daughter is mourning the loss of her brand. A cautionary tale of parents who try too hard to make their kids into what they don't want to be.

'Bella and Olivia are suffering in their own ways from the fallout of their parents' decisions,' a source told Entertainment Tonight this week.

While Bella was 'far more invested in college and would have love to have completed USC', Olivia is devastated over the damage that has been done to her brand.

'[Olivia] is really angry with her parents because she told them she did not want to go to college and she was pushed,' the source added.

'She has been passionate about her career and wanted to work and was doing well, but that wasn't enough. Her parents said she would have to juggle college and her career.'

'Now she's devastated because everything she built imploded before her eyes. She feels they ruined everything.'

The source said that Olivia is so embarrassed by the scandal that she 'doesn't even want to go out'.
Court documents released last week also alleged that Olivia hadn't even written her own college applications.

Loughlin and Gianulli emailed William Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the college bribery scandal, about Olivia and Isabella's college prospects in 2016.

They allegedly paid $500,000 total in bribes to have their daughters admitted to USC as crew recruits with the help of Singer and USC senior associate athletic director Dr Donna Heinel.

Isabella received her admission letter the following March. The same exact process was then repeated with Olivia, documents claim.

Problems arose however when Olivia's guidance counselor became curious as to how she managed to receive admission based on her involvement in crew when she didn't even row.

At the same time, Loughlin complained that her daughter was having difficulty filling out her other college applications, prompting Singer to ask an employee to take care of the task.

It's very hard to have sympathy for any of them.

[Anonymous]

olivia is screwed. a girl like that, in this situation, is going to turn into a trainwreck in la.

[Anonymous]

How did they evade the counselor and/or teacher recommendations and the essays and/or short answer parts of the applications? Were the admissions departments bypassed completely?

[Anonymous]

The NY Times has an article today talking about how many colleges were taking the position that all the kids with parents involved would be considered responsible because they attested that the information they provided to the college was acccurate when they submitted the app.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did they evade the counselor and/or teacher recommendations and the essays and/or short answer parts of the applications? Were the admissions departments bypassed completely?

This is the part of the scandal I don't get. Wouldn't USC have thought it was strange thought none of her teachers are guidance counselor mentioned her involvement with crew?

[Anonymous]

“Assistant US Attorney Eric S. Rosen told Judge Rya ­Zobel he was guilty of 'lying about students' ethnicities and other biographical information in an attempt to take advantage of perceived benefits from affirmative action and other programs'. “

[Anonymous]

Sigh.

Take a typical college campus: If you take away spots in the freshman class reserved for athletes, development cases, legacies, special cases, you’ve probably taken away a third of your spots,” said Mark Sklarow, chief executive officer of the Independent Educational Consultants Association. “It is, unfortunately, one of the facts of college admission. Colleges try to create a freshman class beyond just the academic numbers.”